Conditions ripe for new Sudanese civil war

BRUSSELS, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The deteriorating security conditions in Sudan's South Kordofan state could slide the region into civil war, a report from the International Crisis Group says.

The report, released Tuesday by the independent non-governmental organization, says the escalating tensions in South Kordofan ahead of Sudan's 2009 national elections could undermine the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and prompt violence in the country, the International Crisis Group reported.

Titled "Sudan's Southern Kordofan: The Next Darfur," the report says ethnic polarization, along with a heavily armed population in South Kordofan, have raised concerns that conditions in the region are similar to those in Darfur prior to an escalation of war. Crisis Group officials say if leaders in the country don't address the situation, South Kordofan could slide into civil war.

"Prevention of a new conflict in South Kordofan needs to be placed prominently on both national and international agendas," Francois Grignon, Crisis Group Africa program director, said in a statement.

"It is dangerously late but not yet too late to show the front-line populations that a new war is not the way to address their grievances."