Global Policy Forum

By Joyce Mulama

After more than two decades of conflict in southern Sudan,
warring parties appear close to settling their differences permanently.

Sudan ended 2004 on a high note, with government and rebel representatives signing a permanent ceasefire and an accord that maps out the implementation of several peace protocols already concluded. This paves the way for a final agreement to end 21 years of civil war in southern Sudan – Africa's longest-running conflict.

The ceremony took place Friday in the north-western Kenyan town of Naivasha, which has served as the venue for peace talks between Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). It was attended by Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed el-Bashir, SPLM/A leader John Garang and South African head of state Thabo Mbeki, amongst others. "In November (first Vice President Ali Osman) Taha and I signed a memorandum of understanding committing that we would conclude a comprehensive agreement and present a new year's gift to the people of Sudan. This is what we have done today," said Garang during an address to an audience of flag-waving Sudanese, Taha at his side.

This was in reference to a pledge made to the United Nations Security Council, which convened in the Kenyan capital – Nairobi – last month in a bid to give impetus to Sudanese peace talks. "We are here to pay tribute to the people of Sudan and announce to them that we have reached a peace agreement. We are here to tell them that we will be at their service so that Sudan will be at a new horizon," added Taha. A final peace agreement is expected to be signed on Jan. 9.

Negotiations between government and the southern rebels, which got underway in 2002, have been mediated by the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – a regional body comprising Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Prior to Friday's ceremony, the two parties had signed protocols on the sharing of Sudan's oil wealth, power sharing in a transitional government – and the control of three contested areas in central Sudan. The interim administration will govern Sudan for six years after the signing of a final peace accord, after which a referendum will be held on secession for the south.

The conflict has pitted Islamic authorities in the north against Christian and animist rebels who took up arms in 1983 to protest against control by the Muslim government in Khartoum. Complicated by the presence of oil reserves in disputed territory, the fighting – along with resultant disease and famine – has left over two million people dead and about four million others displaced. "No fighting in Sudan anymore. Today is the independence day of Sudan, the 49th independence anniversary. The independence has not been complete because of the war. But today, it is going to be complete because the war is over," said el-Bashir in an address to those who attended the signing ceremony. "We will work hard to resolve all problems in Sudan. But our work will not be complete unless we solve the problem of Darfur," he added.

Conflict in Darfur, a region of western Sudan, has overshadowed progress in ending civil war in the south. Two rebel groups in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), began fighting Khartoum in February 2003 to protest against alleged neglect of the area. Government is accused of responding to these hostilities by attacking civilians of three ethnic groups from which the SLA/M and JEM allegedly draw support – the Fur, Masaalit and Zaghawa. It is also accused of supporting Arab militias known as the Janjaweed ("men on horseback") in raids against civilians.

This campaign is underpinned by a longstanding struggle between nomadic Arabs and settled communities over control of land in Darfur. According to the UN more than 70,000 people have died and up to 1.6 million others been displaced as a result of the conflict. Certain rights activists and politicians have described the actions of government and the Janjaweed as genocidal. "Fighting in Darfur will affect implementation of the new agreements (for southern Sudan). The longer it takes to solve the Darfur crisis, the worse it will become and the harder it will be to implement the peace deal," John Prendergast, a special advisor to the International Crisis Group, told IPS in Naivasha. This organisation is a think-tank based in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

While the African Union is mediating in peace talks between Sudan's government, the SLA/M and the JEM, little progress appears to have been made in these discussions. An April ceasefire between the warring parties has been consistently violated. Civil society groups in Sudan also fear militant groups in the south that have not been included in negotiations may jeopardize the peace.

"The talks have only involved government and the SPLM/A, while there are many armed groups in Sudan," observed Suzanne Jambo, coordinator of the New Sudanese Indigenous Organisations Network, which unites various civil society groups in Sudan. "The groups may violate the peace and for this reason there is an important need for the two parties that have signed the peace to engage in dialogue both in the north and south, targeting the militia," she said in Naivasha during an interview with IPS.

However, others are more optimistic. "There are clauses in the signed agreements that allow for the inclusion of militia groups in all processes in a post-war Sudan," said Jimmy Wongo of the Union of Sudan African Parties, who is an observer at the peace talks. "If all the agreements are implemented faithfully, Sudan will be a peaceful country and this will open doors for development," he told IPS.

For his part, Mbeki noted that the rest of the continent also had a role to play in ensuring that the various peace protocols for southern Sudan were implemented. "It's the obligation of Africa to make sure that this agreement succeeds. It is for Africa to walk together with the people of Sudan, to engage in all processes that will see Sudan come up again," he said. In practical terms, this would include assistance with rebuilding the infrastructure of the country, which has been devastated by years of conflict. "The people of Sudan need clean water, health facilities and roads," observed Mbeki, who concludes a three-day visit to East Africa Saturday. Pretoria and the University of South Africa have also promised to train SPLM/A officials, so that they can serve effectively in Sudan's transitional government.

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