Central Sudan could descend to war

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KHARTOUM, Sudan, July 1 (UPI) -- A conflict in the Nuba Mountains threatens to overshadow the creation of two Sudans, one of the biggest events in country's history, observers said.

Young men in the Nuba Mountains are being mobilized into militias, while opposition forces vow to fight until they win some form of autonomy, despite an agreement signed less than a week ago meant to bring peace to this part of central Sudan, The New York Times reported Friday.

"It's going to be a long war," said Ahmed Zakaria, a doctor from the Nuba Mountains who recently quit his job to become an opposition fighter. "We want a secular, democratic state where we can be free to rule ourselves. … And we will fight for it."

On July 9, southern Sudan will officially break off from the north, capping decades of civil war and years of international negotiations to avoid further bloodshed.

But fighting in the Nuba Mountains in the north's territory points to the fragile situation in northern Sudan even after the south secedes, observers told the Times. The same demands voiced by opposition fighters in the mountains have sparked major conflict elsewhere in northern Sudan.

Government officials respond that their fight is with the opposition, not civilians, contending widespread reports of civilian casualties are lies meant to rally Western nations against Sudan.

"The government is trying to control and take care of the people for peace and security and actually defeat and remove all the traces of rebels from the area," said government spokesman Rabie A. Atti. "We are not against the people."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed al-Orabi said Friday Egypt will be the second country after North Sudan to officially recognize South Sudan as an independent state, al-Masry al-Youm reported.

Orabi said in a statement Egypt's consulate in Juba will become an embassy on the day South Sudan will be declared an independent state. He said Egypt would dispatch more diplomats to Juba to promote bilateral relations.