Peace at last in the Sudan? [Archives:2003/692/Opinion]

Hassan Al-Haifi
The long-standing civil strife in the Sudan may have come to a long awaited peaceful settlement. This is welcome news indeed, not only for our Sudanese brothers, but for all the people, who have an affection and admiration for the Sudanese people. This good news also comes amidst all the heartbreaking news out of the Arab World that is dominating the media. Needless to say, many past efforts at ending the regional rebellion of the South (one would not call it secession, for the rebels all along the period contended that they are in this for all of the Sudanese people and had no aspirations for regional independence – a plus for the rebellious leadership of the southern opposition) have all faltered even before the ink of the respective agreements dried up. The most noteworthy of these efforts was actually worked out in the late Eighties between the former short-lived democratic government in Khartoum, headed by Prime Minister (duly and freely elected) Dr. Sadik Al-Mahdi and the Southern Sudanese Liberation Front headed by Mr. John Greng (who is still the head of the Southern Opposition). When the Military Brass took over in Khartoum, in the late Eighties, the apparently viable peaceful settlement was thrown out the window along with the democracy, no thanks to the prodding by the so called Islamic Salvation Front headed by Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi. The latter and the Generals wanted no less than unconditional surrender of the southern rebels. The end of democratic rule and the rejection of the accord represented a sad turning point in the modern history of the Sudan, and also brought on the despair of many lovers of the Sudan. The latter had then been watching developments in the Sudan with great admiration for the possibilities of the Sudan becoming a shining beacon of viable democratic rule amidst a region plagued by autocratic and totalitarian regimes. For sure, regional interference had a great deal to do with the arrangement of the coup and for sure the orientation the new regime took on was farther than actually serving the interests of the Sudanese people and furthering democratic rule in the Arab World and Africa. For sure also, the resumption of fighting in the South was no more than a drain of the vital resources (human and material), that the Sudan was far in greater need of to bring on the potential development that these resources could be mobilized for and reign in prosperity and better standards of living for the Sudanese people. But the political and regional winds were not biased towards the interests of the Sudanese people and the Sudanese people were subjected to incalculable resource waste and irreparable human suffering.
Once the Generals decided to change the political equations in the home front through the return of Dr. Sadik Al-Mahdi and the gradual disassociation of the Turabi Salvation Front the efforts at reaching an end to the bloodshed in the South were intensified. Several attempts faltered, but the latest accord reached between the combatants offered a more hopeful venue that the situation in the Sudan could be taking a more positive direction. The observer is inclined to believe that all the Sudanese, including the Southerners have just about had enough of all the wanton waste of blood and resources and the Sudanese people deserve a more stable and peaceful setting, if the Sudan (North and South) was ever to hope to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
The latest accord is accorded more credence by the fact that concrete measures have been taken to make the accord worth applauding, since the Southern Opposition, has been allowed to display a tangible permanent presence in Khartoum and President General Omer Hassan Al-Bashir was ready to declare that, for all practical purposes, the War in the South is over.
A peaceful situation in the Sudan has very important regional implications, for both Africa and the Arab World. For one thing, neighboring states will find less cordial grounds for interference in factional or regional strife in the Sudan. This is especially so, when considering that a peace accord that guarantees the national unity and sovereignty of all the territorial area of the Sudan has been set firmly in place. Moreover, a stable Sudan can turn towards harnessing all the vast resources of the country towards improving the lot of the Sudanese and thus relinquishing the need for foreign meddling in the internal affairs of the Sudan. With the extreme fundamentalists finding a less welcome environment in the Sudan, this foreign meddling would be less inclined to have weight in future Sudanese politics, as was the case when the Generals and the Islamic Salvation Movement (prodded by foreign influence) did away with promising democratic rule. This observer recalls how the official media of a proximate Arab State to the Sudan, the day following the coup, went out of its way to try to discredit the Al-Mahdi Government and to hail the bloodless coup in the late Eighties, without any real consideration for the views of the Sudanese people.
One is also inclined to give credit to the other opposition forces in the Sudan for the role that they played in bringing about the latest accord and for remaining steadfast in their efforts to resume democratic rule in the Sudan, albeit through peaceful means. In the end, one is impressed that the Sudanese, if left alone can really work out their problems peacefully and that all factions in the Sudan, in Government or in the opposition, are genuinely working for the genuine interest of the Sudan and its admirable and peace loving people. We wish them all the best.
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