Jan 16, 2021(Nyamilepedia) —— South Sudan president has expressed readiness to mediate the conflict between Sudan and Ethiopia over border dispute.
Tensions have been running high between the two countries over the Al-Fashaqa region, where Ethiopian farmers cultivate fertile land claimed by Sudan.
Al-Fashaqa region – which has seen sporadic clashes over the years – borders Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region where deadly conflict erupted in November between Ethiopia’s federal and Tigray’s regional forces.
On Thursday, Kiir’s advisor on security affairs, tut Gatluak was quoted by a statement issued by the Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan saying that the president is ready to mediate the two countries so that they can reach a political and diplomatice solution.
“President Salva Kiir has expressed readiness to mediate between Sudan and Ethiopia to reach a political and diplomatic solution according to the recognised international borders in preservation of the fraternal ties between the two countries and the peace in the region,” Gatluak was quoted by the statement as saying.
Al-Burhan underlined “the friendly and fraternal solution” for the border dispute with Ethiopia, Gatluak added. Since September 2020, the Sudan-Ethiopia border has been witnessing rising tensions and skirmishes between the two sides.
Ethiopia and Sudan reignited their border disputes last year with accusations against each other.
On Tuesday, Addis Ababa claimed Sudanese forces were pushing further into the border region and warned that while it “gives priority to peace”, it has “its limit”.
In response, Sudan’s information minister and government spokesman Faisal Mohamed Saleh said Khartoum did not want war with Ethiopia but its forces would respond to any aggression.
Khartoum also accused Ethiopian armed men of killing five women and a child on Monday in the area, calling it a “brutal aggression”.
The two sides held border talks last month, and Sudan declared its army had restored control over all border territory that had been taken over by Ethiopian farmers.
