East African crises threaten Egypt, Mubarak warned

By BADRU MULUMBA, NATION Correspondent
Tuesday, November 11 2008

JUBA, Monday

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan on Monday, to warnings that the Central and Eastern Africa insecurity might spill over to his country.

Sudan’s Vice President Salva Kiir told Mubarak that insecurity in the region is slowly moving north, posing a danger to not just Sudan, but also to the neighbours to the north, according to briefing notes by the press secretary, Ayom Wol.

“Egypt can also be destabilized by this regional instability,” Kiir said, adding that the Egyptian President ought to help resolve the regional conflicts. “[Many other] people are trying to help so that situation does not get out of hand.”

Kiir cited the chaos that followed the Kenyan elections, rebellion in parts of Ethiopia, the total breakdown of government in Somalia, and the movement of the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, into Sudan, Central African Republic and the DR-Congo.

Mistrust by Sudan’s ruling party over the close ties between the Sudan ex-rebels and the Chadian government are hampering ties between the two countries.

“They think I am double dealing, but this is not true,” Kiir said, according to brief. “We can’t conspire against the same government that we are in.”

Kiir said Sudan’s ex-rebels want a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Darfur.

Mubarak is the second Egyptian leader to visit southern Sudan.

“Abdel Nasser before came here in 1962, given the importance to us of southern Sudan,” the Egyptian President said in one-minute remarks to the media soon after the bilateral meeting.

“We have so many students [in Egypt] from here, and we are going to open a new university,” he told reporters.

And according to the notes from the press office, the Egyptian President asked Kiir for land for the university. Mubarak also said Egypt was ready to sponsor Southern Sudan students studying in the country's universities.

Last year, the north African country awarded 300 scholarships to students from Southern Sudan. Some 173 students are already enrolled in Egyptian universities on those scholarships, according to Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the minister for Regional Cooperation in the Government of Southern Sudan.

Mubarak, in Sudan for a one-day visit, flew to the Juba, the capital town of Southern Sudan, for a three-hour visit.

Kiir said the region appreciates Egypt’s humanitarian support to Darfur and the development support to Southern Sudan, according to his office. Kiir is also President of Southern Sudan.

Kiir said Sudan’s ex-rebels are committed to the full implementation of the peace agreement.

But he added that Egypt, as one of the signatories to the agreement, must bear pressure on Khartoum to see to it that the peace agreement is fully implemented, according to the briefing.

The borders are still not demarcated, posing a danger to the authenticity of the census results and the countrywide elections next year, said the Southern Sudan President.

And the referendum bill is yet to be passed, the Joint/Integrated Units are not fully composed, and the agreement to resolve the crisis over the oil rich region of Abyei has not been implemented, added Kiir.

“We are even fighting to get our share of the oil revenues,” Kiir said. “We are talking to Egypt as a signatory to the CPA to take a leading role in implementing it.”

Kiir said the peace agreement has enabled the reconstruction of southern Sudan to proceed.

“Things are difficult here, but they are better than they were in 2005,” Kiir said. “If they hadn’t improved, you wouldn’t be in this building right now.”