Representatives of northern and southern Sudan failed to reach an agreement on a path that might have led to the south’s independence despite mediation by a U.S. special envoy. The U.S.-facilitated negotiations, which have been ongoing since June, attempt to smooth the implementation process of the 2005 peace deal that ended Sudan’s 22-year civil war. Last month the north and south agreed to cooperate on 10 key areas, including next year’s elections, peace efforts in the war-torn Darfur region, and demarcating the north-south border. But this week’s talks failed to resolve the issue of a key referendum law, due in 2011, which would determine the south’s secession from or unity with the north. “I am very disappointed that although we had excellent discussions and framed out issues on both sides, we were not able to reach an agreement on the referendum laws,” U.S. envoy Scott Gration told reporters at the close of the two-day talks. “These are very difficult issues.” Gration, who will also travel to displacement camps in Darfur and hold more talks in Khartoum, said his team will continue to discuss these issues as next week’s U.N. General Assembly approaches.
Iran presented its updated nuclear briefing to the P5+1 on Thursday, splitting U.S. and Russian officials. The five-page paper lacks specifics and omits any acknowledgment of Iran’s nuclear program. “We have provided a new opportunity for dialogue in line with reciprocal cooperation.” Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki explained. President Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced this week that Iran will continue pursuing its nuclear program, which it insists is only for peaceful nuclear energy. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley responded that the proposal “is not really responsive to our greatest concern, which is obviously Iran’s nuclear program.” On Wednesday, the U.S. envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that Iran possesses “a breakout capacity” of low-enriched uranium, meaning it could further enrich uranium in a matter of months to produce a nuclear weapon. President Barack Obama has given Iran until the end of September to engage his open invitation for peaceful negotiations or face severe U.N. Security Council sanctions, which could restrict imports and exports of fossil fuels. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded, “Based on a brief review of the Iranian papers, my impression is there is something there to use,” adding, “the most important thing is Iran is ready for a comprehensive discussion of the situation, what positive role it can play in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the region.” Russia’s acceptance of Iranian the proposal suggests Russia, a permament member of the United Nations, with veto power in the Secuirty Council, will veto any U.S.-led sanctions against Iran that may come before the Council.
Britain’s foreign secretary said he had concerns that serious fraud took place in Afghanistan’s presidential election and that “free and fair” would not be an accurate description of the vote. David Milliband’s comments come amid continuing reports of vote-rigging at polls throughout Afghanistan last month. Afghanistan’s election complaints commission so far has excluded votes from more than 70 polling stations, including one from the Babaji district, where thousands of votes were recorded. But an observer at that station told the BBC that no more than 15 people voted the entire day. Preliminary results are due to be released this weekend. The count so far has President Hamid Karzai with 54 percent of the vote and his rival Abdullah Abdullah with 30 percent. If the results show both candidates with less than a majority of the vote, a run-off will be held. In the event of a run-off, a power vacuum could cause even further political instability, possibly giving a resurgent Taliban more freedom to operate unmolested within the country, according to the International Council on Security and Development. The council said that the Taliban now has a significant presence across virtually all of Afghanistan and a “permanent presence” in 80 percent of the country.
South African officials warn that there will be a “third world war” if Caster Semenya, the 18-year-old running sensation whose sexual identity has been questioned in recent weeks, is banned from future competitions. Semenya, who won the 800m world championship title in Berlin in August, underwent gender testing at the orders of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and on Friday an IAAF report claiming Semanya is hermaphrodite was leaked. This could disqualify Semenya from competing against women and strip her of her medal. However, South African officials jumped to her defense. If Semenya was excluded from competing as a woman, South African Sport and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile said, “it would be the third world war. We will go to the highest levels in contesting such a decision. I think it would be totally unfair and totally unjust.” Stofile stated that his department is consulting with lawyers about potential human rights violations against Semenya, saying that “the ministry feels let down by the way this matter is being handled . . . this is unethical and disgusting.” This issue has sparked considerable controversy in the international community over how to define sex and gender, and the ethics and human rights concerns in dealing with such ambiguities. The IAAF has said it will rule on Semenya’s case in November.