From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue Jun 01 2010 - 07:53:48 EDT
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article35250 US urged to intervene in
Sudan’s 2011 referendum - ICG
Tuesday 1 June 2010
By Julius N. Uma
May 31, 2010 (JUBA) — Sustained and high level leadership from the
international community-including the United States is essential in ensuring
that events leading to Sudan’s referendum unfold peacefully, David Mozersky,
Horn of Africa Project Director at the International Crisis Group said.
The referendum, a key requirement in the country’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA) is scheduled for early next year.
In a mouth-watering testimony delivered before the Subcommittee on African
Affairs, Senate Committee in Foreign Relations last week, Mozersky said the
forthcoming referendum will be a critical moment for Sudan’s future to be
reshaped, for better or for worse.
Describing the US as the guarantor of the 2005 CPA, and the author of the
Abyei Protocol, Mozersky said the U.S. government has a unique and important
responsibility to help provide leadership and support to the people of Sudan
in the months and years ahead.
Analysts widely contend that southerners will vote for secession, if the
vote is free and fair.
However, as the referendum date draws closer, pressure is still mounting on
issues that need to be resolved, including resolving the north south border
dispute that has raged on for decades.
According to political analysts, failure to address some of these
contentious matters could sow the seeds for future conflict and governance
and capacity challenges in the South that could be exacerbated
post-referendum.
"There is a genuine risk of a return to large-scale North-South conflict in
the run-up to the referendum and the fault lines for the coming months are
becoming clearer," the testimony entitled, "Assessing Challenges and
Opportunities Facing Sudan" party reads.
Over the past years, relations between the ruling National Congress Party
(NCP) and their southern counterparts, the Sudanese Peoples Liberation
Movement (SPLM) have been characterized by mistrust, with both accusing the
other of delaying the implementation of the CPA.
As such, political analysts contend that the response of the U.S. Government
and the broader international community will be critical towards seeing that
the referendum is held on time per the terms of the peace agreement.
Already, the SPLM is opposed to any form of negotiations that are likely to
delay the conduct of referendum for possible southern independence.
Pagan Amum, the SPLM Secretary General last month told a high-level
delegation at an African Union meeting that his party would not accept any
negotiations on the referendum, earmarked for January 2011.
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