The UN special envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes has said fighting in Sudan could turn into an ethnic-driven conflict if the warring parties do not respect and extend a ceasefire that is supposed to begin Monday.
"The growing ethnicization of the conflict risks to expand and prolong it with implications for the region," Perthes told the UN Security Council on Monday.
Perthes added there were already signs the fighting could split the country along ethnic and communal lines.
"In parts of the country, fighting between the two armies or the two armed formations has sharpened into communal tensions, or triggered conflict between communities," he said.
"Warning signs of tribal mobilisation is also reported in other parts of the country, particularly in South Kordofan," he added.
Perthes called the ceasefire, agreed on Saturday and set to begin at 9:45 pm (1945 GMT) on Monday, a "welcome development," even though fighting has continued through the day Monday.
"I continue to urge the parties to honor this agreement which they signed two days ago. They must stop the fighting,'' he told the Security Council.
