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Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
“Relief demands the highest professional standard”
53 journalists killed
More money for
population issues
Sudanese rebel leader
John Garang becomes vice president
An action plan for the millennium goals
World Bank: Wolfensohn steps down
Malloch Brown new
chef de cabinet at UN
02/2005
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[ Peace accord ]
Sudanese rebel leader
John Garang becomes vice president
The longest-running war in Africa is over. On the 9th of January, vice president Ali Osman Taha and South Sudanese rebel leader John Garang signed a peace agreement in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. After the conflicting parties negotiated for several years, the accord could have far-reaching consequences for the country. The contract gives the Christian population in the south an opportunity to vote in six years’ time on whether they want to separate from the Islamic north and form a new state. The war between the rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the regime in Khartoum claimed an estimated two million lives over the past 21 years and made four million people refugees.
The agreement provides for the formation of an interim government, which will draw up a new constitution. The SPLM holds 28 percent of the governmental posts and rebel leader Garang will become vice president. Furthermore, the parties agreed that the revenue raised from oil in the fought-over regions will flow in equal portions to the north and south. Observers believe that, as a result, Sudan will increase its oil production significantly. Evidently, the French oil company Total has already renewed its extraction contracts with the government, which were suspended in 1985 after the war broke out. Several US companies have also expressed interest in becoming active in Sudan. However, according to Marina Peter, an NGO expert on Sudan, it is still unclear who will make the decisions on oil production in the south in future, because the peace accord leaves open the question of land rights. These and many other contentious details still have to be sorted out.
The rebels and the government were also unable to agree on two issues, which originally contributed to the outbreak of war. They concern the use of the Sharia on non-Muslims in the north of the country and the utilisation of Nile water. According to the peace accord, the parliament which, of course, still has to be elected, will decide on the future role of the Sharia. If it was up to the government, this would happen soon. The SPLM, on the other hand, is demanding more time to improve its own standing.
The peace settlement between the north and the south could also have an impact on the crisis region, Darfur. However, this will not likely be a positive one, even though President Hassan Omar el-Bashir stated that the agreement with the SPLM will improve the chances of peace in the region.
Experts on Sudan, however, expect that the government will bring military forces it can now withdraw from the south into action in the west of the country. Minister of State in the Foreign Office, Kerstin Müller, stated on behalf of Germany that there is no chance of permanent peace in Sudan without first finding a solution to the Darfur conflict and other smouldering crises. (ell)
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