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Several Southern Sudanese Quit North-South Talks on Abyei

09 October 2010 03:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Delegates from north and south Sudan remain deadlocked on issues concerning a planned referendum that will allow the disputed Abyei region to decide which side to join, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

After six days of talks on the oil-rich region, several members of the southern delegation say they are going home. The southerners accuse the ruling National Congress Party of sabotaging the talks, which are being mediated by a team led by U.S. special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration.

Chol Deng Alak, head of a southern Sudanese citizens group called the Abyei Referendum Forum, said the ruling party is continuing to present positions that conflict with the 2005 peace agreement that ended the north-south civil war. Alak called the talks a â€œwaste of time.â€

The discussion is hung up on several complex issues, including where Abyeiâ€™s borders are and who should be allowed to vote.

The Abyei referendum is scheduled for January 9, the same day southern Sudan is to hold a referendum to decide whether to break from the rest of the country.

Both referendums were called for in the 2005 peace agreement.

On Monday, Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha said the Abyei referendum can not go ahead unless the north and south resolve their differences.

The Khartoum government has been pushing for the Abyei referendum to include members of the nomadic Misseriya tribe. The Misseriya strongly favor staying with northern Sudan and could influence the voteâ€™s outcome.

Many southerners, including Alak, argue the Misseriya should not qualify as residents because they are nomads and do not live in one place.

But the tribe has demanded the right to cast ballots, with one tribal leader warning members will go on the attack if they are not allowed to vote.

Abyei lies within three Sudanese states along the north-south border and has long been a point of contention between the two sides.