South Sudan President Dr. Salva Kiir Makes First Visit to Israel
JERUSALEM — Israel’s premier and president pledged their support for the fledgling state of South Sudan on Tuesday in talks with visiting President Salva Kiir, official statements said.
Kiir met Israeli President Shimon Peres during the morning, then held a working lunch with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a flying visit of less than 24-hours, his first to the Jewish state.
“I am very moved to come to Israel and to walk on the soil of the promised land,” Peres’s office quoted Kiir as saying.
“As a nation that rose from dust, and as the few who fought the many, you have established a flourishing country that offers a future and economic prosperity to its children,” Kiir said. “I have come to see your success.”
Peres said that as deputy defence minister he had met with south Sudanese leaders in the 1960s when Israel gave them “extensive assistance in agriculture and infrastructures.”
“Israel has supported, and will continue to support, your country in all areas in order to strengthen and develop it,” Peres said.
Following talks with Netanyahu, his bureau announced that an Israeli delegation “would shortly go to South Sudan in order to examine how to aid the people, who underwent great suffering in recent years, to develop their new state.”
Kiir was to meet Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman during the afternoon before leaving in the early evening, officials said.
Israel recognised South Sudan and established full diplomatic relations with Kiir’s government shortly after it declared independence in July following a 22-year civil war with the mostly-Muslim north.
The Jewish state does not have relations with Khartoum, which it has accused of serving as a base for Islamic militants, and instead supported the rebel movement of the mainly Christian and animist south during the war.
Israel’s ties with the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, which is now the south’s ruling party, have long been close, with the Jewish state allegedly providing arms during the war, although neither side has publicly acknowledged any weapons transfers.
Tuesday’s meetings were expected to focus on the issue of Sudanese illegal migrants to Israel.
Thousands of migrants from the former united Sudan, including hundreds from the south are currently in Israel, which seeks to repatriate them.
So far, this year, more than 12,000 illegals have sneaked across the Egyptian border into southern Israel, the vast majority of them economic migrants from Africa, prompting Israel to ramp up measures to stop the flow.
Netanyahu has said he will visit Africa in the coming months to discuss the issue of illegal immigration, but did not say which countries he would visit.
Press reports suggested he would travel in February to visit Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya, but he was not expected to visit South Sudan out of security concerns.
South Sudan leader makes first visit to Israel
AFP
JERUSALEM — South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Tuesday visited Israel for the first time for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, a diplomatic source told AFP. “This is a working visit of just one day,” he said, …
Peres meets South Sudanese counterpart in Jerusalem
Ynetnews
President Shimon Peres met with his South Sudan counterpart in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Salva Kiir said that his visit in Israel is a special historic moment. He said that Israel has always supported the Sudanese people, noting “Without you we would not …
South Sudan Vice President Says the Country’s Top Rebel Leader, George Athor …
ABC News
South Sudan vice president says the country’s top rebel leader, George Athor, has been killed…
Sudan-South Sudan: Destruction and Desolation in Abyei
AllAfrica.com
Their homes and properties were looted and burned to the ground and they now remain stranded in dire conditions in makeshift camps in South Sudan where they suffer form lack of food, clean water and sanitation. They are unable to return to their towns …
Top rebel leader in South Sudan killed by army
The Associated Press
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan’s military forces killed the country’s highest-profile rebel leader, a man who posed a significant security threat to peace inside the world’s newest country, an official said Tuesday. Rebel leader George Athor was …
UN Must Aid Refugee Return to Sudan’s Abyei, Amnesty Says
BusinessWeek
20 (Bloomberg) — The United Nations must accelerate efforts to help more than 100000 people return to their homes in Abyei, a region claimed by Sudan and South Sudan, Amnesty International said. “The Sudanese Army and allied militia have driven …
South Sudan president makes lightening visit to Israel
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The president of the new country of South Sudan arrived in Israel for a short working visit during which the possibility of repatriating Sudanese infiltrators to the country set to be discussed. Salva Kiir met Tuesday with Israeli …
