Community | June 05, 2011 | 5 comments

Clashes for control of oil in Sudan as a deadline nears

source: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/1175212/-/o1ym7fz/-/

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JanforGore
Hours after the African Union announced the broad contours of the agreement between North and South Sudan signed in Addis Ababa last week, the National Congress Party said the position paper was merely a proposal. The AU contributed to brokering peace in Sudan, now its staying power is being tested.

AU managed to have the political parties sign a code of conduct ahead of the elections but stood by hopelessly as some elements of the code were violated. Moreover, it stood by, continuing to negotiate future north-south arrangements, as the north invaded and occupied Abyei.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the creation of porous borders, and possibly with security arrangements as per the deal, could prove rare achievements for the AU.

Overall, the north and south don’t have much of a choice but to collaborate. The south supplies the oil, the north refines it. The south depends on the north for its major imports and the north relies on the south for its markets, making it necessary for the two to establish a free trade zone.

Yet, whether the north and south come to these terms would assume that the leadership is working in the interests of their people. The invasion by the northern forces of Abyei a trade embargo on the south that has seen gas prices increase three times in some areas and at least two times in others, and continued support to militias cast fresh doubts on the future relations of the two states.

Despite endless pledges to coexist with the south, the north has occasionally turned back on its word and trust between the two sides is at an all time low.

Bashir, again, said that the north would peacefully co-exist with the south. Yet, he not only dismissed the concept of a new Sudan, the central point of the CPA, but also made this a pre-condition for peaceful coexistence.

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