LIBG Forum hears of Sudan referendum fears

Rebecca Tinsley, founder of Waging Peace, which works with survivors of war, genocide and rape in central Africa, spoke to an LIBG forum on the impending referendum that could see southern Sudan secede as a separate country.

The 9 January referendum gives the largely Black African and Christian south a change to break away from the Arab and Muslim north, which has long opposed it.

A 2005 peace agreement delivered a promise of self-determination for the south but Ms Tinsley said she feared the Khartoum government would seek to disrupt it and would try to prevent southerners resident in the north from voting

She said western diplomats simply wished to be finished with Sudan and left many loopholes that the regime could exploit to prevent secession. There was also an issue of oil deposits on the prospective border.

Ms Tinsley explained that intentional emphasis on the south has allowed oppression to continue unchecked in Darfur and described the plight of Darfuri refugees in Europe.

A full account of her talk will appear in InterLib.

She urged LIBG members to send a standard letter to foreign secretary William Hague about Sudan, which is available on http://www.wagingpeace.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=346

The main Waging Peace website http://www.wagingpeace.info

Those interested in her work with Darfuri refugees in the UK are asked to look at www.Article1.org

Those interested in Waging Peace's humanitarian projects working with survivors of the genocides in Sudan, Rwanda and Northern Uganda should look at: www.Network4Africa.org