Members of the Egyptian army at a past event. South Sudan has denied
reports allowing Egypt to build military base on its soil. AFP PHOTO |
KHALED DESOUKI
South Sudan has rubbished reports that it has agreed to Egyptian
request to build military base in Pagak, a town bordering Ethiopia.
In a statement on Wednesday, South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed some media reports as “unfounded and baseless”.
“There
is nothing of that kind. No agreement has been reached whatsoever to
allocate a piece of land for Egyptian military in South Sudan territory.
Ethiopia and Egypt are close friends to South Sudan,” read the
statement.
James Morgan, South Sudan’s Ambassador to
Ethiopia, on Thursday said that Juba would not allow any external force
to use her territory to attack Ethiopia.
“If any force
intends to attack Ethiopia via South Sudan, it will first face the
people of South Sudan,” the ambassador said at press conference
broadcast by state affiliated news agency FBC.
“The
information is completely false. The information is shared by a group
who has interest to undermine the existing cooperation between the two
countries,” added Mr Morgan.
Egypt and Ethiopia have been cooperating with South Sudan in the
implementation process of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution
of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan mainly with regard to
security arrangements.
The latest allegation against
South Sudan comes as tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt escalate after
Addis Ababa announced to start filling its controversial hydro-power dam
next month.
Egypt fears Ethiopia’s Nile dam situated
on the Blue Nile could significantly diminish its waters of the Nile
reaching Cairo, affecting its main source of water.
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