Sudans præsident, Omar al-Bashir, afviser enhver mulighed for at indgå en aftale om 3 omstridte landområder under fredsforhandlingerne om en afslutning på borgerkrigen, der føres i nabolandet Kenya, rapporterer BBC Online onsdag.
Præsidenten siger, at forhandlerne ikke har mandat til at afgøre det fremtidige tilhørsforhold for områderne Abyei, Nuba Mountains og Blue Nile, som begge parter i borgerkrigen ønsker at kontrollere som led i en fredsløsning.
Kontrollen over de politisk vigtige områder er en af de sidste knaster for at nå til enighed om fred efter 20 års borgerkrig i Afrikas største land, der har kostet henved 2 millioner dødsofre og dobbelt så mange fordrevne og hjemløse.
Kampen står mellem det muslimsk-dominerede nord med centralregeringen i Khartoum i spidsen og det kristne og animistiske Sydsudan med oprørsbevægelsen SPLM i spidsen.
USA og lokale aktører i regionen har satset hårdt på at bringe parterne til forhandlingsbordet, og USAs særlige udsending i området, John Danforth, kom onsdag til Naivasha i Kenya, hvor rebellederen John Garang og Sudans vivcepræsident, Ali Osman Taha, leder forhandlingsdelegationerne.
Parterne er allerede nået til enighed om det meste, bl.a. fordelingen af Sudans olierigdomme, som skal deles med 50 procent til hver. Dertil kommer oprettelse af en enhedshær, en deling af den politiske magt og 6 års selvstyre for Sydsudan, hvorefter regionen får ret til at afgøre sin fremtid ved en folkeafstemning, der rummer mulighed for løsrivelse og uafhængighed, anfører BBC Online.
FN-bureauet, Irinnews, har en noget anden vurdering af fredsudsigterne. Vi bringer bureauets seneste rapport:
Progress has been made at peace talks between the Sudanese government and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-Army (SPLM) on the future status of two key contested areas, according to the government.
– We have achieved quite good progress on southern Blue Nile and the Nuba mountains, but the question of Abyei is still difficult, said Said Khatib, a government spokesman. – The points of difference are not easy, added he.
He said both sides had reached agreement in principle on the division of powers between the national and state governments in southern Blue Nile and the Nuba mountains, which would remain part of northern Sudan. “Anything that logically is a matter that concerns more than one state” would be controlled by the national government, while education and other services would fall under the state governments powers.
A “special status” would be awarded to both areas for development and reconstruction, he added.
The SPLM spokesman, Yasir Arman, remained tight-lipped, saying both sides were continuing to hold discussions on the two areas, as well as Abyei.
Under the colonial borders drawn up in 1956, all three contested areas found themselves under the control of northern-dominated administrations.
Regularly attacked by northern militias, denied humanitarian aid, and treated effectively as “second-class citizens” by the ruling classes they have experienced systematic marginalisation and discrimination, according to political analysts.
Observers say the status of oil-rich Abyei is one of the most contentious issues to be decided on before a comprehensive peace agreement is possible. Currently part of western Kordofan in northern Sudan, the SPLM is demanding that the contested area be made part of the south by an executive decree, as part of an overall peace deal.
The government in Khartoum, on the other hand, is keen to have Abyeis status decided later on: – We are saying: let us link it to neither north nor south. Let us link it to the presidency, and during the interim period work out a final solution, said Khatib.
A local humanitarian source from Abyei told IRIN that the area had become a key issue because of its large oil reserves and rich agricultural and pastoral lands.
He said a number of intellectuals from Abyei were also in high positions in the SPLM or commanders in the SPLA, whose support the movement wanted to maintain. If they were not satisfied with the outcome of the peace talks, there was also a danger of a rebellion erupting in Abyei, he added.
