Sudan’s Bashir urges self-restraint to end bloodshed in South Sudan

Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir called on his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir Mayardit and South Sudan’s first vice-president Riek Machar to adhere to self-restraint and the interests of their people.

According to a statement issued by Sudan’s presidency, Bashir telephoned both Kiir and Machar.

Bashir reportedly called on the conflict’s two parties to “adhere to self-restraint” and “give priority to the interest of South Sudan’s people for the sake of the region’s stability and in order not to open a loophole for terrorism”.

Sudan’s president also called on the two South Sudanese politicians to stop the bloodshed and avoid dragging the region into tribal and political conflicts that could hinder the cycle of peace and development in South Sudan.

In a relapse of the peace agreement reached by Kiir and Machar in August amid international pressure, a series of clashes erupted on Thursday between forces aligned to each of the two leaders, leaving 269 dead, according to medical and security sources.

Machar assumed office as first vice-president in a transitional government as per the peace agreement, the same position that he had held before rebelling in December 2013.

He resorted to violence after he was dismissed as first vice-president by Salva Kiir in a rivalry over power and influence between the two leaders of the newly declared state of South Sudan.