Ministers summoned

Parliamentary committee on defense and foreign relations has summoned Foreign Affairs Minister, Defense Minister and labour minister John Munyes who is being accused of espionage by the government of Southern Sudan.

The committee says the allegations leveled against cabinet minister John Munyes are serious and touch on the sovereignty of this country.

The committee also regretted the harassment of businessmen operating in southern Sudan.

The committee will visit North Eastern province next month to look into claims that youths in the province were being recruited by Somali rebels.

The committee however maintains that the Kenya government at all times should impartially support peace initiatives through non-military engagement.

Meanwhile, Southern Sudan government on Tuesday denied allegations made by the minister John Munyes that he had been accused by southern Sudan officials of working for Khartoum government.

"We in the Government of South Sudan have not accused the Kenyan Minister of Labor or anybody in Kenya about anything. The people of Kenya and South Sudanese are brothers and sisters, and we in the Government of South Sudan have high regards for and to the people and the government of Kenya," said GOSS minister of regional cooperation, Gen. Oyay Deng Ajak.

Ajak was speaking to the pres following a meeting between President Mwai Kibaki and Sudan First Vice President and GOSS President Salva Kiir Maydrit on Tuesday in Nairobi.

Labor Minister John Munyes, who is also a Member of Parliament for Turkana North Constituency, threatened to quit cabinet if allegations leveled against him by southern Sudan officials are not cleared.

Citing a meeting between Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang'ula and the officials, Munyes claimed the delegation, led by the Sudanese ambassador to Kenya Majok Guandong Thiep, accused him of being used by northern Sudan to fan conflict in Southern Sudan.

He said a southern Sudanese official had accused him of being bankrolled by Khartoum to buy weapons and spy to destabilize them.

He said the problem started when the government deployed military personnel at Nandapal near Lokichoggio to ensure peace between the Toposa and Turkana herders.