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Text:	POLITICS-SUDAN: Africa’s Longest Civil War Set to Conclude by End of Year Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Nov 19 (IPS) - The Sudanese government and rebels from the south of the country pledged Friday to end their 21-year conflict by Dec. 31. This came during a two-day meeting of the United Nations Security Council in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Talks to end fighting between Khartoum and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) began in Kenya in 2002, mediated by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). This regional grouping comprises Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Djibouti. To date, six protocols have been agreed on by the two parties – including accords on a transitional government, the sharing of oil wealth and the possible secession of southern Sudan. Muslim authorities have been fighting Christian and animist rebels in the south since 1983, when Khartoum tried to impose Islamic law – sharia – throughout Sudan. Over two million people have died in the conflict – many as a result of famine induced by the fighting – while more than four million have been displaced. The United States’ ambassador to the UN, John Danforth – currently president of the Security Council – played a leading role in bringing the body to Nairobi to push for a conclusion to the peace talks. It was hoped that the unusual step of having council members gather away from UN headquarters would signal the importance that the body placed on seeing an end to Africa’s longest-running civil war. The Nairobi meeting marked the council’s first meeting out of New York in 14 years. A memorandum of understanding about the Dec. 31 deadline was signed by Yahya Hussein Babikar, minister in the office of the Sudanese president, and Nhial deng Nhial, the SPLM/A’s principal negotiator in peace talks. The 15 members of the Security Council added their signatures to the document as witnesses, while Lazaro Sumbeiywo – special envoy for IGAD – also initialed it. On Thursday, Sudan’s vice-president, Ali Osman Taha, and SPLM/A leader John Garang both highlighted the importance of wrapping up negotiations speedily. "Vice-president Taha and Dr Garang, I listened to your words to the council and believe that you are in fact determined to conclude a comprehensive peace by December 31 as you have promised the world you will do," said Danforth, Friday. "It is up to you to prove the naysayers and sceptics wrong, and to move your country forward toward joining the family of nations. As this meeting attests, the attention of the world is upon you. The United Nations and all the nations of the world expect, demand that you deliver on your word," he added. Previous undertakings by Sudan’s government and rebels to reach a final ceasefire have been broken. The council also unanimously voted for a resolution urging Khartoum and the SPLM/A to reach a final peace accord quickly, and promising financial support to help Sudan rebuild after conflicts in the country were brought to an end. Taha later noted, "We have knocked on all doors, and looked at all angles searching for peace. We are more committed than any other time that our people will reap the fruits of the long process of peace that we have walked." "We renew our commitment to what is contained in the just passed UN resolution," he added. Taha’s words were echoed by Garang: "Resolution 1574 is a message to the Sudanese people who have suffered for many years that their long suffering is coming to an end so that they can put pieces of their lives together." "We will do our best not to disappoint the Sudanese people and the whole international community," he said. The resolution noted that peace in southern Sudan would help resolve conflict in the western Darfur region, where a scorched earth campaign by government forces and Arab militias has led to 70,000 deaths and the displacement of about 1.5 million people. A political and humanitarian crisis began brewing in Darfur in February last year, when rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement and Justice and Equality Movement took up arms against government to protest against the alleged marginalization of the area. This led Khartoum to attack communities such as the Fur, Masaalit and Zaghawa which have the same ethnicity as the rebels. Government also armed the militias, known as the Janjaweed ("men on horseback"), enabling them to participate in attacks on these communities. Prior to February 2003, Darfur had already experienced disputes over land and water resources between nomadic Arabs and settled ethnic groups. Resolution 1574 threatens unspecified action against parties which continue with acts of violence in Darfur, (on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that government, militias and rebels were all in contravention of a ceasefire signed in April). However, civil society organisations operating in Sudan and international non-governmental groups said the resolution would do little to halt human rights abuses in Darfur. Some believe these abuses amount to genocide. "We were expecting tough action against the Sudan government, which is responsible for atrocities in Darfur. We were expecting the government to be slapped with economic sanctions and flight bans, but nothing of this sort (happened)," Peter Lasu Ladu, spokesman for the Coalition of Southern Sudan Civil Society Organisations, told IPS during a demonstration held outside the venue of the council’s meeting. "The soft language in the new resolution paves the way for the government to continue committing atrocities," he added. Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organisation, said "Today’s resolution leaves out the explicit demand in (previous) resolutions for the government of Sudan to disarm and prosecute the government-backed Janjaweed militias." The Security Council passed resolutions on Darfur in July and September, holding out the prospect of oil sanctions against Sudan if abuses in the region continued. However, Khartoum has reportedly failed to comply with these resolutions, which require militias to be disarmed and security restored in Darfur. Danforth appeared to have anticipated the criticism from activists. "Yes...Some will say, some are already saying ‘Oh, just another resolution’. Some will say that this whole event is just a photo opportunity. But we came here not for a ceremony, but for results," he said. (FIN/2004)

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