Ban in south Sudan to push north-south deal

Juba, Sudan, Sep 4: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited south Sudan's capital Juba today to try to speed implementation of the 2005 peace deal that ended Africa's longest civil war.Ban met south Sudanese leader Salva Kiir for talks that aides said were aimed at trying to resolve sticking points in the rollout of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended over two decades of conflict between the northern government and southern rebels.

Ban, on his first visit to Sudan, is also due to go to the war-torn western region of Darfur. He said he had secured a pledge from Sudan's president to allow a Darfur rebel leader to leave the country for medical care.

A senior U.N. official travelling with Ban said there were ''worrying signals'' about the implementation of the north-south peace deal, including delays in the promised pullout of government troops from the south, particularly oil areas.

''There are a number of signs that show there is a need to push the CPA forward,'' the official said. ''Both sides have indicated their commitment to the agreement. But it is important not to let it slip.'' About 2,000 people gathered in Juba to welcome Ban, waving banners including several in support of former southern rebels and others demanding the northern Sudanese army quit the south.

The army missed a July 9 deadline to redeploy all its soldiers to the north of Sudan, as set out in the peace deal.

Sudanese Oil Minister Ahmed Awad al-Jaz said on Saturday northern troops would be withdrawn from oilfields ''gradually''.

There were also concerns over delays in implementing a nationwide census, crucial to democratic elections promised in 2009 and a vote on secession for the south due by 2011.

Secretary-general Pagan Amum of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement said in July that perceived delays by the government in carrying out the peace deal could push southerners to choose independence.

ILL DARFUR REBEL MAY TRAVEL

At a joint news conference with Kiir, Ban acknowledged the problems but restricted his comments to saying it was ''now the duty of the people of Sudan to implement'' the north-south deal.

In a speech later at Juba University, he characterised the accord as fundamental, calling it ''an essential, and fragile, cornerstone of peace across the whole of Sudan, well beyond Darfur'' and as a ''blueprint for long-term peace in the country''.

On Darfur, Ban said he had secured a personal pledge from Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to let sick Darfur rebel chief Suleiman Jamous leave the country for medical treatment after more than a year of effective house arrest.

''President Bashir agreed to his immediate release for medical treatment. Bashir said that Jamous would be taken to Kenya as soon as necessary arrangements had been made,'' Ban told journalists in Khartoum before leaving for the south.

Jamous, the Sudan Liberation Army's humanitarian coordinator, was the main link between Darfur insurgents and the world's largest aid operation helping some 4.2 million people in Sudan's war-ravaged west.

Jamous needs a stomach biopsy that cannot be performed at the UN hospital. Last week, he left the hospital for the first time in more than 13 months to walk to the nearby UN headquarters to ask to be flown out of Sudan for treatment.

Ban also urged Bashir to help in the planned deployment of AU and UN peacekeepers, and said Bashir had replied that his government would provide ''all necessary administrative and logistical support''.

''Time is of the essence,'' Ban said. ''The government's cooperation is essential on a range of practical matters.'' The secretary-general said he felt encouraged by the progress. But some Western diplomats say that only when troops deploy, probably early next year, will it be clear whether Sudanese authorities are really cooperating.

While in Juba, Ban also announced the appointment of a new UN special envoy for Sudan Ashraf Qazi of Pakistan, currently UN envoy to Iraq. The post had been vacant since Dutchman Jan Pronk was told to leave last year by Sudanese authorities.

Reuters>