Foreign powers urge North & South Sudan to resume post-split talk
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March 15, 2011 (NAIROBI) – A tripartite group of foreign powers which
helped broker a 2005’s peace deal between north and south Sudan has
expressed concern over the breakdown of separation arrangements talks
between the two sides, urging them to maintain dialogue.
JPEG - 14.3 kb
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, center, gestures as he poses with
his counterpart William Hague of Britain and U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton, during a Group of Eight foreign Ministers
meeting in Paris, Monday, March 14, 2011 (AP PHOTOS)
A joint statement released on Tuesday by members of the Sudan Troika -
the United States, Norway and Britain – expressed “serious concern”
over the south’s decision this weekend to freeze talks with the north
on post-separation issues after the south chose to split from the
north in a referendum conducted in January this year under the 2005’s
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended nearly half a century
of north-south’s intermittent civil wars.
The three countries, which played a major role in establishing the
CPA, said it was “critical” for north and south Sudan to resume the
talks from which the south withdrew citing alleged support by Khartoum
to the south’s renegade army general Gorge Athor whose forces attacked
Malakal town in the Upper Nile State this week before being rebelled
by South Sudan army.
The South accused the north-based government led by President
Al-Bashir of planning to overthrow the government in the south ahead
of the region’s formal independence in July this year, saying it would
be suspending talks with the north “until it stops its policy for
obstructing stability in South Sudan, and until after the Security
Council’s investigation is concluded,” as put by the south’s minister
of peace affairs Pagan Amum.
The Troika’s statement urged “President Bashir and First Vice
President Kiir [also President of South Sudan] to take steps against
alleged actions that destabilize each other’s governments and
territories, and to lay the ground for mutual cooperation with the
goal of the creation of two viable states in July.”
Tension has been exacerbated by recent violence in Abyei region whose
ownership is claimed by both north and south Sudan. The status of the
region was supposed to be determined via a referendum in January but
the vote has been held hostage to disagreements between north and
south Sudan over who can vote in the plebiscite.
“We call upon the parties to take immediate measures to restrain armed
groups under their influence, and to resume bilateral discussions on
conditions for their withdrawal,” the troika’s statement said in
reference to the situation in Abyei where recent violence was prompted
by clashes between armed militias of the north-backed Messirya
cattle-herding tribe and South Sudan police stationed in the region.
The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which is mandated to
monitor the CPA, has increased patrolling of Abyei and deployed an
extra force of peacekeepers there to prevent further violence.
But a statement by the UN’s Secretary-General on Monday complained
that the mission had been “consistently refused access” to areas of
conflict in Abyei and “considerably restricted” in its movement,
urging north and south Sudan to allow UNMIS “unhindered" access to
these areas in order to assess the situation and immediate needs on
the ground.
The three countries condemned restrictions on UNMIS movement,
reminding both parties of their obligation to permit “full access” to
Abyei by UNMIS peacekeepers.
Meanwhile, France has deplored the violence that took place in
Southern Sudan, calling on each party to “act responsibly and to
refrain from violence during this crucial period for the future of the
people of Sudan.”
The statement of the French foreign ministry said that the “resolution
of post-referendum issues must be part of a constructive and
responsible dialogue.”
(ST)
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