UN chief urges Sudanese to discuss post-referendum arrangements

January 22, 2010 (NEW YORK) — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged the Sudanese parties of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) to address the post referendum arrangements to shun war.

The national parliament adopted last month a law on the organization of a self determination referendum accordingly, southerner Sudanese would decide to remain within the current Sudan or to establish their independent state.

The National Congress Party (NCP) and its junior partner the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) agreed to discuss key issues after the results of 2011 referendum.

However despite pledges of no return to war repeatedly made by the two partners there are many areas in the CPA implementation that may pose a grave risk of igniting conflict.

“Now that the Referendum Act is in place, I urge the parties to waste no time in negotiating the post-referendum agreements. The United Nations stands ready to assist in this endeavour,” Ban Ki-Moon worded in his report to the Security Council released on Friday.

Ki-Moon mentioned the slow pace of progress in the implementation of Abyei Arbitration rule and the demarcation of north–south border demarcation; he detailed troop’s redeployment.

The UN chief told the Council that the implementation of Abyei arbitration is hindered by the opposition of some Messeriya elements as “misinterpretations and false rumors regarding the decision have increased tensions throughout the area”.

He further said armed obstruction of the work of the demarcation team have effectively blocked efforts to demarcate the border of the longtime disputed area.

The north and south border demarcation represents also a key concern, with implications for both the elections and the referendums, he stressed.

“I call upon the parties to commit the necessary political will to accelerate this process and prevent it from becoming a major impediment to implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” he said.

The CPA seen in 2005 as cornerstone to achieve peace in the country including the resolution of Darfur conflict, now is considered as the best way to prevent future conflict between the north and south by establishing an independent state.

However, speaking about the troop redeployment, the report said the Sudan Armed Forces have no presence in the south while SPLA has now reached “redeployment from Northern Sudan of 33.7 per cent out of the stated strength of 59,168, up from 27.6 per cent as at the date of my previous report.”

The UN Secretary further stressed that these figures do not, however, reflect “the redeployment on the ground claimed by SPLA, much of which has occurred outside the scope of the (CPA) monitoring and verification instruments”

A political agreement will be necessary to resolve these redeployments, including 9,599 “voluntarily demobilized” SPLA troops in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile and 32,814 otherwise unaccounted for SPLA troops, he said.

(ST)