EASTERN AFRICAN STAND BY FORCE TO EXERCISE IN SOUTH SUDAN
Information was just received that the Eastern African Stand By Force has agreed to hold an exercise later in the year in South Sudan, most likely soon after the Independence has become a reality. Key member states of the group are of course also members in the East African Community, which itself as in more recent times created a military stand by brigade composed of units from the presently 5 members. The move, according to a reliable source, is giving further indication that the new Republic of South Sudan will be seeking the closest possible ties with her East African neighbours and sees their economic future in the South rather than the other direction.
Sources in South Sudan’s capital city Juba have meanwhile termed the shooting of a cabinet minister and his body guard yesterday as a ‘criminal offence with no connections to politics’ after the driver of the minister apparently forced his way into the office before shooting both. The killer, notably an in-law of the minister, appears to have harboured personal grievances for some time before all senses left him and he decided to take out his anger and frustration with the gun. Said the same source: ‘please tell that security in South Sudan is good, there is no change about that. This was an individual crime which we shall punish accordingly. Visitors need not fear as we provide good security in Juba and the South Sudan’.
