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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Conference hopes
By Dina EzzatSudanese Foreign Minister Moustafa Othman Ismail is expected to arrive in Cairo for talks with Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on ways of advancing the implementation of the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative for reconciliation. And the ministerial talks are expected to pave the way for a reconciliation conference that could be hosted in Cairo.
The initiative seeks to maintain the territorial integrity of Sudan while allowing for the exercise of political plurality, and demands a total and irreversible cease-fire. The conference itself is intended to provide an arena in which the Sudanese opposition and government can hammer out their differences and establish a ruling system satisfactory to all parties and able to accommodate all of Sudan's ethnic and religious groupings.
Ismail's visit follows a week of intensive talks in Cairo between the different concerned parties, including the Inter-Governmental Agency for Development (IGAD) and the IGAD Partners' Forum. These contacts, aimed at encouraging the parties to support, or at least accommodate, the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative, have been "generally encouraging and even promising".
"I think there could be a constructive dialogue [between the Sudanese government and opposition]," Moussa announced following talks held last Sunday with Al-Sayed Al-Merghani, chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDA), the body encompassing northern and southern Sudanese opposition factions, including that of John Garang.
Efforts to promote the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative come at a time when the US is insisting that reconciliation in Sudan be based on the IGAD initiative. In press statements before beginning her African tour this week, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that she and the US special envoy on Sudan Harry Johnston would be meeting Garang to discuss Sudanese reconciliation and the IGAD initiative. Nor was this the first time that US officials have ignored the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative. Yet attempts to move the NDA conference away from Cairo have failed, "a clear indication", according to one Egyptian official, "that the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative has enough substance to make the parties keen on working seriously with it."
Asked about the potential impact of Washington's attitude, Foreign Minister Moussa said: "We are aware that the IGAD initiative was proposed first. But we also believe that the Egyptian-Libyan initiative is [still on the table]; it is active, and is in progress... We see no conflict between the two initiatives. Actually there is room for the two initiatives to be co-ordinated and complement each other. We did not propose this initiative," he added, "simply to withdraw it."
This flurry of diplomatic activity follows a short period of tension that came after the destruction of an oil pipeline in Sudan, an operation, Khartoum alleges, planned by Cairo-based members of the Sudanese opposition. Egypt contained Khartoum's mounting anger by encouraging the two Sudanese opposition figures believed to have orchestrated and supported the sabotage to leave Egypt without having to extradite them to Khartoum. Following this move, Egyptian officials believe reconciliation efforts are now getting back on track.
Last Tuesday, all factions of the NDA did indeed meet in Cairo to formulate a final and unified response to the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative. And on Sunday, following talks with Moussa, Al-Merghani told reporters that the peaceful option remains the NDA's "main option" for resolving the inter-Sudanese conflict. Whether this is the attitude of all the NDA factions, including Garang, remains to be seen. But the struggle for a peaceful settlement, Al-Merghani conceded, is likely to be a long one.
