Ibrahim Gambari told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council the other option is continued conflict.

He said Sudan’s loss of a third of its territory, a third of its population and a third of its revenue when the south became independent on July 9 created “some traumatic experience” for Sudan’s north which still has to deal with the eight-year conflict in the vast western region of Darfur.

The Darfur conflict began in February 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in Khartoum, claiming discrimination and neglect. Khartoum is accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing militias on civilian populations — a charge the government denies.

UN officials say at least 300,000 people have lost their lives from violence, disease and displacement, and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes.

Gambari said there are two possible responses to South Sudan’s independence when it comes to Darfur.

“One possibility is to say, ‘Look the South has gone. We’ll have to do everything possible to keep what is left, which means we have to make whatever compromise is necessary to keep Darfur within the rest (of Sudan),” Gambari said.

The other possibility is for the government to say, “Well, we cannot afford another South Sudan. Therefore by force, by repression we’ve got to keep Darfur,” he said, and for the rebel movements to say, “Why settle because now the government in Khartoum is weak, let us have an agenda that is even broader than Darfur — regime change.”

Gambari said repression hasn’t worked in the past and “I don’t think this can work in the future.” And he said demanding the ouster of President Omar Al-Bashir’s government in Khartoum “in my view would just prolong the fighting and the suffering of the people in Darfur.”

Gambari said he believes the separation of the South presents opportunities for the armed movements to say “let’s be serious about a peace settlement.”

“My hope is that the conclusion that will be drawn by the government is to make necessary compromise, necessary flexibility to have a comprehensive and inclusive peace process,” he said.

Last week, the Sudanese government and a small rebel group, the Justice and Liberation Movement, signed a peace deal in the Qatari capital of Doha meant to provide a basis for a cease-fire, power sharing, equal distribution of wealth and compensation for displaced people.

But two main rebel factions, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army, were not part of the deal.

“We are calling on the international community to put pressure on those who have not signed to join the peace process,” Gambari said.

He said the Justice and Equality Movement has been in and out of the peace process and is currently out. Minni Minawi, who heads the main faction of the Sudan Liberation Army, signed a peace deal with the government in 2006 but then walked out. And the Sudan Liberation Army’s founder Abdul Wahid Elnur, who is now based in Uganda, is believed to have the largest civilian following in Darfur but has refused to take part in any talks, he said.

At the moment, Gambari said, some armed elements from Minawi and Abdul Wahid are promoting more fighting rather than uniting for peace, which is “a source of concern.”