January 12, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A group of political parties allied with the Sudanese government has warned against "negative" acts of expression by pro-secession supporters in both north and south Sudan as the latter currently votes in a referendum on whether to remain united with the north or secede to form an independent state.

Just Peace Forum leader Al-Tayeb Mustafa (Al-Raid newspapers’ website)

As voting in the referendum began on Sunday, 9 January, a group of supporters of the northern separatist party Just Peace Forum (JPG) gathered in front of the Khartoum-based headquarters of the SPLM, which controls south Sudan, and slaughtered a bull as they lifted placards expressing the party’s favoring of south Sudan secession.

JPG supporters further toured several areas in Khartoum and distributed sweets in celebration of they termed as "the beginning of Sudan true independence".

Sudan officially gained independence from the Anglo-Egyptian condominium rule in 1956, but intermittent civil wars between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south permeated through the country’s post-independence history until 2005 when the two sides signed a peace deal promising the south a chance to become an independent state in 2011.

Most analysts expect southerners, who are embittered by the years of civil war and perceived discrimination by successive Muslim-controlled governments in the north, to vote overwhelmingly for secession.

The JPF is led by Al-Tayeb Mustafa who zealously supports the secession of south Sudan on the pretext that the 2005’s peace deal gave too many concessions to the south at the expense of the north. Mustafa, who is the maternal uncle of President Al-Bashir, argues that the north’s "Arab and Islamic" identity is being targeted by the Christian-African south.

On Wednesday, the Committee of Political Parties and Organizations (CPPO), an umbrella group comprising political parties backed by the Sudanese government, warned that acts of expressions carried out by JPF supporters would negatively affect the political situation and the “historic ties” between north and south Sudan in the post-referendum period.

CPPO chairperson, Abod Gabir appealed to the media to refrain from covering negative acts of expressions by separatists inside or outside Sudan, warning that such acts could affect post-referendum arrangements.

Gabir emphasized the importance of maintaining "historic ties" and economic cooperation between the north and the south in the case of secession.

North and South Sudan are yet to thrash out a host of post-referendum issues the most notable of which are citizenship, oil revenues and the status of the contested oil-producing area of Abyei, which straddles the tentative borders between the north and the south.

More condemnation against JPF actions came from the head of the SPLM in Khartoum, Paul Ring, who told reporters on Sunday that the behavior of JPF supporters represents “a dangerous indication and presages even more dangerous intentions towards the SPLM, saying that the authorities must tackle these acts.

Most northern political parties stand strongly in favor of Sudan unity and they blame the ruling National Congress Party for the likely secession of south Sudan.

(ST)