Ethiopian Review

KISUMU, Kenya (AFP)–A collapse of Sudan’s fragile north-south peace deal would spark fresh fighting that would spill over into neighboring countries, Sudan’s vice-president said during a visit to Kenya.

Salva Kiir issued the warning in the western Kenyan city of Kisumu Saturday at a dinner in his honor attended by Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

“The war will not only affect the southern Sudan,” said Kiir, who is also president of the government of Southern Sudan. “It will infiltrate into Kenya and other countries. The problem in southern Sudan must be given attention by everybody.”

Sudan’s Arab-dominated north and mainly Christian south fought one of Africa’s longest civil conflicts between 1983 and 2005. It ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, in which Kenya led the mediation.

“We sympathize with the people of southern Sudan for what they have undergone and that is why nobody should sabotage the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” Odinga said at the dinner.

Implementation of the deal however has fallen behind schedule and led to renewed tensions between a northern regime under intense international pressure and a south drifting towards secession.

The national unity government born out of the 2005 deal has remained fragile, as clashes have erupted in disputed border regions, leaving hundreds dead and forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Oil-rich southern Sudan houses some of Africa’s most remote and underdeveloped areas and borders Kenya, Uganda, the Central Africa Republic, Congo and Ethiopia.

Observers say countries in the region are preparing for the possibility of fresh conflict in southern Sudan.