By Muhyadin Ahmed Roble, AfricaNews
NAIROBI, KENYA, 12 October 2010: Talks on the future of South Sudan’s oil-rich Abyei region have failed, officials said Tuesday.
– This round has failed, Pagan Amum, secretary-general of the south’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) told reporters in Addis Ababa.
– We are left with 90 days. The time is very critical, he added, and warned that if the parties fail to sort out the issues, this could cause an end of the peace process itself.
– And the peace may unravel in Sudan, he said. Southern Sudan officials are holding talks with members of president Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s ruling party of National Congress Party in Addis Abada to determine the future of southern and North Sudan border.
Last week, Sudan President al-Bashir accused the country’s southern autonomous leadership of breaking terms of a peace deal. He warned a conflict could re-erupt if the two sides did not resolve disputes before referendum vote.
Al-Bashir’s speech raised the stakes in a war of words between Khartoum and former rebel group of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the south government.
The president said he is still committed to hold the referendum on the south’s independence, which is planned to take place on 9th January, 2011 but insisted both sides first had to settle differences over the site of their borders.
