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Sudan president rejects outside help to end crisis

KHARTOUM - Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir yesterday rejected an appeal by southern ex-rebels for outside help to end a crisis sparked by their withdrawal from government over the non-application of a peace deal.

KHARTOUM - Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir yesterday rejected an appeal by southern ex-rebels for outside help to end a crisis sparked by their withdrawal from government over the non-application of a peace deal.

"The call to resolve the crisis through regional and international mechanisms boils down to a rejection" of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended Africa's longest running civil war, Beshir said.

His words came after Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) leader Salva Kiir - a former rebel who became first vice president under the terms of the CPA - appealed to the international community for help to end the crisis.

"I am launching a special appeal to countries in the region and to the countries of the world, to save the CPA," said Kiir, whose SPLM pulled out of Sudan's unity government on October 11.

The SPLM's withdrawal from the cabinet plunged north-south relations into their worst crisis since the two became political partners.

But in a televised speech marking the start of a new parliament session, Beshir insisted on his readiness to "apply all of the CPA" and called on the SPLM to go back on its decision.

Southern involvement in government is "the best guarantee that the CPA will be applied. No one has the right to veto the agreement", Beshir said of the SPLM. - Sapa-AFP

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