* Minister says security of civilians important
* Says fate of oil-rich Abyei area must be resolved first (Adds U.N. comment, paragraphs 11-12)
By Marwa Awad
CAIRO, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Sudan's defense minister said on Tuesday a secession referendum in the oil-producing south might have to be delayed until border and security problems are solved.
Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein's comments were the strongest suggestions so far from a senior member of north Sudan's dominant National Congress Party that the Jan. 9 vote may be delayed. They are certain to anger southerners.
The scheduled start of two votes in Africa's largest country by area is less than three months away -- one on whether the south should declare independence, the other on whether the contested oil-rich area of Abyei should join the north or south.
Both votes were promised in a 2005 peace deal ending decades of war between north and south Sudan that killed an estimated 2 million people and forced 4 million to flee. The dispute about the timetable has raised fears Sudan could slide back into war.
Asked if there were indications the secession referendum should be delayed, Hussein told reporters in Cairo: "According to the reality on the ground, yes. Border issues and Abyei must be resolved within the framework of one nation. What is important is security and stability of citizens."
Hussein said he had discussed with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo "the problems now standing in the way of the option of a referendum on that date," a reference to Jan. 9.
Preparations have fallen far behind schedule. Southerners led by the junior partner in government, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, are at loggerheads with northerners over key issues such as the course of their border.
"This minister is not living with the realities of south Sudan. The people of south Sudan are ready to vote," said south Sudan army spokesman Kuol Diem Kuol, commenting on the defense minister's remarks.
"All the southern parties including southerners from his party have committed to holding the referenda on time. This is the will of the people of the south, not the dictators in Khartoum," he added.
Northern officials have already said it will be impossible to hold the Abyei vote on time and they are open to a delay, an option Abyei's SPLM administrator dismissed as "unacceptable."
In New York, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq noted that leaders from both the north and the south had committed themselves to holding the referenda on time during a high-level meeting on Sudan at the United Nations on Sept. 24.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "reminds both parties of their commitments stated in that communique and the United Nations continues to operate on this basis," Haq said. (Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations; Writing by Edmund Blair and Marwa Awad; Editing by Tim Pearce and Peter Cooney)
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