Friday, December 25, 2009

African Union Worries Over Sudan Distrust Between North and South

Friday, December 25, 2009

African Union worries over Sudan distrust

Nigerian Guardian

THE African Union yesterday expressed concern at the lack of trust between Sudan's north and south over the implementation of their peace agreement, agency reports indicated

The Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that the AU's Peace and Security Council said in a statement following a mission to Sudan last month that the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended two decades of north-south civil war needed to be "re-energised".

The council "expresses concern at the continuing lack of confidence between the National Congress Party (north) and the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (south) regarding the implementation of the CPA," the statement said.

The statement said concern was heightened by "the challenges faced by the Sudan in both the implementation of the CPA and the upcoming elections in April 2010, as well as the preparations for the referendum."

The 2005 internationally-brokered peace deal provides for a referendum to be held in 2011 in which semi-autonomous southern Sudan will decide whether or not to become fully independent.

The AU Peace and Security Council said it was establishing a committee to help address the most pressing challenges.

Tensions have been running high between north and south, still divided by the religious, ethnic and ideological differences over which the 1983-2005 civil war was fought.

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