Bashir: We won't accept an alternative to Sudan unity

Khartoum, Tuesday

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir warned today he would not accept an alternative to unity despite his commitment to a peace deal with the south that provides for an independence referendum.

“Despite our commitment to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, we will not accept an alternative to unity,” Bashir told parliament in a speech, without specifying his reaction in case of a “yes” vote in the south’s referendum.

South Sudan, which fought a two-decade civil war against the north that ended in a 2005 peace deal, is set to vote on whether to secede or remain part of the country in a January 9 referendum.

The peace deal gave the former southern rebels, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, semi-autonomous powers and a share in the Khartoum government, and promised a referendum on southern independence.

“Unity is the probable outcome for the south if it is given freedom of choice in a fair, free election. Sound logic leads the south to unity,” the president said.

Analysts say the vote is expected to favour independence.

Bashir pledged a fair referendum, but added that demarcation of disputed border points with the south was a “decisive factor in conducting a fair and free election.”

Sudan’s military last week accused the southern army of crossing a disputed border, warning that the “violation” could derail the referendum.

The south’s president, Salva Kiir, asked a visiting delegation of United Nations Security Council envoys last week for UN peacekeepers along the border ahead of the referendum.

A diplomat at the meeting said the request would be considered.

Preparations for the January independence vote are seriously behind schedule, stirring fears of a new conflict between the two sides if there is a delay.

North Sudan demonstrators and police clashed with a small group of south Sudan activists in Khartoum over the weekend as the UN envoys met Sudan’s foreign minister.

The United Nations already has 10,000 peacekeepers in Sudan, not counting its major presence in Darfur, western Sudan as part of a joint force with the African Union. Some of the troops are observing the 2005 peace agreement.

International agenda

Sudan has taken on added importance on the international agenda since US President Barack Obama spoke at a UN meeting on Sudan last month and said a peaceful vote must be held on time.

On top of the referendum, however, much will depend on any final accord over the frontier, the sharing of major oil revenues and the citizenship of northerners and southerners who live on the other side of the border.

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki is mediating negotiations. (AFP)