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Al-Ahram Weekly 12 - 18 August 1999 Issue No. 442 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 12 - 18 August 1999 Issue No. 442
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Books Features Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Joining efforts on Sudan
By Dina Ezzat
Egypt, Libya and Sudan are going to intensify contacts, and possibly meetings, in a bid to give a push to a Sudanese national reconciliation. The contacts are also expected to enhance Egypt's bilateral relations with both its eastern and southern neighbours.
Mubarak
Al-Bashir
Gaddafi
It was in last week's short meeting between President Hosni Mubarak and Libyan leader Mu'ammar Gaddafi that the two heads-of-state decided that it was time for Cairo and Tripoli to systematically harmonise their efforts to promote a national reconciliation in Sudan.
"This is something that we have been wanting to see happen. We are keen on working with both Egypt and Libya on the issue of a national reconciliation. We are glad that the two countries have decided to respond to our request and coordinate [policy] on this matter," said a Sudanese diplomat.
The proposed Egyptian-Libyan plan, which is still under discussion, would provide a reconciliation framework that is wider than that of the Inter-Governmental Association for Development (IGAD), the key umbrella for the reconciliation between the Khartoum regime and the southern opposition forces.
Indeed, IGAD has been ignoring the fact that the problems of Sudan are not confined to the dispute between the Khartoum regime and the opposition in the south, but also involve disputes between the Sudanese government and its opposition in the north, as well as inter-opposition disputes.
In a recent telephone conversation, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa discussed the prospects of joint Egyptian-Libyan efforts with his Sudanese counterpart, Mustafa Othman Ismail.
This month, Egyptian and Libyan officials are expected to engage in intensive contact, and possible meetings that could take place in either country, to work out the details of the joint reconciliation scheme that should integrate the ideas proposed by Sudan, and the more detailed guidelines that Egypt has formulated in around two years of contacts with different factions of the Sudanese opposition and the Khartoum government.
Also expected to take place soon are some Egyptian-Sudanese and Libyan-Sudanese meetings. Sudan's foreign minister is expected to arrive in Cairo for talks with Moussa toward the end of this month. Later on, key members of the Sudanese opposition should be holding talks with Moussa. The Sudanese minister and opposition figures should also be visiting Tripoli. A meeting that brings together Sudanese, Egyptian and Libyan officials is also on the agenda.
Egypt and Libya hope that as they join efforts they will have a better chance to encourage a Sudanese reconciliation. However, both Cairo and Tripoli are well aware that their task is not going to be easy.
The ambiguous stance of John Garang, a leading figure of the south Sudan opposition, is one major problem that faced Egypt and Libya in the past and is bound to haunt the joint Egyptian-Libyan effort in the future.
Garang had originally adopted a separatist agenda that aimed at declaring southern Sudan an independent state. He later said that he would settle for a political formula based on the unity of Sudan. However, more recently, Garang has been conspicuously absent from all Sudanese reconciliation meetings, even those sponsored by IGAD.
Some sources suggest that Garang has again been reconsidering his position. It was argued that as several Western countries show increasing interest in establishing a foothold in southern Sudan, where large oil reserves have been located, Garang is again pondering the idea of an independent southern Sudanese state.
"We are again and again telling all the parties concerned, particularly the US, that it will not be in anybody's interest to have Sudan separated into two states," said an Egyptian source.
Meanwhile, it is expected that as Egypt engages in intensive talks with both Sudan and Libya, there will be more room to improve Cairo's bilateral relations with both neighbours.
Relations with Tripoli are somewhat strained because Libya is still unable to stomach the fact that Egypt did not implement a resolution by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) last September not to abide by the air embargo imposed by the United Nations. Indeed, despite the suspension of the embargo by the UN, Cairo and Tripoli have for weeks failed to re-start the commercial air links between the two capitals.
And, while relations with Khartoum have significantly improved as a result of a recent meeting between President Mubarak and Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, there is still much room for improvement, particularly with respect to Sudan's full implementation of its promises on security cooperation with Egypt and Egypt's nomination of an ambassador to Khartoum -- a post vacant for about five years.
Mubarak, Bashir and Gaddafi are expected to hold a three-way meeting on the fringe of an extraordinary OAU summit scheduled to take place in Tripoli in the second week of September.
