'Smart sanctions' for Sudan could help south: US envoy

JUBA, Sudan (AFP) - Sanctions on Sudan should be partially lifted to improve the humanitarian situation, especially in the troubled south, the US special envoy to Sudan said on Thursday

Retired general Scott Gration said specific restrictions should be lifted to help develop the region, still recovering after the end of a 22-year long civil war.

"We don?t see a total lifting in the near future, but we are looking at flexible sanctions or smart sanctions," said Gration, speaking to reporters in the southern capital Juba.

"We are looking at exceptions for specific portions," he added, without giving any specific details.

Gration, testifying before Congress last month, upset some lawmakers and activists when he said there was no evidence to keep Sudan on a US terrorism blacklist that triggers punishing economic sanctions.

The longstanding political ally of President Barack Obama said the sanctions were actually impeding peacekeeping work in Sudan.

The semi-autonomous south is already exempted from US sanctions, except on the oil sector, but Gration said the restrictions on the north "have spilled over" into the region.

The south?s poor infrastructure means items such as heavy equipment or machinery needed for development in the south must travel through the north, making them subject to sanctions.

The sanctions "have kept southern Sudan from getting the development that they so desperately need," said Gration, sitting alongside Salva Kiir, the president of the south and first vice president of all Sudan.

The comments came following the signing of a new deal between the former northern and southern civil war enemies on Wednesday, aimed at bolstering the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

Kiir said he believed ongoing talks would help boost peace in Sudan, despite the many outstanding issues.

"We have so many challenges ahead of us: we have the problems of the results of the population census, we have the elections, and we have the referendum," said Kiir, referring to 2010 elections and a 2011 vote on the south?s potential full independence.

The southern leader said he was hopeful for solving sticking points such as the drawing of the north-south border, as well as the holding of "popular consultations" on the future of the two contested areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile due as part of the CPA.

"Many things have not been done, but we believe they will be resolved, the border demarcations, the popular consultations in the Two Areas, and all these things that are not yet covered in the implementation of the CPA," said Kiir.

Kiir added that Gration was "pushing very hard" to ensure both north and south "implement what they have signed".

After Sudan, the US envoy will head to Addis Ababa, where rebels from the western Darfur region are holding talks aimed at reaching a peace deal to end six years of war there.

"How do we get a process that will bring peace that is lasting and durable in Darfur? The first element that we are working on is the unification of the rebels, because we believe that the rebel groups have to be unified so that there are single leaders, and there is an agenda that is common to all rebel groups," he said.

Gration said representatives of Abdelwahid Nur's Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction will attend the talks.

Nur, a leading Darfur rebel living in exile in Paris, had so far refused to join negotiations in Doha.

The war in Darfur has killed around 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million since 2003, according to UN figures. Khartoum says 10,000 died in the war.