webmaster
© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1993-2010
All rights reserved
From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Aug 26 2010 - 07:41:13 EDT
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE67P01T20100826
Former US diplomat tackles Sudan north-south issues
Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:30am GMT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A retired U.S. ambassador has gone to Sudan to
try to help settle north-south disputes on sharing wealth and power
ahead of a referendum on independence for the south, the U.S. State
Department said on Wednesday.
The two sides need to resolve sensitive issues including demarcating
the border, defining citizenship and sharing oil and Nile waters in
the case of either result in the January 9, 2011 referendum --
secession or unity.
The plebiscite culminates the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)
which ended Africa's longest civil war. The conflict claimed 2 million
lives, mostly through hunger and disease, and destabilized much of
east Africa.
Princeton Lyman, former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria and South Africa,
left for Sudan on Tuesday as part of a beefed up U.S. team trying to
help the two sides ahead of the referendum, which most analysts
believe will lead to southern secession.
"Ambassador Lyman will provide a senior-level presence in Sudan
dedicated specifically to working with the CPA parties to reach
consensus on outstanding CPA implementation issues, such as
citizenship, border demarcation and resource sharing," said State
Department spokesman Mark Toner.
The State Department said Lyman left to join U.S. special envoy Scott
Gration for talks with both sides this week. Lyman will shuttle
between Khartoum and Juba, with periodic consultations in Washington.
Analysts agree time is running short especially on defining the
border, a problem similar to the one which sparked conflict between
neighboring Eritrea and Ethiopia when they separated.
Most of Sudan's oil wealth is believed to lie along the disputed
north-south border, and defining the frontier has remained in deadlock
for years.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----