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| Africa Horn |
| Sudan: Conflict could surge if north-south peace accord unravels, warns UN |
| 2009-02-07 |
| (AKI) - Fighting and instability in Sudan is likely to escalate dramatically if the peace agreement that ended the north-south civil war unravels. The landmark 2005 accord is coming under the pressure from insufficient mutual trust, fighting in the western Darfur region, and the possible war crimes indictment of president Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, a senior United Nations official has warned. "The humanitarian implications of a relapse into conflict and chaos throughout Sudan are, to put it mildly, sobering," UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon's special representative for Sudan Ashraf Jehangir Qazi told the Security Council late on Thursday. Qazi was giving the top UN decision-making body a briefing on Suduan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that in 2005 ended the two-decades-long conflict between the north and south, in which at least 2 million people were killed and some 4.5 million more driven from their homes. Presenting Ban's latest report to the 15-member body, Qazi stressed that making unity attractive to the people of Southern Sudan, where a referendum on possible secession is due in 2011, should remain the focus of the parties and the international community over the next two years. "Without any exaggeration, 2009 could be a make or break year for the CPA and for the prospect of peace in Sudan," he said. The report called for "a tangible peace dividend," including the provision of basic public services, particularly for the people in the south and in the border areas, to convince them of the benefits of remaining in a united country. Qazi also repeated the need for border demarcation between the northern and southern regions and a focus on disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration. In his report, Ban expressed concern that some Sudanese officials had warned Sudan may seek to "redefine its relationship" with the UN mission to the country should an arrest warrant be issued against al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur. Qazi said the impact of an ICC decision on the CPA and the Darfur situation would need to be discussed. "We have received assurances of protection and cooperation from Sudanese authorities at the highest levels," he stressed. "But these assurances have been qualified by warnings about public outrage. There have also been public threats and incitement to violence," he said. "Political and security circumstances permitting, the UN is committed to continue its work in accordance with the mandate entrusted to it by the Security Council," he added. The UN mission in Sudan is charged with enforcing the CPA. |
| Posted by:Fred |