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Southern Sudanese Intimidated in North, says SPLM Spokesman

   Peter Clottey 26 September 2010
   President  Obama  and  UN  Secretary  General Ban Ki-Moon arrive for a
   meeting on Sudan

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

   President  Barack Obama walks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as
   he  arrives  to speak at a Ministerial Meeting on Sudan, Friday, Sept.
   24, 2010, at the United Nations.

   The  spokesman  for the Sudan Peopleās Liberation Movement (SPLM) said
   the  governing  National Congress Party (NCP) does not seem interested
   in ensuring peace ahead of the scheduled 9^th January referendum.

   Kamal  Mohamed  Obeid,  Sudanās  Information  Minister said that south
   Sudanese  living in the north will lose their rights to be citizens in
   the north if the semi-autonomous south Sudan secedes.

   The SPLMās Yien Matthew Chol said the NCP is not a national party that
   is  interested  in  working  for  the  political,  social and economic
   interests of the ordinary Sudanese.

   āThis  statement confirms what we have been warning people about, that
   the  NCP  is not, at any point, a national party that works to achieve
   and   accomplish  and  work  for  the  political  and  social-economic
   interests of the Sudanese rather than having their own agenda. That is
   hatred  towards  African tribes in Sudan. This has been, therefore, in
   their policies,ā he said.

   Local  media  reported  that  south  Sudanese  living  in  the  north,
   especially  in  the  capital,  Khartoum,  are  uncomfortable  with the
   information ministerās pronouncement.

AFP Photo

   Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir

   Obeid  was  quoted  as  saying  āif  the  result of the referendum was
   separation,  then the southerners will not enjoy citizenship rights in
   the north, as they would be considered citizens of another state.ā

   As  part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), residents in
   the  south  will  be allowed to vote in a referendum to decide whether
   they want to be part of Sudan or secede.

   Chol  said  the NCP continue to intimidate southern Sudanese living in
   the north ahead of the January vote.

   āThe  NCP  is making such a statement because they think that is going
   to coerce southerners to vote for unity.ā

   āThey  have  started  treating  southerners  badly. Starting from five
   months ago, and now in Khartoum, you can never speak about separation.
   You  will  find  yourself  either  disappearing,  or  in detention, or
   jailed.  So, speaking about separation and the right of determination,
   as enshrined in the agreement, is something that the NCP sees now as a
   taboo.ā

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