Former rebel group in south Sudan denies relations with Israel

A former rebel group in south Sudan which signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government last year has denied that it had built secret ties with Israel, local daily al-Sudani reported on Wednesday.

Byour Ajanig, the spokesman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), said the movement had not set up any relation with the Jewish state since its establishment.

"We in Sudan and in the south can solve our problem through the referendum rather than Israel," Ajanig said in an interview with the al-Sudani newspaper.

"The SPLM is working for the unity of Sudan on new basis," he added.

The rumors saying that the SPLM established secret ties with Israel in a bid to separate the region from the biggest African country have mounted up since the movement signed a peace deal with the government and thus presided the regional government in south Sudan.

In response, the SPLM said that such rumors were aimed at preventing the movement from establishing relations with the Arab states.

He said that the movement had set up good relations with Egypt, Libya and other Arab countries.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which the Sudanese government and the SPLM signed on Jan. 9, 2005, put an end to the 21-year civil war in south Sudan.

According to the agreement, a referendum will be carried out in the south in 2011 to decide whether to keep the unity of the country or announce an independence of the region.

Source: Xinhua