The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a former rebel group in southern Sudan, decided on Thursday to suspend its partnership with the Sudanese central government in Khartoum.
The SPLM, which signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with the Sudanese government in 2005, announced the decision at the end of a meeting of the movement's politburo in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan.
"The ministers of the SPLM in the central government will not take part in any constitutional activity until all the pending issues between the movement and the National Congress Party (NCP) are resolved," the SPLM said in the final statement of the meeting.
Headed by Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir, the NCP is the ruling party in northern Sudan and shares the political power with the SPLM in the government according to the CPA.
In the statement, the SPLM accused the NCP of "engaging in aggressive action against the constitutional authorities of Salva Kiir Mayardit," the Sudanese first vice president and the president of the southern Sudanese government.
The SPLM called for "an immediate interference" of the international community and partners of Sudan in order to save the CPA from collapsing.
Out of the 28 ministers in the Sudanese central government, eight are from the SPLM, including the minister for cabinet affairs, the foreign minister, the minister of investment, the minister of foreign trade and the minister of health.
The meeting of the former rebel movement's politburo, the highest decision-making organ of the armed movement, was held in Juba in the light of an allegation by its leaders on deteriorating relations with the NCP.
The two sides have exchanged accusations for a delay of implementing the CPA, which was signed in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Jan. 9, 2005, following years of tough negotiations to put an end to the 21-year civil war between the northern and southern parts of the African country.
The issues which have not been ironed out include the dispute on the enclave of Abiye, the problem of demarcation and the withdrawal of the armed forces of the government from the oil fields in southern Sudan.
During a recent visit in Khartoum, the U.S. special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios said that Washington was deeply concerned about "a poisonous atmosphere" between the NCP in the north and former rebel SPLM in the south.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry condemned Natsios' statements, saying it was inaccurate and would not help narrow the differences between the two sides.
The ministry reiterated the commitment of the Sudanese government's to the CPA, underlining that 90 percent of the peace deal are implemented and that efforts are still underway to find a solution for contentious issues.
However, the SPLM still decided to break away despite the northerners' unhappiness.
Source: Xinhua
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