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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Sep 15 2010 - 17:03:36 EDT
Sudan rejects U.S. referendum incentives
Wed Sep 15,
* Sudan rejects Washington's "threats"
* Accuses Washington of interfering in internal affairs
* Says Khartoum hears conflicting voices from Americans
KHARTOUM, Sept 15 (Reuters) - A package of incentives offered by Washington
to ensure the smooth holding of a referendum on whether south Sudan should
secede from the north amounts to interference in Sudan's affairs, a ruling
party official said on Wednesday.
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday offered incentives including restoring
full diplomatic relations and allowing some non-oil trade and investment if
Sudan held the Jan. 9, 2011 referendums on south Sudan and the disputed
Abyei region on time and agreed principles on post-referendum issues such as
wealth sharing and the border between north and south.
The package also holds out the threat of additional sanctions against Sudan
if progress is not made.
"Really this is threatening and giving a warning to the Sudanese government
without any reason," Rabie Abdelati, a Senior National Congress Party
official, told Reuters.
"If somebody is saying they will do what's agreed upon there's no need to
say to him I am warning you."
He said the NCP was committed to holding the referendums on time so threats
were not necessary.
"This shows intervention in the domestic affairs of a country," Abdelati
said.
Abdelati said Khartoum was confused by Washington's policy on Sudan, saying
it heard conflicting voices from the administration.
U.S. Sudan envoy Scott Gration is often criticised by Sudan activists in the
United States for being too soft on Khartoum, a policy they say has yielded
no tangible results with disputed and flawed April elections and little
progress towards democratic transformation.
"We feel that some institutions in the USA don't have the same view and the
same trend towards Sudan," Abdelati said. "That is why up to now for us the
stance of the U.S. administration is not clear."
He said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed a tougher line than
others including Gration.
"This shows a conflict in the centre of decision making in the USA
especially about Sudan -- we don't receive one message with one colour,"
said Abdelati.
Preparations for the simultaneous referendums on south Sudan, which most
analysts expect to result in secession, and the oil-producing Abyei region
on whether to join the south or north, have been delayed by years of
bickering between north and south over implementing the 2005 accord which
ended the country's long-running civil war.
The referendums are the climax of the deal which was supposed to share
wealth and power and transform Sudan into a democracy. (Reporting by Opheera
McDoom; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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