UN to decide Sudan mission future

JUBA: It is up to the United Nations Security Council, not the Sudanese government to decide whether the U.N. mission in Sudan continues after the country splits in two, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Sunday.

The northern government said on Saturday it had officially informed the U.N. secretary general that the mission's term would end on July 9, the day the south is expected to secede.

The mission, known as UNMIS, is working to implement a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war between the north and south.

"Our position is simple and clear, it is a matter to be dealt with by the Security Council

The Northern government can express its wishes ultimately the decision to leave or stay is a decision for the Security Council," Hua Jiang, a UN spokeswoman, told Reuters.

Southern Sudanese voted overwhelmingly for independence in a January referendum that was promised under the peace deal.

Copyright Reuters, 2011

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