S. Sudan's Kiir Donates $200,000 To Muslim Pilgrims

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has donated $200,000 to help the Muslims of his country travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage.



"Islam is a good religion and the government is ready to promote it," Kiir told members of the Islamic Council, led by Secretary-General Al-Tahir Bior Abdallah Ajak, during a Thursday iftar (Ramadan fast-breaking meal).



"This [donation] will help your people go on the religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia," the president said.



The Hajj pilgrimage is performed by Muslims in the 12th month of the Islamic calendar.



Kiir's donation followed a request by Bior, who had asked for help facilitating South Sudanese Muslims make the holy journey.



"We need assistance, we need more mosques in the country, and we also need a means of going on the pilgrimage to Mecca. If we can afford these, Islam will flourish in South Sudan," Bior said.



"Muslims will continue being together with the people of [majority-Christian] South Sudan. Since the [decades-long] independence war, we have been with the people; a quarter of the SPLA [the Sudan People's Liberation Army] were Muslims," he added.



Kiir also promised to provide assistance for mosques in South Sudan.



"I will help to build the mosque and I will help in solving the problems that you face," he said. "South Sudan is a country that will promote all religions."



Kiir went on to urge the country's Muslim community to work for promoting peace in South Sudan.



"The government wants peace; I ask you to be part of this process," he said. "Let us work together with all religious groups, all stakeholders and the government so that peace can be achieved."



"I urge you to be good. As Islam says, don't accept terrorism like others. Don't listen to those who work evil," Kiir told Muslim attendees.



"If terrorist come to South Sudan, the government will thrash them," he added.



South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when Kiir accused his sacked vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting to overthrow his regime.



Hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese have since been displaced in subsequent fighting, while large swathes of the population continue to face a grave humanitarian crisis.



In recent months, the warring rivals have held on-again, off-again peace talks in Addis Ababa under the auspices of IGAD, a Djibouti-based East African trade bloc.



By Okech Francis



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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