US Criticizes Sudan’s Bashir Over Abyei Comments

April 28, 2011

US Assistant Secretary of African Affairs Johnnie Carson, address journalists in Kampala, Uganda, July 27, 2010 (file photo)

The United States on Thursday criticized an assertion by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir that Khartoum will not recognize South Sudan as independent, if it claims the disputed Abyei region. South Sudan is set to become fully independent in July.

The State Department’s top Africa diplomat is framing Bashir's comments on Abyei as unhelpful, and is urging leaders in Khartoum and the southern capital Juba to recommit to negotiations to settle remaining north-south disputes.

The Sudanese president has pledged to respect the results of the January referendum, in which southern Sudanese voted overwhelmingly for independence to take effect on July 9.

But the process appeared to hit a snag this week when Bashir said his government would never recognize an independent south, if it tries to claim the oil-rich central Abyei region.

In a talk with reporters here, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said the parties need to set aside threatening rhetoric and peacefully settle their remaining issues under their 2005 Comprehensive Peace Accord, or CPA, before July.

"Those comments are not helpful at all, and they only serve to inflame and heighten tensions. It is important that both sides - those in Khartoum and those in Juba - focus intensely on trying to resolve the key issues that have not been completed under the CPA. Abyei is one of them. This must be done before July 9. And it important that President Bashir and the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, continue to meet, negotiate, to resolve these issues as quickly as possible," he said.