Sudanese foreign minister Alor ’under siege’: report

Sudanese foreign minister Alor ’under siege’: report

Thursday 28 January 2010.

January 27, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese foreign minister Deng Alor has distanced himself from the media and is rarely making any statement to the press, the independent Al-Sahafa newspaper reported today.


Sudanese foreign minister Deng Alor Al-Sahafa said that Alor who is a leading figure in the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) has been “under siege” media-wise through the ministry spokesperson Mua’wiya Osman Khalid.

Furthermore, no interview can be held with Alor without the consent and participation of the spokesperson, the newspaper added.

Last year multiple sources told Sudan Tribune that the SPLM chairman and the First Vice President Salva Kiir has instructed the party figures who are holding cabinet posts not to try and resist control by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) officials in their respective ministries.

Alor has had an uneasy relation with his deputies Ali Karti and Mutrif Sideeg who in many cases bypassed him and carried out his functions and made decisions without consulting with him.

The foreign minister has been frequently absent from official travels abroad of president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir as of late and no official explanation has been made. It was announced today that he will head Sudan delegation to Addis Ababa for the African Union (AU) ministerial preparatory summit meeting.

Alor has been outspoken in his resistance to NCP’s hegemony over the foreign policy and has made statements on the issue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that infuriated his NCP peers as well as Bashir.

Many observers believe that Kiir has no interest in issues relating to foreign policy and is more focused on the upcoming 2011 referendum in which the Southerners will decide if they want to have their own state.

It is widely expected that the South will vote overwhelmingly in favor of secession.

(ST)

Copyright © 2003-2010 SudanTribune - All rights reserved.

Quote: It is widely expected that the South will vote overwhelmingly in favor of secession.

%10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000