Maybe Sudan Needs a New Comprehensive Peace Agreement

Posted on November 4, 2007
Filed Under Sudan, Darfur, UN |

I’ve said the following in this article I wrote before two weeks and which was published a few days ago:

The situation is becoming more complex. Darfur, Nubia, up in the far north and the derailed implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Al-Bashir’s NCP and the Southern SPLM must not be regarded as three separate issues requiring different solutions. The root problems are essentially the same in all cases – lack of wealth and power sharing.

Now read this by Peter Schumann who worked for the UN in Sudan:

One of the last activities I was involved with was facilitating to strengthen the political relationship between the SPLM and the ‘Darfur Rebels’–we had two very important meetings in Juba, pre and post Abuja. Surprisingly (?) the UN–AU Mediation was not amused about the growing linkage between these two political groupings, it seemed that they saw this initiative more as a threat to their approach to form a common platform in Darfur, ignoring to a large extent the role of the SPLM.

Peter confirms what we already knew, namely that behind the scenes, the SPLM and Darfur’s rebels are talking together and strategizing.

The timing of the SPLM’s withdrawal from the Government of National “Unity” is telling. In case you didn’t notice, it was close to the scheduled Darfur peace talks in Libya (which not surprisingly were a failure, given the fact that key rebel figures didn’t attend. I suspect the SPLM might have had something to do with it).

Anyways, Peter’s outlook on the future of Sudan is far from pleasant:

The next couple of months will in all likelihood see a deterioration of the security situation in Southern Sudan and in Darfur. The CPA will continue be dishonoured in particular and all provisions related to the key Naivasha principles, in particular the right for self determination, with an escalation of military conflict focusing on the oil fields in Sector III. The deployment of UNAMID will focus on the military-security dimension and will result in the well know tussles with Khartoum over import of equipment and granting of visas and travel permits. All this will keep the UN and AU bureaucracies very preoccupied–do not underestimate the challenges to build a large scale integrated Mission under hostile conditions! Khartoum has mastered the art to divide and rule the UN bureaucracy, with the AU on board it will be even easier to divert attention from a political programme in support of forces in Sudan who want change, lasting and honest change to a system of governance which does not thrive on marginalization and instability but which guarantees the survival and well being of all Sudanese.

And what does Alex De Waal have to say?

I cannot agree more that the focus must now be on the CPA and a single solution for the whole of Sudan. The opportunity for a separate Darfur agreement was missed last year and I believe it is unlikely that it will recur soon.

Increasingly issues facing Darfur and South Sudan are inseparable and so are those of other parts of Sudan. They’re not the disease. They’re all merely symptoms of it. The disease is something else.

Use your imagination!

Comments

One Response to “Maybe Sudan Needs a New Comprehensive Peace Agreement”

  1. Updates On North-South Sudan Crisis : The Sudanese Thinker on November 22nd, 2007 5:33 pm

    […] I’ve mentioned previously, the SPLM and Darfurian rebels are strategizing together. Keeping the NCP pressured by […]

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