German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on Wednesday for north and South Sudan to resolve their decades-old problems peacefully, as the two states are now both part of the United Nations family.
Westerwelle presided over the UN Security Council meeting, which had just supported the Republic of South Sudan's request to become a UN member. The General Assembly is scheduled to vote on Thursday in the final step to admit the new country as the 193rd UN member.
“We urge all parties to find a way via negotiations to a peaceful solution. This is what counts,” Westerwelle told reporters following the council meeting. “The international community will do what it can to support a peaceful process.”
The UN said the new government, which its capital in Juba, is facing “immense challenges” to build a prosperous country after splitting with the rest of Sudan to become a fully sovereign nation, which it declared on Saturday.
One of the thorny problems is sharing the vast oil resources found in the border area Abyei. Fighting erupted last month between the two sides, which prompted the Security Council to decide to deploy some 4 000 UN troops in Abyei.
South Sudanese Vice President Rick Machar, who attended the Security Council meeting at UN headquarters in New York, pledged his country's commitment to seek peaceful resolution to their their differences. South Sudan, population 8 million, is one of the world's poorest countries.
Westerwelle, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation Security Council for July, congratulated South Sudan.
“On behalf of the Security Council members, I wish to extend our congratulations to the Republic of South Sudan on this historic occasion,” Westerwelle said following the council's decision.
“The council notes with great satisfaction the Republic of South Sudan's solemn commitment to uphold the principles of the UN Charter to fulfil all obligations contained therein.”
The UN said an initial contingent of more than 1 600 peacekeepers are to arrive on July 20 in South Sudan, the first of 7,000 total military and police personnel the Security Council had authorised to be deployed to assist Juba in its tasks to build democratic and economic institutions.
Most of the peacekeepers to be deployed in South Sudan are being transferred from the contingent of 10,000 troops in the UN Mission in Sudan, which was terminated last week after the south became independent. The mission was set up in 2005 to monitor the implementation of a peace agreement between the north and South Sudan. - Sapa-dpa