By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's semi-autonomous south withdrewon Saturday from a census that will help decide how wealth andpower are shared, throwing into doubt months of preparationsfor the highly politicised count.
The census, due to be held from April 15 to 30, was agreedunder the 2005 north-south peace deal which ended Africa'slongest civil war. It will set constituencies for the firstdemocratic elections in 23 years.
The head of the Central Bureau of Statistics in Khartoumsaid he was disappointed with the south's decision and thatpoliticians were interfering in the process.
The Population Census Council within the presidency coulddecide to go ahead with the census in the rest of the country-- although that would violate the spirit of the accord whichenvisaged a nationwide count.
The semi-autonomous south wants SOUTHERN(SO.NY)rs living in thenorth to return to the south before the census to give a betterindication of the population and how wealth and power ought tobe shared and delayed its participation in the count.
The north-south border crosses oilfields producing some500,000 barrels per day of crude.
"It was postponed," South Sudanese Information MinisterGabriel Changson Chang told Reuters from Juba. "There is asizeable number of southern Sudanese in northern Sudan and ifthey are not transported to the south before the census it will... affect the wealth sharing."
Questions on ethnicity and religion were not included inthe census questionnaire, contrary to the southern government'swishes, and the north-south border has still not beendemarcated, the minister added.
Chang said the census had been postponed to the end of theyear. The rainy season begins in May and much of Sudan will beout of reach by road until October.
The head of the Central Bureau of Statistics Yasin al-HajjAbdine told Reuters: "I am very much disappointed after allthese preparations we are happy here ... we thought we did avery good job and we were ready to commence the census as bestas we could.
"Now politicians are interfering in our scientificmanagement services."
TIMETABLE
The head of the census monitoring and observation committeeAbdel Bagi Gailani told Reuters the move was illogical as theissues had already been resolved by both sides.
"All these things collapsed in a minute when we heard whathas been declared today," he said. "To me as an observer thisis nonsense."
"I would appeal to the government of southern Sudan torevise its decision and let us work according to the timetablewe set."
South Sudan's Minister for Presidential Affairs Luka Biongagreed to printing the questionnaires with alternatives toquestions on ethnicity and religion in a letter seen by Reutersdated November 5, 2007.
The former southern rebel Sudan People's LiberationMovement (SPLM) signed the 2005 accord with the northernNational Congress Party (NCP) but the road to peace has notbeen smooth.
The SPLM withdrew from the national coalition governmentlast year in protest at the NCP's delays on issues such as thecensus and changing laws to reflect democratic progress.
The delay in the census puts time pressure on elections duenext year, said one diplomatic source.
Abdine said the Population Census Council within thepresidency would have to meet, likely in the coming say or two,to decide whether the census will go ahead.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
