Arab League offers $2 bln pledges for south Sudan

CAIRO, May 25 (Reuters) – The Arab League has invested more than $200 million and pledged a further $2 billion to rebuild Sudan after a peace deal in the south in the hope of keeping the country intact, the pan-Arab body said on Tuesday.

Sudan will sign protocols to signal a resolution of the continent’s longest-running civil war on Wednesday, Kenya said on Tuesday. Kenya is hosting the peace talks between the government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).

The Cairo-based Arab League congratulated the budding oil-producing state, and Africa’s largest country, on the agreement and said it would continue to support development in the lawless south, devastated by the strife.

“We congratulate both the SPLM and the Sudanese government and at the same time the Arab League hopes the protocols to be signed will help both sides make the unity of Sudan an attractive option for the people of southern Sudan,” said Samir Hosni, director of African-Arab cooperation at the league.

As part of the deal, southern Sudanese will vote in a referendum on secession after a six-year interim period.

“Now there is $200 million actually implemented in projects in the south,” Hosni told Reuters in Cairo, adding the cash was from an Arab League fund set up especially for Sudan.

“And there are so many pledges for when they reach a peace agreement – for $2 billion,” he said.

Hosni said given the historical grievances between the south and the north, it would not be easy for Sudan to remain united.

“But I think the majority of people will want unity if they feel that there is justice, democracy and their acceptance of the division of the authority and wealth in Sudan,” he said.