Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir over the weekend warned of the possibility of civil war between the country’s north and south factions if they are not able to reach accord on certain issues before a referendum on southern secession planned for January.
At a summit of the Arab League in Libya this weekend, Bashir said that issues of border demarcation, citizenship, wealth, national debt, and water should be resolved before the referendum, according to the Sudan Tribune.
Bashir warned that failure to address these issues before January, “threaten to make the process a venue for recreating the military conflict between the north and south,” according to the report.
Bashir also criticized vice president Salva Kiir’s public support of secession, saying that this violates Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Kiir is president of the southern government and leader of its Southern People’s Liberation Movement.
Bashir’s maintains that SPLM and should promote unity among southern voters, while the majority of analysts say that the south is headed to choose independence, according to government news organization Voice of America.
Adviser to the Anti-Terrorism Caucus in the House of Representatives, Walid Phares, said that Bashir is using the referendum to end sanctions against Sudan and his indictment by International Criminal Court (ICC), according to the report.
Pahres also said that the north’s talk of war and deployment of “northern forces at the demarcation line is more of a threat to peace than a re-enforcement of the [CPA] agreement,” according to VOA.
In it’s rocky history since independence from Britain in 1956, Sudan has suffered through two prolonged civil wars. The CPA agreement reached in 2005, ended 20 years of civil war that left 2 million people dead and granted southern rebels autonomy for six years until the independence referendum in 2011.
At a summit of the Arab League in Libya this weekend, Bashir said that issues of border demarcation, citizenship, wealth, national debt, and water should be resolved before the referendum, according to the Sudan Tribune.
Bashir warned that failure to address these issues before January, “threaten to make the process a venue for recreating the military conflict between the north and south,” according to the report.
Bashir also criticized vice president Salva Kiir’s public support of secession, saying that this violates Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Kiir is president of the southern government and leader of its Southern People’s Liberation Movement.
Bashir’s maintains that SPLM and should promote unity among southern voters, while the majority of analysts say that the south is headed to choose independence, according to government news organization Voice of America.
Adviser to the Anti-Terrorism Caucus in the House of Representatives, Walid Phares, said that Bashir is using the referendum to end sanctions against Sudan and his indictment by International Criminal Court (ICC), according to the report.
Pahres also said that the north’s talk of war and deployment of “northern forces at the demarcation line is more of a threat to peace than a re-enforcement of the [CPA] agreement,” according to VOA.
In it’s rocky history since independence from Britain in 1956, Sudan has suffered through two prolonged civil wars. The CPA agreement reached in 2005, ended 20 years of civil war that left 2 million people dead and granted southern rebels autonomy for six years until the independence referendum in 2011.
