Sudan peace ‘unfulfilled’

NEW YORK – Many of the most important promises made under a peace deal that ended a 21-year civil war in Sudan’s south have not been met, threatening to plunge the long-suffering region back into violence, says United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The dire assessment was that the Khartoum-based government and the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army, which signed the deal with great fanfare in January 2005, had fallen well behind on plans for elections and were not sharing power and wealth as called for. Annan said: “While they are observing their security commitments reasonably well, the implementation of several other major provisions of this agreement has fallen behind schedule.”Disappointingly, implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement provisions appears to be selective.”There had also been little progress in establishing human rights commissions and disarming fighters.Sudan’s parliament had shown little inclination to pass a raft of legislation necessary for the peace deal to be carried out fully.News 24Annan said: “While they are observing their security commitments reasonably well, the implementation of several other major provisions of this agreement has fallen behind schedule.”Disappointingly, implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement provisions appears to be selective.”There had also been little progress in establishing human rights commissions and disarming fighters.Sudan’s parliament had shown little inclination to pass a raft of legislation necessary for the peace deal to be carried out fully.News 24