Conflict Spreading in Sudan

The International Crisis Group (ICG) issued a statement on 26 September 2011 that growing war on multiple fronts (Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile, Abyei and Darfur) in Sudan poses serious dangers for the country, its future relationship with South Sudan and the stability of the region. It argued that National Congress Party (NCP) hardliners have opted for a military solution to continuing disputes with dissident groups residing just north of the border with South Sudan. This is pushing Sudan’s various rebel movements to form a united opposition front aimed at regime change that could result in a civil war for control of the country.

The ICG calls for a united international response to the crisis, a cessation of hostilities, an inclusive national dialogue that renegotiates the relationship between the center and the peripheries, agreement on redistribution of power leading to a new constitution and new elections. These steps put most of the pressure on the NCP to change its policies and will likely be resisted by hardliners in Sudan’s government. The situation in the Republic of Sudan is now more tenuous than the situation in South Sudan, but no one should underestimate the challenges in South Sudan.

Read the entire ICG statement here.