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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454
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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 Uneven movement on Sudan reconciliation tracks
By Dina Ezzat and Mohamed KhaledSudanese President Omar Al-Bashir is expected to be in Cairo, on an official visit, for talks with President Hosni Mubarak later this month. "These are the plans; of course it all depends on matching the schedules of the two presidents," said one Sudanese diplomatic source.
This visit has been the subject of speculation for some time now. "I think it is fair to say that it is going to materialise -- and we are talking about sooner rather than later," said an Egyptian diplomatic source.
News of the expected visit was made public last Thursday after President Mubarak received Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail for the first time in years.
During the meeting Ismail handed Mubarak a written message from the Sudanese president. The message was about "expected" Egyptian efforts to promote a reconciliation in Sudan "at a time when Sudan is facing serious challenges that could undermine its unity" said the Sudanese foreign minister.
Ismail also talked about the steps taken, and to be taken, by his country to improve relations with Egypt.
"In other words, Mr Ismail reaffirmed Sudan's sincere intentions to work closely with Egypt on sorting out all the bilateral problems," said one informed source. "The very fact that the Sudanese president is actually going to be in Cairo in a few weeks is very significant. It means that Egypt is being understanding of the Sudanese pace of responding to Cairo's queries and demands. It also means that Sudan is prepared to be more forthcoming in connection with Egyptian expectations and concerns," the same source added.
But most important of all, Sudanese and Egyptian diplomats say, this visit will send a clear message to all concerned parties that Egypt and Sudan are committed to making the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative on Sudan work. Moreover, the expected presidential talks would certainly step up the pace of this initiative.
"We think it is very important for this visit to happen and for our relations with Egypt to improve, now that we are faced with all these threats aimed at marginalising the Egyptian-Libyan initiative," said a Sudanese official. "It is very obvious that some forces are trying to use some factors within the Sudanese opposition to hamper the joint initiative".
The position of John Garang, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army remains to be clarified, and the US has been advising Garang to withdraw his shaky approval of the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative. Garang seems to be still weighing the pros and cons of the latter as compared to those of the previously proposed initiative of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which offers him the right to seek self-determination for the south as well as separation between religion and state and the establishment of a secular, multi-party democratic state in Sudan.
"It is logical that Garang insists on IGAD on the basis of the gains it includes in his favour, while the Egyptian-Libyan initiative does not," said one analyst. "The core of the Egyptian-Libyan initiative is a call for dialogue between government and opposition, without any further details," he added.
Cairo remains in touch with Garang and his representatives and is seeking a clearer understanding of his position and to answer any questions he might have. Egypt's foreign ministry is also working hard to ensure that the northern opposition will not go back on its support for the initiative. To do this, it has encouraged Khartoum to be more understanding of the concerns of these groups.
According to statements of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), an umbrella organisation for the northern Sudanese opposition, Khartoum must take tangible steps towards creating an atmosphere conducive to dialogue before negotiations can take off.
Such steps would include the provision of public freedoms, an end to the detention of opposition figures and to media campaigns against them. According to Sudanese opposition sources, the NDA is waiting for the government to respond to these demands before it decides to name its delegates to the preparatory reconciliation meeting proposed by the Egyptian-Libyan initiative.
"Since the government has not taken any of these steps, we were unable -- in our recent meeting -- to name our delegates to the preparatory meeting," Al-Shafie Khidir, the NDA's secretary of organisation and administration told Al-Ahram Weekly.
While in Cairo this week for talks with Egyptian officials, Ismail was put in touch with some representatives of the Cairo-based Sudanese opposition. The contacts were described as encouraging and more are expected.
"We are going to pursue every path to make a reconciliation possible," said the Sudanese foreign minister before leaving Egypt for more talks on the initiative with Libyan officials in Tripoli. He added that making this initiative work would help secure the unity of Sudan which "is by definition in the interest of African and Arab security".
Last Thursday Foreign Minister Amr Moussa met with the US envoy for Sudan Harry Johnston, partly in an attempt to defuse any tensions between Washington and Cairo over the initiative. Following the meeting, the US official told reporters that while the US "recognises Egypt's long history and special interests in Sudan", it believes that "the views of all concerned parties can be more directly reflected in the IGAD peace process".
In Cairo, Johnston also met with Mohamed Osman Al-Merghani, president of the NDA. Following the meeting Al-Merghani declared his rejection of any imposed solutions to the Sudanese crisis, though he said he appreciated the right of neighbours and other partners to help reach a peaceful settlement.
In their meeting with Johnston in Cairo last week, Sudanese opposition leaders proposed enlarging the initiative of IGAD to include Sudan's northern neighbours, Egypt and Libya; the proposed 'four plus two group' would include the two Arab states in addition to IGAD members: Eriteria, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
"This will allow the combining of the Egyptian-Libyan initiative with the IGAD one to reach a peaceful solution to Sudan's problems," said an NDA official.
Cairo has maintained that it is not opposed to merging the two initiatives, but has also said that, for now, it would rather focus on harmonising them.
So, how is Egypt to deal with continuing US opposition to its joint initiative with Libya? And can that initiative be amended in such a way as to make it more acceptable to the US? "As it stands, the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative serves the purpose of peacefully ending national discord in, and maintaining the territorial integrity of, Sudan. We are sticking to what we are offering, but we are going to talk more to the Americans," answered one source within the foreign ministry.
