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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters 'Constructive approach'
By Dina Ezzat
to Sudan's unityA recent official statement suggesting Khartoum's readiness to accept the division of Sudan into southern and northern states was not met with support from Cairo.
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir has been quoted by state television as saying that he would be ready to allow the south to secede if this would end the 15-year-old civil war.
Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, asked if the Egyptian government would accept such a scenario, said that Cairo did not favour the division of Sudan as a way of putting an end to the war between the Islamist government of the predominantly Arab north and the Christian-animist south.
Moussa said that if Al-Bashir's statement was true "it would be a regrettable development." But he would not say how far Cairo was prepared to go to help Sudan avoid the path of partition.
He said, however, that there are on-going contacts between Egypt and the two sides who have a relationship of "an exceptional nature" and "who share a common wish to end their disagreements and forge a common understanding."
Such a transformation is, nevertheless, easier said than done. Despite assurances from officials on both sides that the two countries have dealt with the thorny issues of Egyptian militants taking refuge in Sudan and the presence of certain Sudanese opposition groups in Egypt, the Cairo-Khartoum relationship is still by and large one of mutual recriminations and disappointments.
For example, no progress has yet been reported by the joint committee for the restoration of Egyptian educational and irrigation properties in Sudan that were confiscated by the Khartoum regime in the early 1990s when bilateral relations were at their lowest ebb. Since its first meeting last April in Khartoum, the committee has failed to reconvene and no future meetings have been scheduled.
Furthermore, Egypt has not had an ambassador in Khartoum for the past four years.
Egypt insists that a restoration of normal relations requires that Sudan honours its commitments on the restoration of the confiscated property and a resolution of certain aspects of the security issue. "Short of this, one cannot really expect a breakthrough in bilateral relations," said an informed source.
Cairo does not appear to believe that avoidance of the partition of Sudan requires it to speed up the slow and bumpy process of reconciliation with Khartoum. "A full bilateral reconciliation is not a prerequisite for our efforts to encourage a reconciliation between the warring Sudanese factions," a source said.
Cairo's motive for opposing the division of Sudan is simple: once the south secedes, its various ethnic groups will take up arms against one another. This would be exactly the type of war that would tempt intervention by neighbouring African countries that have tribal connections with the inhabitants of southern Sudan.
"We are working to make sure that all the Sudanese factions, as well as concerned international parties, realise that it will not be in anybody's interest to see Sudan break into two pieces," said an Egyptian diplomat.
In 1997, the Khartoum government acknowledged the right of the south to self-determination as a last resort to end the civil war. But the Egyptian position is to give priority to the "more constructive approach" of encouraging reconciliation between the warring factions.
Sources say that the warring parties are now ready to accept Egypt as mediator in the process of reconciliation. "The reconciliation Egypt has in mind is one that recognises the multi-cultural and ethnic layers of the Sudanese people," a source said. "It is a reconciliation that would be based on correcting past mistakes to allow for a future in which every Sudanese is given every reason to believe in the stability of his country."
Does this mean that Egypt is preparing the way for the hosting of a peace conference? A diplomatic source said: "What we have in mind is not a show. What we have been trying to do for a long time now is to pave the way for the reconciliation process and encourage all efforts made by all concerned parties in this direction. As for conferences, they can take place anywhere and any time, but what matters, and what we are still working on, is the substance of such a meeting."
At present, Sudan's ambassador to Egypt is in Khartoum and is expected back in Cairo next week. Egypt hopes that he will bring back a clear signal on constructive future moves regarding both Egyptian-Sudanese relations and the inter-Sudanese reconciliation.
The power play between moderate and radical forces in Sudan will determine the content of the message the ambassador will convey.
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