Sudan division talks break down

Bashir regime accused of funding and training militias to destabilise south before country’s division after referendum Southern Sudan has suspended talks with the northern government after accusing President Omar al-Bashir’s regime of arming rebel groups before the country’s split in July. The move comes amid a sharp increase in tensions in recent weeks, with hundreds of people killed in clashes in the south, and along the north-south border. In the latest fighting, up to 42 people were killed after militiamen attacked Malakal, a state capital, on Saturday. Announcing their withdrawal from key negotiations on Sunday, southern officials accused Bashir of using proxy forces to weaken the south and to try to topple its government before secession. “They [the north] have stepped up their destabilisation of southern Sudan by creating, training, and arming and financing various militia groups in southern Sudan,” said Pagan Amum, secretary general of the south’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), on Sunday. Amum said that the northern government was “already engaged at war”, forcing the south to suspend talks. The two sides, which ended their 22-year war in 2005, are meant to be negotiating crucial issues related to the country’s breakup, including border demarcation and oil-revenue sharing. Bashir’s National Congress party dismissed Amum’s allegations as “ridiculous”. But it also warned of more fighting in Abyei, a disputed and volatile border area whose status remains unresolved. The war of words – and the fighting on the ground – follows the mostly peaceful referendum in January , when 99% of southerners voted for independence. Bashir did not attempt to disrupt the ballot, as many observers suspected he would, and promised to respect the south’s decision to secede, raising hopes of a painless separation. But there were always warning signs this might not happen. The main one was Abyei, a long-contested region that was supposed to have its own vote in January on whether to join the south or north. Given that most of the eligible voters were expected to be Ngok Dinkas – southerners – it seemed inevitable that Abyei would join the south. But Bashir, ignoring the provisions of the 2005 deal to end the war, insisted that northern Missereya herders be allowed to vote too, forcing the ballot to be postponed. With only four months left to secession, the north is insisting on a negotiated settlement for Abyei, angering the SPLM and local people. After clashes in January, at least 70 people were killed in attacks involving Missereya and Ngok Dinka fighters earlier this month, with three villages razed and tens of thousands of people displaced. Elsewhere, in Jonglei and Upper Nile states, fighting between the southern army and militias groups allied to the renegade general George Athor have left hundreds dead. The SLPM says Athor is sponsored by Khartoum, although it has provided no evidence for this. Claire McEvoy, Sudan project manager at the Small Arms Survey , a Swiss-based research group, said that the unresolved post-referendum issues meant that the tension and violence was no surprise. But she added that neither side wanted another war, and that both were using rhetoric to try to maximise gains from the negotiations, as they have done in the past. “Posturing and accusations of bad faith are inevitably part of that process,” she said. Sudan Xan Rice guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 14, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.