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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 Jan. - 2 Feb. 2000 Issue No. 466 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 Jan. - 2 Feb. 2000 Issue No. 466
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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 'Dynamic' talks on south Sudan
By Mohamed Khaled
Peace talks between the Sudanese government and southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) led by John Garang, were deadlocked in Nairobi last week. Representatives of both sides failed over five days of talks to make significant progress due to differences in identifying the borders of southern Sudan, where a referendum on self-determination should be carried out. The two sides also remained at odds over the issue of the separation of religion and state.
"There was no breakthrough on the issue," said SPLA spokesman Samson Kwaje after the conclusion of the talks. But Nafie Ali Nafie, leader of the government's negotiating team, said the talks were "very dynamic," adding that, unlike in the past, the SPLA rebels had shown flexibility on the subject of the state and religion. "This was the most dynamic meeting because the delegations discussed issues in detail," he told reporters. The two sides agreed to another round of talks on 21 February.
The Nairobi talks were the fifth round of negotiations under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a grouping of East African countries led by Kenya.
According to the Sudanese News Agency (SUNA), the two sides reconfirmed agreement on some issues, such as the agreement on a peaceful settlement, unity of Sudan, respect for human rights, and even the distribution of wealth, establishment of an independent judicial system, equality between citizens and the right to self-determination.
Sudanese President Al-Bashir (R) and first deputy Ali Osman Taha attend a meeting of the ruling party on Sunday in Khartoum
(photo: AFP)
Meanwhile, several thorny issues are still pending. The government and the rebels agreed earlier on the principle of the right to self-determination and the holding of a referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan. Nevertheless, they cannot agree on what southern Sudan consists of. Khartoum insists the referendum should be held within southern boundaries fixed at independence from Anglo-Egyptian rule in 1956, while the rebels want more areas, mainly the Nuba Mountains and southern Blue Nile, to be included. "The disagreement is over which zones could be termed part of southern Sudan," said Kwaje. "The problem has been, in terms of geography, which areas are allowed to exercise this right in self determination," he added.
However, the rebels seem flexible on the issue of geographic boundaries. They said they were willing to agree to a referendum first in the original southern Sudan and to discuss later means of holding a similar vote in disputed regions. While disagreement over the borders seemed negotiable and likely to be solved in the next round of talks, secular government has become a more chronic point of contention. The rebels want a secular state while the Sudanese government of President Omar Al-Bashir insists on applying the shari'a, or Islamic law, insisting that the present constitution guarantees freedom of doctrine and freedom of worship. SPLA rebels believe this means the government is unwilling to abandon the religious approach it has embarked on. The compromise suggested by the SPLA, but rejected by the government, is to apply "an Islamic constitution in northern Sudan [and] a secular constitution in southern Sudan" in the run-up to the referendum.
The leader of the SPLA delegation, Nyal Deng, said the issue had to be resolved for talks to progress any further. "We consider it extremely important the next time around that there should be a breakthrough on the religion and state issue," Deng said.
