من نيويورك :الامم المتحده تسعى لزيادة قواتها فى السودان وكلنتون تجدد عقد الاستفتاء فى موعده

Quote: قال الامين العام للامم المتحدة بان جي مون يوم الثلاثاء ان المنظمة الدولية تأمل في تعزيز عدد أفراد قوات حفظ السلام في السودان وسط مخاوف من أن أكبر الدول مساحة في أفريقيا قد تكون في الطريق نحو حرب أهلية جديدة. وبدأ تسجيل الناخبين يوم الاثنين للاستفتاء المقرر ان يجري في يناير كانون الثاني 2011 بشأن ان كان جنوب السودان المنتج للنفط يجب ان ينفصل عن الشمال. ويمثل الاستفتاء ذروة اتفاق سلام في 2005 أنهى عقودا من الصراع بين الشمال والجنوب -- وهي أطول حرب أهلية في القارة الافريقية قتل فيها مليونا شخص. ويتوقع محللون ودبلوماسيون ان يختار الجنوب الاستقلال عن الخرطوم. وقال بان امام مناقشة خاصة في مجلس الامن الدولي بشأن السودان ترأسها وزير الخارجية البريطاني وليام هيج "اننا نعمل مع الجانبين (الشمال والجنوب) بشأن خيارات اضافة محتملة لقوات الامم المتحدة لزيادة الامن اثناء الاستفتاء وبعده." وقال بان ان زيادة عدد افراد القوة المكونة من عشرة الاف رجل التي تراقب الالتزام باتفاق سلام 2005 سيكون أيضا بهدف زيادة قدرتها على "التحقق ومراقبة انتهاكات وقف اطلاق النار وحماية المدنيين." ولم يتضح على الفور عدد الافراد التي يمكن للمنظمة الدولية اضافتها للقوة قبل الاستفتاء الذي سيجري في التاسع من يناير كانون الثاني. لكن بان أوضح انه لا توجد زيادة في قوات الامم المتحدة يمكنها ان تمنع حربا أهلية جديدة في حالة تجدد اراقة الدماء على نطاق واسع. وقال "لن تكون (الزيادة) كافية لمنع العودة الى الحرب اذا تفجر قتال على نطاق واسع." والاستعدادات لاستفتاء الجنوب واستفتاء منفصل بشأن ان كانت منطقة أبيي الغنية بالنفط يجب ان تبقى تابعة للخرطوم أو تنضم للجنوب متأخرة عن موعدها. ويقول محللون ان تأخير التصويت في الجنوب يمكن ان يؤدي الى العنف. ومن المقرر ان تلقي وزيرة الخارجية الامريكية هيلاري كلينتون كلمة امام اجتماع المجلس بشأن السودان في وقت لاحق يوم الثلاثاء

Quote: The UN Security Council on Tuesday expressed worries about South Sudan's self-determination referendum in January while UN leader Ban Ki-moon raised fears of "wider conflict" inside Sudan. The Security Council held a ministerial meeting on Sudan less than two months ahead of the vote, with many governments questioning whether the January 9 deadline can be met or whether simmering tensions can be doused. In addition to concerns about delays by the Khartoum government in releasing funds for the referendum in South Sudan and nearby oil rich region of Abyei, the Security Council also raised fears over renewed violence in the Darfur conflict. The Council called for renewed efforts to make sure the self-determination votes are held on time and are peaceful. The vote is part of a 2005 peace accord which ended two decades of civil war in Sudan in which two million people died. Voter registration started as scheduled on Monday, but other preparations are seriously delayed. Negotiations between Abyei leaders and the Khartoum government are deadlocked. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations had made contingency plans for violence after January 9, and had positioned emergency food and other supplies in potential "hot spots". He said there had been "hostile statements" and accusations of ceasefire violations on the North-South border which risked provoking security incidents "that can escalate into a wider conflict." "The potential for unintentional conflict is especially high" in Abyei, where there are the strongest fears that the referendum will not be held on time, the UN leader said. "Emotions are running high and little progress has been made in finding a solution to the political impasse," Ban said of the talks between Abyei leaders and Khartoum. The UN chief said the vote in Sudan and the risk of conflict has the "potential to change the future of the country and send shock waves throughout the region." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the January 9 vote "is critical to peace and stability not just for Sudan but also for the neighbours." Clinton pressed the governments of the North and South to speed up negotiations on how to share oil revenue, draw up their borders and agree the rights of the peoples of both sides of the frontier. She also said that officials on both sides "must avoid inflammatory rhetoric, quell rumours and dampen animosities." "No outsider can dictate events on the ground; it is up to the political leaders of Sudan whether they will choose peace or confrontation," she said. "The fate of 44 million Sudanese depends on their leaders' willingness to work together to resolve these issues." Clinton offered "dramatically" improved relations for Sudan but warned: "If it chooses conflict, the government of Sudan will face consequences" that would include "additional pressure and deeper isolation." A Security Council statement read by British Foreign Secretary William Hague also expressed "deep concern" about the growing violence in Darfur and deadlocked peace talks between rebel groups and the Khartoum government. The United Nations estimates that at least 300,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003. It called on the Sudan government to give greater cooperation to the UN mission in Darfur and "to give full, unhindered access and freedom of movement" to UN peacekeepers and aid workers. Peacekeepers and aid workers have been attacked and kidnapped in recent months amid a new government military campaign against Darfur rebels. "We remain deeply concerned about Darfur, violence is intensifying, human rights violations continue, arms flow despite the (UN) embargo" said Clinton. "This is all unacceptable," the top US diplomat added, calling on all rebel groups to take part in peace talks that have been held in Qatar in recent months.

