From: Tsegai Emmanuel (emmanuelt40@gmail.com)
Date: Sun Dec 13 2009 - 11:34:57 EST
Leaders strike deal on Sudan democratic reforms
by Abdel Moneim Abu Edries Ali Abdel Moneim Abu Edries Ali 21 mins ago
KHARTOUM (AFP) – Leaders of former warring north and south Sudan announced a
deal on democratic reforms on Sunday ahead of next year's national elections
and a southern referendum on independence.
"We announce an agreement between the two partners on all points, which had
been a source of disagreement on the referendum law in south Sudan," said Nafie
Ali Nafie, deputy head of Khartoum's ruling National Congress Party (NCP).
The two parties also agreed to "look into the national security and
intelligence law in order to reach an agreement," Nafie said, without
elaborating.
He was speaking at a joint news conference with the head of the former rebel
Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), Pagan Amum, who said: "With this
agreement, we announce the end of the crisis between the two partners."
*The SPLM had wanted the referendum result to be determined by a 50+1
majority, while the NCP sought a two-thirds majority. Another point of
disagreement was over the powers of the security services.*
The details of the agreement will be announced after consultation with all
political forces in Sudan, Amum said, adding that MPs who have boycotted
parliament for 45 days would start attending sessions "within 24 hours."
The announcement came after a series of meetings since Thursday between
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir and South Sudan leader Salva Kiir.
The agreement aims to defuse tensions between the two parties which had
threatened a 2005 peace deal signed between north and south Sudan to end a
bitter decades-long civil war.
Reform and changes to the electoral law were key aspects of the 2005 peace
accord.
The row reached crisis point on Monday after Sudanese police detained three
senior opposition figures -- including Amum -- and dozens of demonstrators
from the south's ruling party in a crackdown against a planned protest.
Southern protesters had responded by torching the NCP office in the southern
city of Wau.
US envoy Scott Gration was expected in Sudan later on Sunday as part of
efforts to defuse tensions between the two sides.
"Special envoy Scott Gration will return to Sudan this weekend to help
restart dialogue and resolve outstanding issues that are contributing to
these rising tensions," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on
Thursday.
The 2005 peace deal saw the largely Christian and black African south
win regional
autonomy under SPLM leadership, with a referendum on its potential full
independence slated for January 2011.
The 2010 general election will be the first in Sudan since 1986, three years
before Beshir toppled a democratically elected government in a bloodless
military coup, and the fifth since independence in 1956.
Registration for the regional, legislative and presidential polls began on
November 1 and was to have run until the end of last month but extended
until December 7 after a request from opposition parties and former southern
rebels.
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