South Sudan says peace accord at risk if independence vote is delayed

Specter of war haunts south Sudan referendum

JUBA, Sudan — A leader in Southern Sudan is warning that the Sudanese government risks the collapse of a peace accord that ended a war that killed more than 2 million people if it stalls an independence referendum for the south scheduled for January.

Southern Sudan is eagerly awaiting the vote, which could split Africa’s largest country in two. A 2005 peace agreement that ended the war between Sudan’s north and south calls for the referendum for southern Sudanese but negotiations have barely begun.

Pagan Amum, a top negotiator and official for the southern Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement, said Friday the south will reject any attempt to delay the vote. He stressed the importance of negotiations to ensure that Sudan “does not return to conflict.”