Khartoum 'regrets' south leader's call for independence

KHARTOUM (AFP) – The ruling Sudanese National Congress Party said on Sunday it “regrets” a southern leader’s call for regional independence in an upcoming referendum, saying it contradicts a peace deal that ended a two-decade civil war.
“My understanding is that these remarks contradict the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, according to which priority must be given to unity,” NCP official Mandour al-Mahdi said in a statement reported by official SUNA news agency.
On Saturday, southern leader Silva Kiir said south Sudanese, who are mostly Christian, will be “second class” citizens in a united Sudan if they do not vote for independence in the referendum set for 2011.
South Sudan and the Muslim north fought a two-decade civil war that ended in 2005 with a power sharing peace deal that included provisions for a general election in 2010 and a referendum on southern independence a year later.
Sudanese people began on Sunday to register for the general election, the country’s first in 24 years.
Kiir’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement has boycotted parliament to pressure the ruling party to submit a schedule for a series of bills that would reform the powerful intelligence services, a key demand ahead of the election.
Northern and southern officials have agreed on how to stage the referendum but southern officials accuse Khartoum of arming ethnic militias in the south to destabilise the region ahead of the vote.