South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has offered to act as a mediator to help solve Sudan’s ongoing political transition. The political transition follows the fall of president Omar al-Bashir to weeks of mass protests.
According to Kiir’s office, the President is willing to support the democratic aspirations of his former adversary in Khartoum and help bring about a peaceful transition.
“The president has offered to mediate the ongoing negotiations among various groups in Sudan with the hope that the new transition will usher in a new day in Sudan…,” a statement by Kiir’s office read, reported Africa News.
During an interview with Reuters, South Sudan’s petroleum minister said he had traveled to Khartoum to meet the new leadership, alongside a high-level delegation that included Juba’s security service chief and a presidential adviser on security.
Kiir’s proposal comes a few months after Bashir helped mediate a peace deal between Kiir and the main opposition rebel group in South Sudan, which won independence from Sudan in 2011 after years of conflict.
Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 coup, was ousted last week by the military, which has vowed free elections within two years. The protesters, however, still continue to protest on the streets, demanding an immediate handover to an interim civilian authority.
According to The Guardian, the military council has moved Al-Bashir to a high-security Kobar prison in northern Khartoum. The 75-year-old’s whereabouts have been unknown since a military takeover last week. It was announced that he was being held in a secure place.
On Wednesday, the military council announced it had detained two of Bashir’s five brothers — Abdallah Hassan al-Bashir and Al-Abbas Hassan al-Bashir. It said the council had also decided to integrate the Popular Defence Force into the army.
