Three former Unity State Governors said that Panthou is not a contested area but belongs to South Sudan, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration is the way to resolve the claims.
Joseph Monycuil was the Unity State Governor from 2003 to 2005. He told the press on Wednesday that during his term of office Panthou was under his authority and nobody including President Omer al Bashir objection to that fact.He said the problem started when he presented a State Progress Report in 2004 attaching a map of the state that included Panthou.
Dr Monycuil said the report caused a heated debate in the Council of Ministers and President Bashir asked for a ruling to decide where Panthou belonged.
He explained that two weeks later he received a letter from the then Cabinet Affairs minister Nafie Ali Nafie telling him to change the map of the state and follow the one he sent attached to the letter because it was the original.
Dr Monycuil said he did not change the map and continued administrating an area that included Kharasana which is about 70 Kilometres north of Panthou through the provision of services and taxes collection.
Ex Governor Manase Magok Runjal, who ran that state from 2000 to 2002, said Panthou is not a contested area because it belongs to South Sudan.
He added that the Permanent Court of Arbitration is the way to settle claims.
Former Governor Michael Mayil, who governed the state in 1995, said during the opening of the first pipeline President Bashir announced that Panthou was part of Unity state.
He said he was surprised with the recent Sudanese claim over the area.