Washington cautions against a return to war

WASHINGTON, Wednesday

The US has urged Sudan’s north and south not to allow disputes over oil and elections to unravel the 2005 peace deal that ended their two-decade civil war.

Disagreements over how to implement the deal could drag the African oil exporter back into conflict if not settled ahead of a ruling on a disputed oil region in July, elections in 2010 and a referendum on southern secession the following year.

“The stakes are enormous,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, reflecting fears among officials and analysts that the civil war, in which two million people died, could erupt again. The war was separate from the Darfur conflict which continues in western Sudan.

Mr Steinberg spoke at a US-hosted conference that gathered officials from north Sudan’s dominant National Congress Party, the south’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and 20 countries to try to keep the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on track.

The agreement set an interim period, with a coalition government between the Muslim north and mostly Christian south and the sharing of oil wealth. It ends in 18 months with a referendum in the south for which analysts say the government is unprepared.

On Tuesday night, conference participants emphasised that they want to see nationwide elections in line with the February 2010 timetable and that a referendum on self-determination should occur no later than January 2011.

A return to war would be disastrous effect for Sudan, its oil industry -- where Total of France, CNPC of China, Petronas of Malaysia and other major firms are active -- and surrounding states.

A key dispute between the two sides has been control of the oil-producing Abyei region in central Sudan. The north and south claim parts of it and their troops have clashed there since the 2005 deal. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is due to rule on the dispute in July.