Sudan: Progress on southern peace "satisfactory"

16/07/2009| IslamWeb

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir described as "satisfactory" on Wednesday the implementation of a faltering north-south peace deal that ended over two decades of civil war.

Sudan's north and south fought a civil war that ended in a 2005 peace agreement.

But former southern rebels have said there was no concrete progress in recent talks in Washington over outstanding issues, and that time was running out to save the accord. There has also been a report of a military build-up by South Sudan. "Enforcement of this peace accord for south Sudan is satisfactory, and there is a national mechanism in order to settle whatever disputes (take place) during enforcement of this accord," Bashir told a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt.

Bashir said the meeting between both sides in Washington last month to discuss remaining disputes was "very effective".

Bashir also said he welcomed international supervision of national elections, now set for April 2010 after being twice postponed. The poll will precede a referendum on independence for the semi-autonomous south due in 2011.

"I seize this opportunity in order to call on ... all regional and international organizations to participate in the supervising of these elections, because we are very interested to have integral and honest elections," Bashir said, according to an official translation of his remarks.

Both sides have accused each other of dragging their feet over implementing the peace deal.

Analysts warn that outstanding disputes including the borders of the contested Abyei region, which holds key oilfields, may drag the country back to conflict if left unresolved. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is due to rule this month on a dispute over the borders of Abyei. Northern and southern troops have clashed in the area since the 2005 agreement was signed.

The journal Jane's Defense Weekly reported earlier this month, citing satellite evidence, that South Sudan's army is building up its tank numbers.

The southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has said it was exercising its right to modernize its military hardware, but denied the reports of new tank deliveries, saying it had no intention of antagonizing Khartoum.

PHOTO CAPTION

SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) troops south of Abyei, in 2008.

Reuters