Members of the U.S. Congress on Thursday sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging his administration to "take additional steps" to define its policy on Sudan and to "publicly articulate" the consequences should the Sudanese government renege on commitments to a 2005 peace accord.
The agreement, which ended two decades of war, provided for the holding of a referendum in southern Sudan, which is to take place in January. There are concerns that should the oil-rich south vote to secede from Sudan, which is expected, the northern government of President Omar al-Bashir may not accept the results.
Issues remaining to be worked out between the north and south include a formula for sharing oil revenues and an agreement to protect the rights of southerners in the north and northerners in the south.
The letter said that although incentives had been offered to Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP), the 23 signatory members of congress were not aware of any such offer for southern Sudan and other marginalized groups.
"We have witnessed that over the past two decades that the Bashir government has impeded and reneged on agreements on many occasions," the letter said. "A one-sided incentive-based approach is not only ineffective, but it wrongly rewards obstructionism."
The members of congress said it was "crucial" that the U.S. government supported not only the Comprehensive Peace Agreement-mandated timeline for the referendum, but also "full and unhindered" implementation of the Abyei Protocol and the referendum in that region. "This is especially true given that Bashir's NCP has reversed recent agreements regarding Abyei and continues to obstruct efforts to set up the Abyei Referendum Commission," the letter said.
The Abyei Protocol, which is part of the 2005 accord, deals specifically with administration of the oil-rich region of Abyei, which is considered a bridge between the north and south. Abyei residents are to vote in their own referendum to remain in the north or join the south.
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The letter urged Obama to "respond favorably" to a meeting request from Salva Kiir, the leader of southern Sudan, saying it was "crucial at this moment in Sudan's history." The members of congress noted that former president George Bush had met with Kiir at the White House "on several occasions."
Kiir visited Washington last week and appealed for heightened international engagement in preparation for the January referendum. "The future of Sudan is hanging in the balance," he told the annual Congressional Black Caucus Africa policy roundtable.
President Obama is to take part in a summit on Friday hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help move the Sudan process forward and avoid a return to war. The conflict claimed more than two million lives. Participants in the summit will include Kiir and his counterpart from the north, Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha.
The letter welcomed the appointment of Ambassador Princeton Lyman to lead the U.S. Negotiation Support Unit in Sudan, saying he would play a pivotal role in negotiations on border issues, citizenship and oil revenues.
