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Both parties to the decades-long civil war in Sudan would like to see more of an Egyptian and less of a US role in their efforts to reach a peaceful settlement. Leaders from the two sides spoke to Mahmoud Murad in Cairo
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir recently reached an agreement with Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) leader, Colonel John Garang, regarding both parties' insistence that Egypt play a role in war-torn Sudan's peace and development process. With mounting concern that the country might be divided into smaller states or become the target of a US-led military campaign like Iraq, asking for Egypt's help is part of a concerted attempt to protect the unity of Sudan.
Al-Bashir and Garang made this request during separate visits to Cairo on Tuesday and Sunday. President Hosni Mubarak held extensive meetings with each leader to discuss the Sudanese peace process and the conflict between northern and southern Sudan. In conversations with Al- Ahram Weekly, Garang, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail and other Sudanese officials spoke of their worries regarding their country becoming another Iraq. After all, they said, the US does not conceal its designs for Africa, especially southern and western Sudan, as a way of cementing control over the Horn of Africa, establishing a pro-American region south of the core Arab states, and staying close to the sources of the Nile as well as new oil discoveries.
According to Garang, Egypt is being asked "to sponsor the peace process, meaning the negotiations between the north and the south, in order to reach a comprehensive peace based on justice, equality and non- discrimination". Garang also wants Egypt "to sponsor the development process in the south".
When asked about the deal made by the SPLA and the government last May in Machakos -- without Egypt's help -- Garang said, "that was arranged by the sponsors of the agreement, and as you know, that was the United States."
When asked if the SPLA was still in contact with Washington, Garang said no. "We are now focussing on Egypt and its role. When I met President Mubarak, I asked him to reactivate Egypt's role. We are not a separatist movement, but are seeking unity in Sudan -- one voice. We want to reach an agreement with the Khartoum government on practical steps to begin implementing a six- year interim period, which will be followed by a referendum on unity. I am urging my voters to vote for unity and I would like Egypt's political support and assistance in development projects in the south, as well as its media and cultural input."
One of the things Garang suggested to Mubarak was that "Alexandria University at Egypt's northern border should open a branch in Nimoli, which is in the southernmost part of Sudan, on the borders with Kenya. We will then have a connection with Egypt and Alexandria."
Garang said he was encouraged by President Mubarak's pledge -- in the name of the Egyptian people and on the occasion of Garang's visit and call for unity -- to build an academic compound which will include an elementary and secondary school in one of the cities of the south. Garang called it "a gift and a manifestation of relations between the two countries -- Egypt and united Sudan".
Before leaving Cairo on Tuesday, Garang also met with Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani, the leader of Sudan's Democratic Union Party (DUP), to discuss the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) -- the Sudanese opposition's umbrella organisation -- and its role in the peace process.
Foreign Minister Ismail, meanwhile, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Mubarak and Al-Bashir saw eye-to- eye on many issues, and that the Sudanese president requested that Mubarak sponsor the peace talks. Ismail said that after Al-Bashir's departure for Khartoum, Sudanese Minister of Agriculture Al-Magdoub Khalifa remained in Cairo to hold extensive talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali and Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mahmoud Abu-Zeid on projects which Egypt could launch in northern and southern Sudan to develop agricultural and water resources.
Some 200 million feddans are ready for immediate cultivation and vast amounts of wasted rainwater could easily be channeled into successful projects.
Ismail also said that other members of the Sudanese cabinet -- including the ministers of economy, industry and health -- are expected in Cairo in the coming period to discuss other projects. Mubarak and Al-Bashir also agreed to meet again soon.
