The Wall Street Journal By PATRICK MCGROARTY CONNECT Jan. 16, 2014 10:11 a.m. ET South Sudans President Salva Kiir, shown in December, said Thursday the U.S. government has been very instrumental to the people of South Sudan during the war. REUTERS The Wall Street Journals Patrick McGroarty sat down Thursday for an exclusive interview with South Sudans President Salva Kiir, one of the few interviews Mr. Kiir has given since fighting in his country began on 15 December 2013. Heres an edited transcript: Q1. Whats the status of talks toward a cease-fire? Will a cease-fire come soon? Answer: The talks are rather slow because [former vice president] Riek Machar had conditions, which he placed in front of the negotiations. Cessation of hostilities is something acceptable to all of us. And it may be reached today, tomorrow, next tomorrow maximum. Sudans Tumultuous History Review events on the fragmented political situation of South Sudan. Q2. Is Mr. Machar still demanding the release of 11 political prisoners held in Juba before agreeing to stop fighting? Answer: He is still demanding but the [East African] mediators have separated the issues. They put the issue of cessation of hostilities first. Q3. Why cant a cease-fire be signed immediately? Why not release the 11 prisoners? Answer: The release of the suspects is supposed to be done through legal measures. Because you cannot arrest somebody, release him without showing him or showing the world the mistake he committed, which led to the arrest. This is why these people are not released. Q4. Surely as president you could speed up that process. Couldnt you release them now, as the U.S., the U.N. and others have asked? Answer: People are still working on it. I know there has been international concern that these people must be released. I always tell them that I have no problem of releasing them but let them go through the process of law…The cessation of hostilities can be reached without the release of the people. Q5 Why hasnt that happened? Answer: It is not for me to determine. It is they to determine. They know why it has not happened. Q6. The mediators? Answer: The mediators and negotiators…it is not me who is dealing with it directly. If they have any problem there they will ask me. Q7. Has the U.S. done enough to support your young country? How do you feel about their calls for you to release these prisoners? Answer: The U.S. government has been very instrumental to the people of South Sudan during the war. They have been helping in the way that they assisted the war affected people. They dont want South Sudan to go in [to] disarray at the end of the day. Q8. Is Uganda aiding your military on the battlefield? Answer: Any sovereign state has allies. And South Sudan as a sovereign state can have allies in the region, can have allies internationally. So Ugandas government is one of our allies in the region and whatever assistance that we can receive from them and from friendly forces, nobody will tell them not to give [it to] us nor can anybody have any right to tell them to get out of South Sudan. So they are participating in the military campaign. To some extent. Support. Q9 Are their troops and jets and fighting alongside your forces? When we talk about support in the military sense, it can cover many things. So it could include air raids and troops fighting alongside your army? Answer: There have been reports that Uganda warplanes have raided areas under Riek Machar. That cannot be a violation because I, as head of this government, requested them to assist the government of South Sudan. Q10. Are you hoping that with their support you can win on the battlefield before a cease-fire is released or that military victories will improve your position in the negotiations? Answer: No. No. There is no conflict that can be resolved militarily. I fought for 22 years and the resolution of the conflict in Sudan was on the table through peaceful negotiations. So I believe that whatever misunderstanding has erupted in South Sudan, at the end of the day, will be resolved peacefully. Q11. How did this conflict escalate to a military one a month ago? What sparked the crisis? Answer: This is a question that should really be answered by Riek Machar...He refused to participate in the discussions …so he was the one who started shooting, not me. Q12. What will happen to him after the conflict ends? Would you pardon him? Could he return to government, or to civil society? Answer: I have pardoned so many southern leaders who took up arms against South Sudan when I came to this office. I have granted pardons to so many of them. And should there be now a peaceful resolution to this conflict between me and Riek Machar, yes, why not? He can be pardoned...if he accepts to denounce violence he will be pardoned. Q13. During the negotiations that would follow a cease-fire, is there a scenario under which you might step down? Will you definitely run again in elections in 2015? Answer: My stepping down as president is not tied to these negotiations. Q14. What about inside your party? Mr. Machar claims the government has become undemocratic. That the party convention was delayed to block him from running. That he and others fired in July were fired because they are Nuer. Answer: It is not true. The party and the government are tolerant to all voices that can criticize the government. In the papers you can see how much I have been criticized but I have never arrested anybody. I listen to all the criticisms. If it is a constructive one, I make use of it. Q15. Others have also criticized your leadership as anti-democratic, saying your party dominates the political landscape. Is there more you could have done to foster the democratic process? The government is not exclusively formed of the ruling party. I have myself appointed from the other political parties members to the parliament, to the council of states. I did it simply because I want to unite the people of South Sudan. Ethnicity is not actually in our vocabulary. As we speak with you, the chief of general staff of the SPLA, the whole army, hes a Nuer. The speaker of the national assembly, hes a Nuer. The director general of the external security, hes a Nuer. Plus the key positions in the ministerial positions are being held by Nuer. Q16. What about civilians in U.N. camps who say they were targeted because they were Dinka, or because they were Nuer? Answer: No, this is something which is forged to discredit the government or to discredit me as a Dinka. They want me actually to step down from being a national leader, to be called a tribal leader. Like Riek Machar is doing. Riek Machar is mobilizing the Nuer, not all the tribes in South Sudan. It is the Nuer ethnic group that he is mobilizing to come and fight...the government. He wants me to be equal to be doing the same things, which I have refused to a long time ago. Q17. What about Nuer people here in Juba who say they were targeted on the night of 15 December 2013? Answer: No, the people who I said a long time ago...may be criminals who want to take advantage of the situation and they can harm other people. And I have denounced that thing in front of everybody...If there is any person who is doing that hoping that hes doing it to support me to promote my image, then that person or group of people must stop because they are destroying my image. I have not been known for tribalism. Q18. Three years ago, at independence there was so much hope about South Sudans future. Now the nation is in crisis. What could you have done to prevent this crisis? Answer: It is not me who has gone wrong. Instead there are people who committed mistakes and do not want to be corrected. America and their allies were talking about corruption in the government in South Sudan. And I was being urged to weed out the corrupt elements. People have not received the peace dividends. Q19. Are you concerned about the impact new oil shutdowns will have on the economy? Answer: We understand that without oil production nothing can be moving in South Sudan. This is why we are working to stop the escalation of the war so that we go back to what all we are doing to improve our economy. Q20. Do you think the conflict will stop in the coming days? Answer: If the other side is willing, it can stop in a very few weeks. Write to Patrick McGroarty at patrick.mcgroarty@wsj
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 21:03:17 +0000
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