Khartoum broaches secession issue

Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has said he is prepared to accept a separate state in southern Sudan if that will end the country’s 15-year-old civil war. Speaking during an interview on Saturday with the Jezira Satellite Channel, a Qatari TV station, al Bashir also noted that the 1997 Sudan Peace Agreement acknowledges Southerners’ right to self-determination. The agreement provides for a referendum on self-determination for the south. “The government supports and works for the alternative of the unity of Sudan, but if the people of southern Sudan decide to secede through the agreed-upon referendum, the government will respect their decision,” al Bashir said. “The government’s position is that peace and unity should come through the ballot rather than the bullet,” al Mansour Bolad, an official of the Sudan embassy in Nairobi, told IRIN today, quoting al Bashir. He said besides the 1997 peace agreement, there have been consultations between the government and SPLA rebels and “all will depend on the will of the people of southern Sudan”. However, SPLA spokesman John Luc said there was nothing new to al Bashir’s offer. “One week after taking over leadership in June 1989, al Bashir had said the same thing, offering the southerners a right to secede. It was the very reason he came to power, saying he wanted to restore peace in Sudan, but nothing happened,” Luc said. “This statement will be tested mid-next month at the Sudan peace talks in Nairobi,” he added. “If Bashir is serious then let his delegation come with the proposal at the talks. In the meantime, we are waiting to see.”