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The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s awkwardness with journalists sparked a diplomatic furore after he was quoted at the African Union summit as saying that the UN would ‘work hard to avoid a possible secession’ in Sudan. Furious officials at the Government of South Sudan’s mission to the United States told Africa Confidential it was unacceptable for the UN to take sides ahead of next year’s referendum on independence for the South. Ban’s statement also prompted a request for  clarification from the South’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and local protests. Complicating matters for Secretary General Ban was that he was speaking after remarks by AU Commission President Jean Ping, who is openly pro-Khartoum, suggesting that Southern secession could prompt Sudan’s violent break-up. Some critics note that in 1950, the UN intervened with the USA’s backing in Ban’s homeland to divide the country into North Korea and South Korea. UN Spokesman Farhan Haq insisted that Ban had been misinterpreted and misreported. Another UN official told us Ban was trying to reinvigorate the final stages of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which calls for both parties to make national unity ‘attractive’. Although the UN would not go against the results of the referendum, the official said, it might seek a political deal as part of a two-track strategy; the other track would be preparations for a newly independent state.The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s awkwardness with journalists sparked a diplomatic furore after he was quoted at the African Union summit as saying that the UN would ‘work hard to avoid a possible secession’ in Sudan. Furious officials at the Government of South Sudan’s mission to the United States told Africa Confidential it was unacceptable for the UN to take sides ahead of next year’s referendum on independence for the South. Ban’s statement also prompted a request for  clarification from the South’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and local protests. Complicating matters for Secretary General Ban was that he was speaking after remarks by AU Commission President Jean Ping, who is openly pro-Khartoum, suggesting that Southern secession could prompt Sudan’s violent break-up. Some critics note that in 1950, the UN intervened with the USA’s backing in Ban’s homeland to divide the country into North Korea and South Korea. UN Spokesman Farhan Haq insisted that Ban had been misinterpreted and misreported. Another UN official told us Ban was trying to reinvigorate the final stages of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which calls for both parties to make national unity ‘attractive’. Although the UN would not go against the results of the referendum, the official said, it might seek a political deal as part of a two-track strategy; the other track would be preparations for a newly independent state.