The military coup in Sudan has sparked anxiety in neighboring South Sudan that the toppling of longtime President Omar al-Bashir could scupper a fragile peace deal that ended South Sudan’s five-year civil war.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader Riek Machar signed a peace deal last year that calls on them to form a unity government on May 12th. But key requirements including integrating their forces have not been met.
The deal was guaranteed by Sudan and the ouster of Bashir transfers much more responsibility for the success of the agreement to former archenemies Kiir and Machar, said Alan Boswell, a senior analyst with Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group.
In Sudan, Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf announced the end of Bashir’s rule saying the country would enter a two-year period of military rule to be followed by presidential elections. Both the South Sudanese government and former rebels expressed alarm over the coup.
