The government of Southern Sudan has
dismissed accusations that U.S. targeted sanctions will divide and undermine the
2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
This follows Presidential
adviser Ghazi
Salahuddin's sharp criticism of Washington's
decision to exclude
certain areas, including Southern Sudan, from economic sanctions.
Ghazi argues that the
sanctions on northern Sudan are obstacles,
which undermine the unity of the country.
But the Southern Sudanese government
denies the sanctions will affect the CPA, which ended more than two decades of
war between the North and South.
Ruben
Marial Benjamin, the deputy head of mission and a political affairs officer of
the Southern Sudanese government to the United States said that President Bashir's Party is hindering implementation of the CPA.
Meanwhile,
the United States treasury has announced an amendment on the economic sanctions on
Sudan that will allow export and re-export of agricultural products, medicines
and medical devices to specific areas in Sudan, including Darfur, South
Kordofan, and the Blue Nile, as well as Southern Sudan.
Marial Benjamin said the targeted sanctions will not hurt
the country's unity.
"It
is not going to divide the country because those sanctions have been there for
almost a decade now and the country is still one," said Benjamin.
He
said Ghazi
Salahuddin is not being truthful.
"The sanctions mean Southern
Sudan, Southern Blue Nile, Southern Kordofan, and Darfur, and around Khartoum,
these are the suffering areas actually. The main goods and services to
people…actually Ghazi Salahuddin is the one handling those
cases. He is lying on that," he said.
Benjamin denied the sanctions interfere with efforts to
implement the CPA.
"Absolutely
not, not those sanctions that are affecting the CPA. But the policies of the
NCP (National Congress Party) are the ones affecting the CPA," Benjamin said.
He
said the NCP has often thwarted implementation of the agreement.
"Since
the CPA was signed, they (NCP) have been obstacles to the CPA. They don't want
to implement. They drag their feet on issues that are very crucial for us…They
themselves are the problems to the CPA," he said.
Presidential
advisor Salahuddin
said the North can live without the sanctions, contending that Washington must
be blamed for the obstacles to the CPA.
But Benjamin said Salahuddin has often undermined the CPA.
"Ghazi
Salahuddin is one of the people in the NCP that is trying to hurt the CPA. Even
during the negotiations in the previous years before the CPA was signed he was
one of the people who at some point dismantled and hurt the negotiations. He is
not happy about the CPA therefore, he is looking for other ways to hurt the
CPA," Benjamin said.
He
accused the NCP of training and providing logistics to armed groups who engage
in terrorist activities against Southern Sudanese, a charge the north sharply
denies.