Blue Nile may join South Sudan if peace deal not implemented – official

Mar 9, 2006 (KURMUK) — The minister of cultural and Social Affairs in Blue Nile State, Abbas Haj Hamad, has threatened that his state would join the south Sudan government and establish a Funj State in case the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which stipulates legitimate rights for popular consultation, is not properly implemented.

In an interview with Khartoum Monitor in Kurmuk — Southern Blue Nile State near Ethiopia — Hamad said if the government of National Unity (GONU) continues to delay the implementation of the CPA, the people of the Blue Nile will take appropriate action.

The minister also warned GONU not to forget the fact that if south Sudan secedes there will be a south of the new Sudan comprising Blue Nile, the Nuba Mountains and Abyei, and that like the old south, it would be backed by the new state. He said the CPA is not being implemented in Blue Nile State after the elapse of one year.

He also said the SPLM would deal with the GONU through the long arm of the law in case the other party is not serious about the implementation of the CPA and GONU must not forget that there will be elections after 3 years.

(Khartoum Monitor/ST)