Quote: كدت وزيرة الخارجية الاميركية هيلاري كلنتون اليوم الثلاثاء أهمية اجراء الاستفتاء على استقلال جنوب السودان في موعده. وحذرت كلنتون التي كانت تتحدث خلال الاجتماع الوزاري لمجلس الأمن الدولي من ان العودة الى الحرب الأهلية خيار مرفوض. وعرضت كلنتون على الحكومة السودانية علاقة مختلفة جذريا مع الولايات المتحدة إذا أُجري الاستفتاء بنجاح واحترمت الخرطوم نتيجته. ودعت الحكومة السودانية الى الالتزام بايجاد حل سلمي للنزاع في دارفور ايضا. الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة بان كي مون من جهته اعرب عن خشيته من اندلاع نزاع واسع في السودان بعد الاستفتاء.

Quote: رحب اجتماع وزاري في مجلس الأمن الدولي حول السودان امس ببدء التسجيل تمهيداً للاستفتاء على مستقبل جنوب السودان المتوقع في التاسع من كانون الثاني (يناير) المقبل. لكن المجلس، الذي اجتمع بحضور وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية هيلاري كلينتون وبرئاسة وزير الخارجية البريطاني وليم هيغ ووزير خارجية السودان علي الكرتي وباغان آمون مندوب الجنوب وممثلين عن الدول الأعضاء، اعرب عن القلق لتأخر تنظيم الاستفتاء في شأن تقرير المصير في جنوب السودان وتزايد اعمال العنف في دارفور. وشدد الكرتي وباغان على ان الشمال والجنوب سيقبلان نتيجة الاستفتاء مهما كانت. وانتقد بيان رئاسي اصدره المجلس وتلاه وزير الخارجية البريطاني تأخر حكومة الخرطوم في تأمين الأموال اللازمة للاستفتاء وأعرب عن «القلق البالغ» في شأن دارفور حيث ترافقت الاشتباكات المتزايدة بين الحكومة والمتمردين مع هجمات على قوات الأمم المتحدة وخطف موظفين تابعين للأمم المتحدة. وحض البيان مختلف الأطراف على احترام موعد الاستفتاء ونتائجه مهما كانت. ودعا الى حل اي خلافات بشكل سلمي. وجاء في البيان ان المجلس يؤكد احترام سيادة السودان واستقلاله والأمن فيه. وقالت كلينتون لوزير الخارجية السوداني «ان الحكومة الأميركية ستقيم علاقات جيدة افضل مع الخرطوم وتطبيع العلاقات الأميركية معها اذا اختارت سبل السلام، لكن اذا اختارت النزاع ستواجه عواقب وضغوطاً اضافية». وتواصلت عمليات التسجيل في الجنوب على اللوائح الانتخابية تمهيداً للاستفتاء بطريقة سلمية، كما ذكرت الثلثاء السلطات التي اعربت مع ذلك عن قلقها من التهديدات بمقاطعته في الشمال وفي الشتات.

Quote: William Hague used this month's British presidency of the UN security council today to focus world attention on the upcoming referendum in southern Sudan in an attempt to prevent the region sliding back into decades-long civil war. The 9 January referendum will seal the fate of southern Sudan with huge implications for the rest of Africa, and there are dangerous signs that the peace process is unravelling. There have been reports of rising cross-border incursions and tension is running high in hotspots across the area. The foreign secretary told a special meeting of the 15-member security council in New York that this was a "defining moment for Sudan and its people. It is a period of great risk, and therefore a situation that the security council cannot ignore." The referendum will allow the people of the largely Christian and animist south to decide whether or not to break off from the Arab-dominated north and form their own nation. It would mark the completion of the comprehensive peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army in the south that in 2005 ended almost 40 years of bloody civil war. Representatives of both sides attended the security council meeting, sitting at opposite ends of the assembly. The British government has been prioritising Sudan during its presidency of the security council, partly in recognition of the historic role played by Britain in creating the problem in the first place. The decision of the British in 1956 to attach southern Sudan to the ethnically distinct north rather than to allow it to form part of a west African union was an important factor behind the problems that have troubled the area ever since. As the largest country in Africa and the Arab world, the success or failure of the Sudanese referendum has enormous potential ramifications throughout the region. If the south opts for secession it would become the first new state in Africa since Eritrea split from Ethiopia in 1993. A great deal is also riding on the referendum in terms of the inner stability of Sudan. Hague reminded the security council that over the past half century more than two million people have died and many more millions been displaced by internal strife. The US government is also applying its muscle to the region, attempting to entice the Sudanese government to stay on the path towards peace with a bundle of inducements. The secretary of state Hillary Clinton said that the Obama administration had promised to take Sudan off the US list of states that sponsor terrorism if Khartoum co-operated with the referendum. "We are well aware that it takes not only skill but courage of Sudan's leaders of both north and south to work towards a durable peace," Clinton told the security council. As a further carrot, the US has stepped up its agricultural aid to the country and is working with the UK and other governments to reduce Sudan's debt burden. Despite reassurances from Khartoum that the Sudanese government is committed to the success of the referendum, humanitarian groups are braced for a slide back into violence and conflict. They fear that the 30,000 peacekeepers on the ground will prove inadequate should flare-ups occur. Darfur remains a key hotspot with intensifying aerial bombardment by the Sudanese forces and inter-tribal warfare. One in 10 inhabitants is still living in camps and almost 3 million have been forced from their homes, while the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir is under arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for genocide in Darfur. In the south, the future of the oil-rich area of Abyei also hangs in the balance, with talks over a possible referendum on its status on hold while Bashir attends the hajj in Saudi Arabia.