Wishy-washy Washington workshop
Sudanese government and opposition figures met in Washington to speed up the peace and national reconciliation processes, writes Gamal Nkrumah
These days nobody can say no to the United States, and the Sudanese government and opposition leaders are no exception. Representatives of the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the country's largest armed opposition group, met in Washington for peace talks at the invitation of the Americans.
The two-day gathering was organised by the US State Department last week. Two issues -- power-sharing and the apportioning of Sudan's oil wealth -- dominated discussions. The event was, however, low-key; US Secretary of State Colin Powell did not attend, but sent in his stead Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner. And, it was clear that Washington calls the shots.
"The Washington talks focused on pertinent issues like political power-sharing and economic wealth-sharing that have in the past foiled peace talks and slowed down the peace process," Mansour Khaled, special political adviser of SPLA leader John Garang told Al-Ahram Weekly. Khaled, who participated in the Washington talks, stressed that the meeting was low-key and informal. "The main purpose of the talks was to bridge the wide gap between the Sudanese government and the SPLA in an informal and relaxed setting," Khaled said.
"Significant strides have been made in the past year, but a number of serious political differences compound the problem of negotiations. In particular, the SPLA insists on a sizable share of the newfound oil wealth, currently exploited exclusively by oil companies and the Sudanese government. Also, the position of vice-president will have to be clarified," he added.
Yassir Arman, official SPLA spokesman, concurred. "Difficult hurdles have been surmounted, but there are still serious differences of opinion between the two parties," Arman told the Weekly. He said that one of the main stumbling blocks to peace remains the Sudanese government's insistence on the legal and religious status of the federal capital Khartoum. The SPLA demands a secular Khartoum, while the Sudanese authorities insist that the national capital remain under strict Islamic Shari'a laws. "We told them that we want Khartoum to be as secular as Cairo. They refuse to budge."
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the umbrella opposition organisation grouping the SPLA and other mainly northern Sudanese opposition parties, did not take part in the Washington workshop. The organisation is, however, taking stock of developments.
Sudanese opposition figures dismissed the significance of the meetings. "No major constructive developments transpired at the Washington workshop," Farouk Abu-Eissa, the head of the Cairo-based Arab Lawyers Union and official spokesman for the NDA, told the Weekly. The NDA Machakos follow-up committee, which includes as members Abu-Eissa, Abdel- Rahman Saeed, Al-Tigani Al-Tayeb and Pacifico Lado, met this week in Cairo to review the Sudanese situation and to determine the role to be played by the NDA in future Sudanese peace talks in particular and in the Sudanese peace process generally. Washington is determined to maintain the momentum of the peace initiative brokered by the US and the Inter- Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), a regional organisation which groups seven East African countries, including Sudan.
Under the Machakos Protocol, the southern Sudanese will enjoy a six-year period of self-rule before deciding in a referendum whether to secede or remain part of Sudan. However, many thorny political and economic issues remain unresolved.
Washington, Khartoum charges, gives the SPLA far more weapons and more diplomatic cover than is required to maintain the balance between the two protagonists. In particular, the Sudanese authorities are disappointed with what they see as the caving in by the administration of President George W Bush to demands of the powerful anti-Sudan lobby which appears intent on ostracising the Sudanese government. The US anti- Sudan lobby is large and heterogeneous, grouping organisations and pressure groups from across the political spectrum -- from the conservative Christian fundamentalist groups to the liberal and leftist African American organisations. Civil rights groups and the Christian right have vociferously admonished the Sudanese authorities for persecuting southern Sudanese Christians, turning a blind eye to the allegedly widespread practice of slavery and other major violations to human rights in Sudan.
The Washington workshop occurred in spite of the strained relations between Sudan and the US. On 21 October, President Bush signed into law the Sudan Peace Act that the Senate had unanimously passed and Congress approved by 359- 8. The adoption of the law suggests that the US is determined to keep up the pressure on Sudan in order to end the Sudanese conflict and resume the commercial exploitation of Sudanese oil on a large scale. Under the act, Washington pledged to provide $100 million a year in assistance to areas outside Sudanese government control.
Meanwhile, in a flurry of diplomatic activity, Sudanese government and opposition figures are meeting with Western officials to put across their views and to find out about the policies of various Western countries towards Sudan. Certain Western countries like Norway and Switzerland have proved instrumental in securing cease-fire agreements between the Sudanese government and the SPLA. Last week, Abu-Eissa met in Cairo with Sir Allan Goulty, former British ambassador to Egypt and currently special envoy of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Oil producing Britain and Norway want to co-ordinate oil policies with Sudan, which is poised to become a major oil exporting country once the civil war ends.
It is in this context that Western officials are meeting with both Sudanese government and opposition figures. At the moment a high-powered NDA delegation, headed by NDA Secretary-General Pagan Amom is touring Britain, Norway, Italy and Switzerland. Leaders of the NDA hope that the umbrella organisation will be included in future peace talks.
Sudanese peace talks are scheduled to resume on 15 January, a week after the original date of 6 January.
