JUBA (28 Mar) -  The former Envoy of the US, Andrew Natsios, says that the United States should support the South Sudan army with more advanced weapons in order to fight Sudan: 'It is time for the United States to make clear to Khartoum that should they persist in their stonewalling tactics, the U.S. government will increase military assistance to the Sudan People's Liberation Army, including providing them with advanced weapons which would change the balance of military power between Sudan and South Sudan.

 

The former envoy is fearing for a renewed war, due to the weakness of the Sudan president Omar Al Bashir facing health problems and leaving his executive powers into the hands of his generals. Natsios blames the army for provoking a war. “Many of the generals reportedly believed that the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood (their natural allies) in Tunisia and Egypt, and the ouster of Muammar Gadhafi (enemy of the Bashir government) from power in Libya would rescue them in Sudan”, says Natsios. Hen blames a hardline faction in South Sudan for supporting the shutdown of oil production believing that it would lead to the collapse of the Bashir.

A solution is far from near according to Natsios:  “The Bashir government, the ruling party, and the Sudanese military have little remaining public support, only the brutal secret police and a divided northern democratic opposition have prevented an uprising from unseating the Bashir government”.

The northerners ave put faith in former SPLA of South Sudan, but he says that the democratic opposition has been disappointed with the performance of the SPLA. Natsios says the dynamics in the violent clashes between Sudan and Sudan have changed: “The US position has been to act as a neutral mediator, which worked well when Bashir was running the country to get him to compromise, but now that the generals are calling the shots acting as a mediator has only empowered Bashir's generals to demand more Southern concessions”.