South Sudan urges IGAD summit to discuss CPA crisis
October 23, 2007 (NAIROBI) — South Sudan has appealed to Kenya to convene a regional summit to help resolve a political crisis that threatens to unravel a peace deal that halted two decades of war in the south, an official said Tuesday.
A day before Sudan’s President Omar al-Beshir and southern leader Salva Kiir meet for a second time in Khartoum, the region urged President Mwai Kibaki to call for an Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) summit urgently.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement pulled out of the unity government on October 11, accusing Beshir’s National Congress Party of failing to implement a 2005 peace deal.
“We are appeal to President Kibaki to organise an IGAD summit to discuss the implementation of the peace agreement,” a southern Sudan official told AFP.
IGAD members can call for a summit but southern Sudan cannot because of its semi-autonomous status.
On Monday, Kiir urged foreign nations to help resolve the stand-off while SPLM spokesman Pagan Amum called for a urgent UN Security Council summit to discuss the issue.
Beshir has rejected any foreign intervention.
The SPLM’s key concerns include the failure of northern troops to redeploy from the south, the disputed oil district of Abyei and the demarcation of an eventual north-south border.
IGAD, made up of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan, took 11 years to hammer out the deal that ended one of Africa’s most intractable conflicts. The Kenyan army’s General Lazaro Sumbeiywo was the chief mediator.
Earlier Tuesday, the new UN envoy to Sudan, Pakistani diplomat Ashraf Qazi, arrived in Khartoum to assume his duties and is expected to hold talks with feuding sides in a bid to salvage the agreement.
Since talks between Kiir and Beshir ended last week in a stand-off, officials from both sides have traded blame over who is responsible for the failure of the peace deal’s implementation.
Despite the SPLM’s withdrawal from the government, peace still prevails in southern Sudan, where around 10,000 United Nations peacekeepers are deployed.
At least 1.5 million people were killed and four million displaced in the civil war that erupted in 1983 when southerners took up arms to end decades of marginalisation by successive regimes in Khartoum.
(AFP)
Manyang
South Sudan urges IGAD summit to discuss CPA crisis
I sincerely beg to disagree with President Bashir of heavily criticizing SPLM of boycotting the CPA, that’s i believe is a total lie and rubbish which doesn’t hold water. Bashir can’t cheat the world. SPLM has seriouly been committed to the CPA to ensure it is implemented because it’s the only hope rather window opprtunity and a chance for peace in Sudan,nevertheless NCP often moves on different direction and endeavours to burn the CAP into ashes.
To be quite honest, the International Community and others always tend to sit on the fence laughing happily over the wrestling(between Bashir& Kiir) and when one breaks his limbs or strangles to death then is when the International Community, UN, i believe can take actions. What ashame!
Therefore i strongly support the idea to call for immediate intervention not only from IGAD but other bodies like UN,US, AU to mention just a few in order to see into it that CPA is implemented.
Manyang Rwei Gach
[email protected]
Greater Yirol