ADDIS ABABA – Sudan risks a boycott of the forthcoming national assembly elections by the southern part of the country if a dispute over last year's census data is not sorted out, the foreign minister said on Saturday. The south accuses the north of manipulating the results of the census to deny the south adequate representation in parliament, commensurate with its size, in order to pass self-serving legislation. The north-south dispute also highlights the importance of oil resources in the region, which are a vital source of revenue for the government of Sudan. Figures from the census put the number of Sudanese living in the south at about 20 per cent of the total population, irking southern leaders who cite previous counts, which put the number at about a third of the population. Talks between both sides to reach a consensus were put on hold and they are expected to resume next month. "It has to be resolved otherwise the south will not participate in the elections of national parliament," Deng Alor, who hails from the south, told reporters on the sidelines of an African Union (AU) summit. Meanwhile, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, arrived to the Ethiopian Capital, Addis Ababa, where he will attend the 14th AU summit from January 29 to 31. The Summit will take place under the theme of “Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development”. The African leaders are expected to adopt a series of decisions to develop comprehensive policies to increase investment and rapid development of ICT Infrastructure and services. In another development, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague said it would decide on February 3 whether Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should be charged with genocide. ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he expected a genocide charge against Bashir within weeks. He appealed the earlier ruling that there were not enough grounds for the genocide count. Bashir characterised the warrant against him as "all lies" last year and ordered foreign aid agencies out of Sudan in response. Moreno-Ocampo first asked for a warrant against Bashir in July 2008.
