The statements of Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir helps to calm fears over a civil war in the country. Still it does nothing to improve the situation in the Darfur area of Sudan where there has been increase in violence.
From Reuters Alert Net, writer Khaled Abdelaziz gives us the latest on Sudan.
"Today we received these results and we accept and welcome these results because they represent the will of the southern people," President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said in an address on state TV.
The referendum is the climax of a 2005 north-south peace deal that set out to end Africa's longest civil war, reunite the divided country and instil democracy in a land that straddles the continent's Arab-sub Saharan divide.
Bashir's comments allayed fears that the split could reignite conflict over the control of the south's oil reserves.
South Sudan's leader Salva Kiir added to the conciliatory mood by promising he would help Khartoum campaign for the forgiveness of the country's crippling debts and the easing of international trade sanctions in coming months.
Kiir praised Bashir for accepting the result. "President Bashir and (Bashir's northern) National Congress Party deserve a reward," he told a meeting of Sudan's cabinet in Khartoum broadcast on state TV.
Both sides did avoid major outbreaks of violence over the past five years. But they failed to overcome decades of deep mutual distrust to persuade southerners to embrace unity.
...
Washington has signalled it is ready to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after a successful referendum, and help in easing crippling trade sanctions.
The West's hands may be tied by the continuing global uproar over Sudan's separate Darfur conflict. Bashir is still living under the threat of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court over charges he orchestrated genocide in Darfur.
No comments:
Post a Comment