Refugee problem to be tackled with Kenya

The Sudanese ambassador to Kenya, Farouk Ali Mohammed, has announced that a ministerial commission will be convened between Kenya and his country to resolve the Sudanese refugee problem, local press reports said on Wednesday. During talks with Kenya’s Minister for Home Affairs Sharrif Nassir, the envoy suggested repatriation as the best solution. He also presented Nassir with a copy of his government’s Peace Agreement which contains Khartoum’s solution for southern Sudan, and expressed hope that the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) would attend peace talks scheduled for next month in Nairobi. He warned that donors were likely to freeze aid to Sudan if the talks failed. The ambassador said Khartoum advocated unity between north and south Sudan rather than southern secession, “although autonomy for southern Sudan is not ruled out”. “If southern Sudan secedes, it may end up with more than 20 states because of the tribal differences. The differences between the north and south are fewer than the tribal differences among the southern Sudanese,” he stated. In an open letter to all Sudanese factions, the envoy stressed that the decision would be made by the “ballot not the bullet”, in a referendum held under the auspices of the UN, the OAU and the Arab League among others.