US criticizes Sudan parliament on referendum law

[thestoic]

Source: Associated Press

The United States is worried that a peace agreement between Northern and Southern Sudan could be jeopardized by a law passed by Sudan's parliament.
A 2005 agreement established peace after a decadeslong war and established a 2011 referendum on possible independence for the South. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly says a law passed Tuesday on the terms of the referendum reneged on an agreement by the two sides this month.
He said Wednesday that the move "undermines the peace process."
Representatives from the main Southern political party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, walked out of the Sudanese Parliament before the vote.
Kelly also criticized passage of a new national security law Tuesday that he said did not deal with concerns about the country's security services, which have cracked down on opposition and restricted free speech.

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