South Sudan: Duk County MP Refutes VP Allegation of Revenge Attacks On Murle
AllAfrica.com
Juba — A Member of Parliament (MP) in the National Legislative Assembly representing Duk County in Jonglei State Philip Thon Leek yesterday refuted statements alleged by the Vice President Riek Machar that the Bor Community and Lou Nuer had gone out …
BREAKING NEWS: South Sudan’s rebel leader George Athor “killed”
Sudan Tribune
December 20, 2011 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese rebel leader and renegade general, George Athor, has been killed, announced the country’s Vice-President Riek Machar Teny in a press conference held in the capital Juba today. …
Massive airlift launched to aid Sudanese refugees in South Sudan
UNHCR (press release)
Today they reached South Sudan aboard the first of 18 flights planned for the airlift. JUBA, South Sudan, December 20 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency today launched a massive airlift from Kenya to bring urgently needed aid to around 50000 Sudanese …
South Sudan: We Need to Speed Up Our Priorities in Development
AllAfrica.com
Ramciel is strategically situated almost in South Sudan heartland and it suffices to say that it will be the focal point where the trans-continental African highway will intersect making South Sudantruly a central African nation. …
South Sudan: Interior Minister Gives Foreigners 30 Days to Produce Documents
AllAfrica.com
This announcement according to the Minister is in line with the national police to organize presence of foreign nationals in South Sudan, adding that all foreign nationals working in the country should acquire work permit from the Ministry of Labour, …
South Sudan: Marking, Renaming Our Cities, Streets and Historical Locations
AllAfrica.com
I thought about this in the first year of my arrival from United States of America but there has been a great news that, in the previous and even the most current (Transitional Constitution of the Republic of south Sudan 2011), granted National …
Peres meets South Sudanese counterpart in Jerusalem
Ynetnews
President Shimon Peres met with his South Sudan counterpart in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Salva Kiir said that his visit in Israel is a special historic moment. He said that Israel has always supported the Sudanese people, noting “Without you we would not …
South Sudan demands presence of oil companies in negotiations
Al-Bawaba
The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) has made proposals to have representatives from oil companies included in the next round of post-session negotiations mediated by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Pagan Amum, …
Japan to send troops to South Sudan
China Daily
TOKYO – The Japanese government on Tuesday endorsed a plan to deploy a Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) engineering unit to South Sudan to take part in United Nations peacekeeping activities there. The engineering unit will work to improve …
Uganda, S. Sudan agree on border intelligence
Daily Monitor
By Steven Ariong (email the author) The governments of South Sudan and Uganda have agreed to have a joint intelligence team to monitor security at the border between Karamoja region and South Sudan. The two countries reached the agreement during a …
End corruption in South Sudan before it is too late
New Sudan Vision
The Republic of South Sudan is speeding its way to the top of most corrupt World newest Nation of this decade. It is beyond dispute that South Sudan has already developed rampant corrupt political practices of immoral leadership. …
| UN Special Representative for South Sudan Apologizes to Sudan Sudan Vision Juba – The Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the Republic of South Sudan, Ms Hilda Johnson, has apologized to Sudan for inaccurate statement she earlier made at a UN Security Council Session on recent incidents in the Blue Nile State, … |
| Sudanese Woman Fights Cancer, Misconceptions KELOLAND TV Susan Paul is a South Sudanese immigrant living in Sioux Falls and she’s fighting for her life. The single mother of two was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer two years ago. “The only thing that went through my mind was my children because they are … |
| South Sudan leader makes first visit to Israel AFP JERUSALEM — South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Tuesday visited Israel for the first time for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, a diplomatic source told AFP. “This is a working visit of just one day,” he said, … |
| Japan to Dispatch Ground Forces Engineers to South Sudan PanOrient News Tokyo- (PanOrient News) Japan today decided to dispatch Ground Self-Defense Force (JSDF) engineers of some 330 personnel to the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) to help rebuild South Sudan. They will work on improving… |
About Post Author
