Preparing to vote in South Sudan. (Photo Courtesy Tim McKulka)

Washington, DC — Remarks by Assistant Secretary Philip J. Crowley at the Daily Press Briefing

CROWLEY: Good afternoon and welcome to the Department of State. You heard during the Secretary's Q&A at the Council on Foreign Relations this morning that we continue to do everything that we can to promote full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement within Sudan.

And after giving her remarks at the Council this morning, the Secretary has just completed phone calls with Sudanese First Vice President Salva Kiir and Vice President Taha to encourage them to continue everything they can do in the coming weeks and months to promote full implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement and make preparations for the referendum in early January.

And as a follow-on to those calls, Scott Gration, our Special Envoy for Sudan, will travel to – back to the region tomorrow to continue senior-level dialogue that the Secretary engaged in today. With that, Matt.

QUESTION: Yeah. Well, just on that very briefly, the Secretary's comments weren't – seemed to aim more at – not at an upcoming referendum in January, but an upcoming war. Have you – is that what you're preparing for?

MR. CROWLEY: We're not preparing for a war. In fact, the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended a conflict and created an opportunity for stability in Darfur and a just peace between North and South. We are very mindful that if, for some reason, full implementation of the CPA is not forthcoming, or if the referendum is not seen as credible, there certainly is the risk of further conflict. So both North and South have a lot of work to do. That was her message to both Vice President Kiir and Vice President Taha. There are outstanding issues that need to be resolved, including border issues – as the Secretary reflected today, understanding on revenue sharing from natural resources. So there's no time to waste.

QUESTION: Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't full implementation of the 2005 agreement mean that there will be a referendum?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, there is that.

QUESTION: Correct?

MR. CROWLEY: Yes. That's a dimension, yes.

QUESTION: Okay. And it's your judgment, the U.S. Government's judgment, that a referendum, if it is free and fair, that in a referendum that's free and fair, the South will vote to secede, correct?

MR. CROWLEY: I think it is our expectation – that is obviously a choice for the people of South Sudan.

QUESTION: Right. But your assumption, your working assumption, is that they will vote to secede?

MR. CROWLEY: We have to be prepared for that likelihood.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. CROWLEY: And obviously recognize then that on the timetable that is laid out in the CPA, by this time next year --

QUESTION: Right.

MR. CROWLEY: -- there could actually be --

QUESTION: Well --

MR. CROWLEY: -- the makings of a new country.

QUESTION: But in – so – but in your judgment, if the likelihood is secession, is the likelihood also an inevitable renewed conflict between North and South?

MR. CROWLEY: We do not see renewed conflict as inevitable.

QUESTION: Okay. It sounded like it this morning.

MR. CROWLEY: No, but we recognize that absent effective action by both North and South, conflict looms out there as a – unfortunately, as a possibility.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that?

MR. CROWLEY: Sure.

QUESTION: P.J., all experts probably expect Sudan to break up, maybe not into two but actually three countries or three governments and so on. Now, you said that they have a lot of work to do on outstanding issues. Can you be more specific what they really need to do, not only just in revenue sharing and oil between South and North, as the Secretary mentioned today?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, given the possibility or the probability that South Sudan will vote to secede, it's one of the reasons why we have beefed up our presence in Juba to begin to help South Sudan with a – what we know will be a lengthy process of building up institutions to be able to effectively govern itself. There is a lot of work to do to prepare for the referendum. In the most recent round of elections, there were, obviously, irregularities. We hope that the parties will learn from – take advantage of lessons learned from the recent elections. There's election rolls, polling places – all of the arduous work of preparing for a credible referendum. There is the question of Abyei, there is the question of borders, as I mentioned before. Recognizing that most of the oil resources are in the South, most of the oil infrastructure is in the North, how are these two entities, if secession is the judgment of the people of South Sudan, how are they going to cooperate and then how are they going to share these revenues for the benefit of the people of Sudan, both North and South?

So there are a number of issues, and we do recognize that effective action leading to implementation of the CPA, a credible referendum, are the most effective means to be able to forestall a renewal of conflict. And we also believe that there are steps that need to be taken to continue to stabilize the situation in Darfur.

QUESTION: Are you in any kind of dialogue or coordination or discussions with the African Union or the Arab League on this particular issue?

MR. CROWLEY: This is certainly not an issue that we are confronting alone. We do have regional and international partners who are investing a great deal of energy. I believe Norway, for one example, is working very diligently in terms of helping to build and improve governing capacity within South Sudan, as just one example.

QUESTION: Did the Secretary, when she spoke with Taha, say whether there are any consequences if the North doesn't follow through on some of these commitments; for instance, the referendum not only in the South but in Abyei?

MR. CROWLEY: I mean, at this point, the representatives have been meeting. We are seeing some steps taken. The Secretary's call was to encourage and accelerate this process.