By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Plans for referendums that could split Sudan in two are being hampered by delays, poor funding and a "negatively charged atmosphere" of threats and accusations, a U.N. panel said on Friday.
Sudan is less than three months away from the scheduled start of two votes -- one on whether its south should declare independence and the other on whether the contested oil-producing area of Abyei should join the south or the north.
Both votes were promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war between north and south Sudan. Relations between the former foes have remained deeply troubled and diplomats have warned there is a risk of a return to conflict if either plebiscite is delayed or disrupted.
Members of a high-level U.N. panel on Friday told journalists they were "very concerned" about a lack of progress in preparing for the votes with less that 90 days to go before the official start date of Jan. 9 2011.
"On both sides (north and south) the atmosphere remains negatively charged. Threats and accusations are being made," said former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa, the head the panel set up to monitor the referendums by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Northern and southern officials have accused each other of building up troops either side of their ill-defined shared border in recent weeks.
Mkapa said the commission set up to run the southern independence vote was short of funds and did not have enough money to hire staff or pay for basic equipment and the transportation of election materials.
"Funding from both the Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan is lagging. They must come forward with their share of the funds," he told a press conference.
The 2005 accord set up a semi-autonomous government in the south and a separate national coalition government including the north&${esc.hash}39;s National Congress Party (NCP) and the main party in the south, the Sudan People&${esc.hash}39;s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
Mkapa said the panel, which just ended a four-day tour of Sudan, was particularly concerned about the situation in Abyei where "the situation on the ground ... is reported to be very tense."
Northern and southern leaders remain at loggerheads over which of the communities in the area count as Abyei residents with the right to vote. The latest round of talks, brokered by the U.S. Sudan envoy Scott Gration, ended without agreement on Tuesday.
Northern officials on Thursday said it would now be impossible to hold the Abyei vote on time and said they were open to a delay, an option dismissed as "unacceptable" by Abyei&${esc.hash}39;s SPLM administrator.
Mkapa said he was still confident the referendums could be "successful" without going into further details.
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday his administration was using a range of diplomatic means to ensure peaceful voting in the referendums. Any resumption of fighting in Sudan could have a devastating impact on the country, its oil industry and the surrounding fractured region. (Editing by Matthew Jones)
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