There is information that the Al-Intibaha tabloid chief, al Tayeb Mustafa strongly holds to the opinion that what happened to his paper was a result of a conspiracy between the NCP and the SPLM to silence him before the 2011 referendum. But there are also strong arguments that the true reason for closing down the paper is more linked to a pressure from the Libyan leader Muamar Ghadafi.
Ghadafi, who refuses to extradite the Darfuri Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, on a request from Sudanese authorities, insists that the way in which the Al-Intibaha chief expressed his view on the issue was non professional and carried a direct insult to the Libyan leadership in person, hence unforgivable by the Jamahiriya. So, linking this latest development to an ongoing defamation campaign from the paper towards the GoSS and the SPLM party at this stage, together with the added dimensions becomes a fifty-fifty argument.
Last but not least, it is worth acknowledging that there are now proliferating pro-secession organisations all over south Sudan, and prepared to stage peaceful processions to send an unequivocal message to the whole world that south Sudan will never settle for anything less than a total Independence. Many south Sudanese voices had already spoken with the most disarming condour that referendum to ‘our people’ means Independence. With these developments now gathering what can only be seen as an unstoppable momentum, the futile attempts by NCP to maintaining the unity of the Sudan, precisely amounts to “a post-mortem resuscitation attempt”, at its best. Even the expression that, “better late than never”, won’t hold water in this case.
The author, Dr. Justin Ambago Ramba, MD, is a concerned South Sudanese citizen residing in the U.K. and can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]