President Salva Kiir has said he turned down an alleged offer of more than 500 million US dollars from former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir ahead of South Sudan\u2019s 2011 independence referendum.<\/p>\n
South Sudan officially became independent from Sudan on 9 July 2011 following the referendum held under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.<\/p>\n
The President said the alleged offer was made during high-level regional consultations involving several leaders aimed at influencing the outcome of the referendum.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mistake would have taken place during the referendum time, when President Salva Kiir didn\u2019t want the referendum at the last minute,\u201d Kiir said.<\/p>\n
He added that he was aware Southerners would vote for separation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew Southerners would vote for separation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kiir said he engaged several regional leaders, including Egypt\u2019s former President Hosni Mubarak and Libya\u2019s late leader Muammar Gaddafi, during the period.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they asked me, they gave me 505 million dollars. If we accepted, our country would not come out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one praises themselves, but I will praise myself for that I didn\u2019t accept that money, because if I had accepted it, I would have swallowed the country, and it would not be out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The remarks were made during the 43rd anniversary celebration of the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Army (SPLA) in Juba.<\/p>\n
South Sudan voted overwhelmingly for secession in the 2011 referendum, ending decades of conflict with Sudan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Salva Kiir has said he turned down an alleged offer of more than 500 million US dollars from former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir ahead of South Sudan\u2019s 2011 independence referendum. South Sudan officially became independent from Sudan on 9 July 2011 following the referendum held under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The President said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":92595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy"],"yoast_head":"\n