The Egyptian government called on African nations to provide support to the semi-autonomous South Sudan during a regional summit that was concluded today.
The Egyptian state media said that foreign minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit met with his counterparts from Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, Liberia, Eritrea, Chad and Niger on the sidelines of the fourth Forum of China-Africa Cooperation at the Red Sea resort city of Sharm al-Sheikh.
The foreign ministry spokesperson Hossam Zaki told reporters that Aboul-Gheit discussed the Sudan issue during these meetings and his government’s efforts with the Sudanese parties aiming to reconcile differences between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the framework of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Zaki quoted Aboul-Gheit as stressing the need to tackle the issue of the standards of living in South Sudan and tribal conflicts there. He urged his African counterparts to lend a hand to South Sudan in different areas.
Cairo is growing increasingly worried over the growing probability of South Sudan opting for independence in the 2011 referendum warning that this will further deepen poverty and ethnic violence in the new state.
South Sudan president Salva Kiir paid a visit to Cairo where officials there expressed hope that his citizens to vote for unity.
But Kiir told reporters after his meeting with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak that Southern Sudanese will likely vote for independence because unity has become “unattractive” and blamed the NCP for stalling on CPA implementation.
Sources at the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) told Sudan Tribune that Kiir cut short his visit to Egypt “after feeling uncomfortable with the level of pressure exerted by Egyptian officials on the issue of preserving Sudan’s unity”.
Egypt is likely concerned over the its share in the Nile water if the South chooses to secede even though legal experts say that the water agreements are still binding to the new state.
The Egyptian government have stepped up its presence in South Sudan inaugurating projects in the health and education sector saying they hope it will make the unity choice more attractive. Source: (Sudan Tribune)
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