Khartoum refutes Juba's accusations of Sudan army violating South Sudan airspace
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E-mail Xinhua, September 16, 2012
Khartoum refutes Juba's accusations of Sudan army violating South Sudan airspace
KHARTOUM, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese army on Saturday refuted South Sudan's accusations that Sudan has repeatedly violated South Sudan's airspace over the past two days, official SUNA news agency reported.
"South Sudan's accusation is false and baseless and does not serve the atmosphere of the negotiations which are currently ongoing between the two countries in Addis Ababa," Sudanese army spokesman Al-Sawarmy Khalid Saad was quoted as saying.
"The plane, which Juba claims to have violated its airspace, is owned by Rumbaik Air Cargo Company which is registered in Sharjah. This company is owned by a Sudanese citizen, Osman Mohamed Osman, who is residing in the United Arab Emirates. The plane, AN12, is chartered from a company belonging to South Africa," he noted.
He further noted that the plane was conducting a number of flights that started from Djibouti to Dar Essalam and Mozambique, and from Juba to Fuluj for the interest of a German organization.
He added that the plane had obtained Juba's transit permission and landed on Juba airport on Wednesday, pointing out that the plane's owner company contacted the aviation authorities at Djibouti airport and Juba airport, while the aviation authorities at Juba airport first told them that the plane was held due to oil leakage and then that the crew was incomplete and finally came the accusation that the plane was carrying military equipment to the rebels.
South Sudan earlier in the day accused the Sudanese army of repeatedly violating its airspace during the past two days.
"During the past two days, Antonov amd MiG planes belonging to the Sudanese army flew repeatedly over areas in Unity and Northern Bahral-Ghazal States," said Philip Aguer, spokesman of South Sudan 's army.
Sudan and South Sudan have been negotiating in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa over the outstanding issues between them under the mediation of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP), headed by former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki.
The two sides have failed to conclusively settle many outstanding issues including the oil and border demarcation issues besides the affiliation of the disputed oil-rich area of Abyei. Enditem
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