United Nations -
United Nations troops could police “hotspots” on the tense border between North and South Sudan before an independence referendum in the south, a senior US official said.
The international community can also step up sanctions against Sudan if the vote is seriously delayed, the official added late on Wednesday.
South Sudan president Salva Kiir asked for UN peacekeepers to be put along the border when UN Security Council ambassadors visited Sudan last week.
Some UN mission (Unmis) troops already act as observers in the frontier region, where each side has accused the other of building up their military ahead of the referendum.
“Nobody thinks it is realistic to put Unmis, even if we had masses more troops, along the north-south border in a country that large,” the US official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“One thing I think we can and should consider if the (UN special representative) and the (UN) secretariat come forward with such a proposal is looking at augmenting Unmis in certain hotspots along the border where a buffer presence could be established,” the official added.
The January 9 referendum in South Sudan and the small oil-rich region of Abyei is part of a 2005 peace accord that ended a two-decade civil war between the North and South in which two million people died.
Unmis has a 10 000 strong peacekeeping force in Sudan.
The South is widely expected to vote for secession, but preparations for the votes are seriously behind schedule. The UN Security Council went to Sudan last week to put the international message that the votes must be on time and peaceful.
The official said the United States was looking for ways to strengthen the application of current UN sanctions against Sudan and that if the referendums were delayed new measures could be taken.
“There are additional measures we could contemplate. And I don't view it particularly constructive at this point to be specific,” the official said.
“I think it is fair to say that neither the international community, neither any individual member state is without some leverage.” - Sapa-AFP