11/29/2012 16:33 GMT
by Ian Timberlake
KHARTOUM, Nov 29, 2012 (AFP) - A lack of trust between Sudan and South Sudan has prevented the implementation of crucial security and economic deals they signed two months ago, a senior US envoy said on Thursday.
Princeton Lyman, US special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, warned that obtaining that trust will be difficult unless an insurgency -- allegedly backed by South Sudan -- ends in Sudan's border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Concern has grown that the agreements have not gone into effect after Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir hailed them as ending conflict.
The two countries fought along their undemarcated border in March and April, and tensions flared anew last week when South Sudan blamed Khartoum for aerial bombing which it said killed seven civilians.
"I think what happened in the process so far is that they haven't reached that degree of confidence and trust which is essential in carrying out this type of agreement," Lyman told reporters in a conference call after talks in Khartoum with senior Sudanese officials, and non-governmental representatives.
He said he is to also visit South Sudan in December.
The September deals mediated by the African Union included setting up a demilitarised border buffer zone to cut support for insurgents in Sudan and to allow a resumption of South Sudanese oil through northern pipelines for export.
-- 'Implementation is hard' --
In January, South Sudan halted crude production -- which accounts for almost all of its government revenue -- after accusing Khartoum of theft in a long-running dispute over transit fees.
Lyman said the security arrangements have to fall into place before oil can flow and the borders open again to trade.
"But implementation is hard, and both countries are engaged in it but there is a lot of work obviously still to be done," he said.
The deal on demilitarisation came in the context of each side agreeing not to support armed rebels in the other country, Lyman said.
"I think the communications between them, the need for reassurances of each commitment to the intent of these agreements, still has to be pinned down so they can move forward with confidence," he added, welcoming a political and security dialogue planned soon between Sudan and South Sudan in Khartoum.
"I think the government here wants to move ahead," he said.
But Lyman said South Kordofan and Blue Nile are a major problem.
"Without stopping the conflict there it's hard to get that full trust and understanding and security along the border that both countries want," he said.
Khartoum has accused Juba of supporting the south's former civil war allies in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).
Analysts believe the charge, despite denials by Juba which in turn accuses Khartoum of backing rebels on southern territory.
The ethnic and religious minority rebels say they have been fighting since last year to overthrow the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime.
The fighting is causing "a tremendous humanitarian crisis" with more than 200,000 refugees, while people in rebel zones are without food and medical care, Lyman said.
"And with the fighting picking up.... we expect to see more refugees and more difficulties there," he said.
Under a peace deal which ended a 23-year civil war, South Sudan became independent last year but the future of the flashpoint Abyei border region was left unresolved.
Under an AU proposal, a referendum on whether Abyei joins Sudan or South Sudan would give members of the Dinka, a dominant South Sudanese tribe who live in the Abyei area, the right to vote along with Sudanese with "permanent abode".
Nomadic Arab Misseriya object but Lyman called the proposal "very sound".
Even if Abyei joined the South, the AU proposal provides for Misseriya "political participation", and there are guarantees for migration, he said.
it/bpz
© 1994-2012 Agence France-Presse