Sudan and South Sudan may be two states but one nation – Hamdok

December 9, 2019 Newsbeat, South Sudan, Sudan

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok speaks to the press at the Atlantic Council during his recent visit to the United States (Photo: official Twitter account)

Dec 10th, 2019 (SSNN)-Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has said that Sudan and neighboring South Sudan, which gained independence on July 9, 2011 after an overwhelming vote on secession, may be considered geographically as two separate states, but in reality, the two countries remain united as one nation.

“We are two states, but one nation,” Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok told an international audience at the Atlantic Council during his recent visit to the United States.

However, the Sudanese leader noted that the overwhelming vote for independence was for good reason and should not be compromised.

“South Sudan’s independence should not, and cannot, be compromised.” Hamdok stressed.

He is also strongly optimistic that in the near future, the two countries can transform “the borders of conflict and misery into the borders of peace, prosperity and development.”

The Sudanese Prime Minister, Hamdok, has become the first head of state in Sudan to officially visit the United States in more than three decades.

Hamdok seeks support from the international community and the region to shore up efforts to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

“There is a success story that is emerging” in Sudan, Hamdok said. In a “region full of crises and riddled with conflicts, Sudan provides hope,” he added.

He affirmed his government’s commitment to end injustice in Sudan.

“transitional justice is firmly linked to the peace process. We are not going to rest until we see that justice has been served…to the best and maximum satisfaction of the victim.”

South Sudan achieved independence on July 9, 2011 as a result of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed by the National Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which ended one of the decades-long civil wars in Africa.