Foreign Affairs committee  I wanted to make sure we had spoken about South Kordofan and Blue Nile, about the transitional areas, because we've hardly touched on that at all today. I think it relates very closely, as well, to what you were saying about integration, because there you do have populations ge

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, that would be my view. I think we have to accept the inevitability of independence of some sort. The south pretty much already has independence anyway, so not all that much will change on the ground, I don't think, except for people's perceptions. A lot of this is very emot

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Absolutely, I agree. I think the biggest priority we have and that Canada can play a role in is the question of the ongoing integration of border communities. The biggest outbreak of violence will be along the border, partly because it's not demarcated, part

Foreign Affairs committee  Can I respond on the America thing? I did want to clarify that, just very quickly.

Foreign Affairs committee  Senator Danforth was very helpful in the beginning. I think the challenge was back in 2003, with Machakos. The expectation wasn't managed. As soon as it was agreed that the southern Sudanese had the right to self-determination, that was the beginning of independence. Senator Dan

Foreign Affairs committee  I have to say that we wish Canada would be a little bit more involved than your southern colleagues, or that your colleagues directly to the south would sometimes be a little less involved in some of these things, because their involvement is not always very helpful. I would have

Foreign Affairs committee  Okay. I would add to what Dr. Elsadig said, particularly relating to South Kordofan and eastern Sudan. In South Kordofan, a recent survey we did of 1,000 villages gave a figure of around one-third that didn't have enough food for one meal a day. In the east, the figure is aroun

Foreign Affairs committee  My read would be that the people who are prepared to say that something could go wrong are not well tolerated. Immediately after the resignation yesterday morning came a law from the southern Sudanese government detailing the dates of the registration period and the referendum pe

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I have quick comment to make on the question of the civil registration. Pardon me for responding in English. I should have responded in French, but English is easier for me. Usually the way it's done is that the community leaders will verify that a particular person or ho

Foreign Affairs committee  On the referendum, my view is that whether or not the referendum goes ahead, the south will declare independence. That's an interesting question for you, given your history in Canada. The question of Abyei will really depend on how they share the oil and the status of the Misser

Foreign Affairs committee  I think part of it is just that the south copies the north, and the north is heavily centralized, so that's how the south has learned to govern. It's repeating the same error. My NGO is present in two of the border areas, Upper Nile and Warrap. Our access is okay, provided we wo

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. I think on the question of population movement, one has also to bear in mind that the southerners in the north will not necessarily be welcome in the south. Many of them are considered to be politically on the wrong side because they didn't stay. You have the age-old

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I apologize for my lateness. The only way I could get here from Khartoum was to fly through New York to Burlington and to then drive up from Burlington. So I've come straight from Khartoum, via New York and Burlington. I should tell you somethin