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UNISCI Discussion Papers, Nº 33 (Octubre / October 2013) ISSN 1696-2206CPA had left unchanged. 17 In the aftermath of the CPA, political space in Sudan was limited,a situation similar to that in the aftermath of the Islamic coup that brought the current regimeto power in 1989.The SPLM/A-N allied with the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) fromDarfur, at war with Khartoum since 2003, and with northern political opposition and formedin September 2011 the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), fighting for the democratictransformation of the Sudanese state. A decade later, after a failed peace deal and without theSouthern Sudanese, Sudan is once more the theater of a civil war fought between the centralregime and its marginalized peripheries. The internal divisions among the group, however, inparticular over the religion question and the ideal form of Government in Sudan, weakenedthe SRF in its political and military fight against Khartoum that has so far refused to negotiate(a situation that reminds of the difficulties of the struggle of NDA during the second civilwar).The Government also discarded the demands of the SPLM/A-N for an even power andwealth sharing in the Two Areas that were endorsed in the Framework Agreement of 2011.Instead, the question of the Two Areas is seen as an obstacle for the successful solution of theproblems between the North and the South. Sudan accuses the SPLM, the ruling party of thenew Republic of South Sudan, of harboring the former comrades of the SPLM/A-N in Jubaand requested the President Salva Kiir to deliver the rebel leaders to Khartoum as aprecondition for successful North/South talks. The SPLM rejected the claim and accused inturn Khartoum of sponsoring the ongoing violence in the eastern region of Jonglei in SouthSudan, using local rebels as proxy militias (a tactic common during the second civil war). Theongoing tensions between Sudan and South Sudan is thus diverting the attention from findinga solution to the war in the Two Areas, and more generally, to the ‘problem of Sudan’. Thefate of the Two Areas, and the democratization of Sudan, is once more sacrificed for thetenure of the North/South fragile relations. As a result of the CPA, in fact, not only peace inSudan but also between the newly born Sudan and South Sudan is at stake.The conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States has provoked in the last twoyears massive displacement and the long term socio-economic disruption of the localpopulation. While Khartoum downplays the effect of the conflict, according to the SPLM/A-N humanitarian wing, over one million people are affected by the conflict and live as IDPswith limited food, water and health services. Around 200,000 people sought refuge inSouthern Sudan. 18 While the latter receive international assistance, the support to the IDPs isimpeded by the Government. The conflict is moreover leaving long term consequences on thelives of the people in the Two Areas with the majority of primary and secondary schoolsremained closed in the past two years. Human rights international agencies reported thedamages provoked by the constant aerial bombing of the civilians from the side of the17 Mohamed Salih, Z.: “From impasse to the brink of war: Sudan bans SPLM-North”, 7 September 2011, athttp://www.theniles.org/helper/articleprint.php?id=102418 The figures of the situation in the States are provided by the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (SRRA),in SRRA’s Special Report on The Humanitarian and Human Rights Situation of the IDPs and War AffectedCivilians in the SPLM/A-North Controlled Areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States, December 2012. Itis said that in southern Kordofan, the estimated population living in the SPLM-N areas is about 995,200; ofwhich 436,157 are internally displaced. It is assessed that about 736,329 were vulnerable and in need ofassistance. In Blue Nile the total population residing in the SPLM-N held areas is about 80,147, of which 64,550were IDPs. The estimated vulnerable population in Blue Nile is about 73,781 persons. The numbers of therefugess are provided by UNCHR and can be found online.88