Barack Obama: Obama Statement on Sudan

October 12, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) made the following statement on the announcement that the Sudan People's Liberation Movement withdrew from Sudan's government of national unity because of the ruling party's breaches of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement:

"Yesterday the Sudan People's Liberation Movement withdrew from Sudan's government of national unity in frustration with the ruling party's breaches of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Once again, the Bashir government's credibility and intent to honor its own commitments has been called into question. Unless the Sudanese government implements elements of the CPA relating to border demarcation, oil wealth sharing, troop redeployment, and ensuring that a census and elections will proceed as scheduled, the already tragic situation in Sudan will become even more unstable.

"As one of the principal guarantors of the Comprehensive Peace Accord that ended over twenty years of war between north and south Sudan, the Bush Administration needs to rededicate itself to saving this treaty. A focused and revitalized diplomatic effort that includes all parties that helped negotiate the CPA is the only way in which this process can be salvaged.

"Allowing the Bashir government to renege on its commitments would not only rob the people of Southern Sudan of their best opportunity to build a peaceful and more prosperous future, it would also have devastating consequences for all efforts to achieve peace in Darfur. Recent United Nations reports indicate that the Sudanese government is continuing to fuel violence in Darfur and is delaying the deployment of the joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission. The international community must reject these obstructionist tactics, insist that diplomatic breakthroughs and paper agreements are followed up with real action, and hold the regime in Khartoum accountable for its actions."

Source: Senator Barack Obama

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