From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Fri Feb 05 2010 - 23:48:45 EST
http://www.africa-confidential.com/news
BLUE LINES
THE INSIDE VIEW
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s awkwardness with
journalists sparked a diplomatic furore after he was quoted at the African
Union summit as saying that the UN would ‘work hard to avoid a possible
secession’ in Sudan. Furious officials at the Government of South
Sudan’s mission to the United States told Africa Confidential it was
unacceptable for the UN to take sides ahead of next year’s referendum on
independence for the South. Ban’s statement also prompted a request for
clarification from the South’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and local
protests. Complicating matters for Secretary General Ban was that he was
speaking after remarks by AU Commission President Jean Ping, who is openly
pro-Khartoum, suggesting that Southern secession could prompt Sudan’s
violent break-up. Some critics note that in 1950, the UN intervened with
the USA’s backing in Ban’s homeland to divide the country into North
Korea and South Korea. UN Spokesman Farhan Haq insisted that Ban had been
misinterpreted and misreported. Another UN official told us Ban was trying
to reinvigorate the final stages of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,
which calls for both parties to make national unity ‘attractive’.
Although the UN would not go against the results of the referendum, the
official said, it might seek a political deal as part of a two-track
strategy; the other track would be preparations for a newly independent
state.The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s awkwardness with
journalists sparked a diplomatic furore after he was quoted at the African
Union summit as saying that the UN would ‘work hard to avoid a possible
secession’ in Sudan. Furious officials at the Government of South
Sudan’s mission to the United States told Africa Confidential it was
unacceptable for the UN to take sides ahead of next year’s referendum on
independence for the South. Ban’s statement also prompted a request for
clarification from the South’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and local
protests. Complicating matters for Secretary General Ban was that he was
speaking after remarks by AU Commission President Jean Ping, who is openly
pro-Khartoum, suggesting that Southern secession could prompt Sudan’s
violent break-up. Some critics note that in 1950, the UN intervened with
the USA’s backing in Ban’s homeland to divide the country into North
Korea and South Korea. UN Spokesman Farhan Haq insisted that Ban had been
misinterpreted and misreported. Another UN official told us Ban was trying
to reinvigorate the final stages of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,
which calls for both parties to make national unity ‘attractive’.
Although the UN would not go against the results of the referendum, the
official said, it might seek a political deal as part of a two-track
strategy; the other track would be preparations for a newly independent
state.
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