KHARTOUM - A north-south peace deal in Sudan is in danger of unravelling, threatening a return to full scale civil war even as world leaders press for an end to violence in the western region of Darfur.
The two-decade north-south conflict, Africa's longest, left around 2 million people dead.
Fighting ended after a 2005 peace deal between the dominant northern National Congress Party (NCP) and the former southern rebels, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), but the SPLM says implementation has stalled and tensions are rising.
On Tuesday, Sudanese security forces raided the offices of the SPLM in Khartoum, just a day after SPLM leader and president of the government of south Sudan, Salva Kiir, warned that the country was in danger of reverting to north-south war.
"It's the most blatant move that I can think of offensive action by the NCP against the SPLM," David Mozersky, of the International Crisis Group (ICG), said of the raids.
"I think it's very worrying," he said.
A standoff between SPLM troops and the northern army in South Kordofan in central Sudan last week almost led to an armed confrontation.
"You are entering a very risky period," said Patrick Smith, editor of the London-based Africa Confidential.
Mozersky said the parties could use some outside help in the form of "a more robust international response" in settling differences. "It (the partnership) is probably one of the most important elements of a successful implementation," he said.
But the international community has focused almost all its attention on Darfur, where international experts say a four and a half year conflict has claimed some 200,000 lives and driven 2.5 million from their homes, figures Khartoum disputes.
"The north-south deal is being sacrificed on the altar of the Darfur deal," Smith told Reuters.
