Solidarity is going to be made a central element of national identity in the new Sudan, writes Gamal Nkrumah A decision on the composition of the new Sudanese government has been postponed for a further week. Nonetheless, though progress is slow, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed by the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) on 9 January is going ahead. Under the agreement, wealth and power sharing arrangements must be followed in six years by a referendum in the south to ascertain whether or not the southern Sudanese want to secede. Salva Kiir, who succeeded the late John Garang as SPLM leader, explained to his Egyptian hosts last Thursday that he has vowed to defend the territorial integrity, sovereignty, national unity and solidarity of Sudan. The lightning visit was Kiir's first trip abroad since he assumed the position of Sudanese first vice-president two weeks ago. In Cairo, Kiir stressed that the CPA was not a rehash of the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972 between the then southern secessionist Anyanya rebels and the Sudanese regime of former president Jaafar Numeiri. Kiir told his Egyptian hosts that the CPA was a blueprint for a new truly democratic Sudan. Indeed, the secession aspect of the protocol still worries several Arab capitals. In Cairo Kiir held separate meetings with President Hosni Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. It was clear at the Cairo talks that Kiir wasn't a political novice. Kiir also alluded to the presence of southern Sudanese groups who have in the past been antagonistic to the SPLM and who now grumble over their exclusion from the peace process. Kiir said that these groups are most welcome to join the Sudanese peace process. He said they must not be left out, and he made reference to talks in Kenya aimed at healing the rifts among southern Sudanese political factions and armed groups. Some leaders, like the ethnic Nuer leader Reik Machar, a former rival of Garang and now a close associate of Kiir, have now incorporated militia and followers into the SPLM. But other groups, like the Sudanese government- aligned South Sudan Defence Force (SSDF), remain obstinately outside the SPLM framework. Pulling these strands together, Kiir insisted, was the key to peace and stability in war-torn southern Sudan. The SPLM has extended an open hand of welcome to the SSDF and other splinter groups. Hindsight is a great advantage. Peace saves lives, and so does political compromise. It is always inspiring to see former sworn enemies, especially bitter ones, become allies. And, in the case of Sudan, this is doubly inspiring because it always involves pertinent issues of race, ethnicity and religion. Kiir understands that this policy has had a unifying effect and will guarantee long-term stability in his home region and in Sudan as a whole. Indeed, Kiir told his Egyptian hosts that he was keen to see peace ushered in Darfur and eastern Sudan as well. He said that southern Sudan could serve as a model for Darfur and eastern Sudan. There are signs that a breakthrough on the eastern front is imminent. Three Sudanese MPs, abducted last April, were released this week and flown to the country's second largest city, Port Sudan. The MPs were kidnapped and held by the armed opposition Beja Congress, a group that champions the rights and interests of the ethnic Beja people of eastern Sudan. Kiir said that he is confident of playing an intermediary role between the Sudanese government, of which he is now officially a part, and armed opposition groups like the Eritrean- backed Beja Congress who have recently escalated fighting against Sudanese government forces in the east of the country. The Sudanese umbrella opposition group, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is scheduled to meet in the next couple of weeks either in Cairo or in the Eritrean capital Asmara. Kiir, who has excellent working relations with the Eritreans, said he could also play a mediating role between the NDA, Asmara and Khartoum. With regard to Darfur, Kiir urged the two main groups, the secularist Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) -- an Islamist-oriented group closely affiliated with the opposition Popular Congress Party led by Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudan's leading Islamist ideologue -- to attend next week's Darfur peace talks due to take place in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The international community has urged the African Union (AU) to cut through bureaucratic, logistical and political hurdles and hurry up the deployment of troops in Sudan's war- torn region of Darfur. The 53-nation pan-African body was highly critical of the SLA and JEM urging them to observe the ceasefire deal. In an AU statement released earlier this week, the AU condemned the "provocative banditry" of the SLA and JEM. "International humanitarian relief organisations were equally critical," Ambassador Hassan Abdul-Baqui, Sudan's charges d'affaires in Cairo, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Sudan's first vice-president paid Egypt a visit in order to brief the Egyptian authorities about the Sudanese peace process and to see how Egypt can help maintain peace in Sudan, including Darfur," he said. "Kiir also paid special tribute to the role Egypt played in bringing about peace in southern Sudan. He also discussed with the Egyptian authorities how best Egypt could lend a hand in the reconstruction and development of southern Sudan," Abdel-Baqui said. Khartoum has to widen its reform agenda beyond signing peace treaties with southerners. The crises in the east and west of the country must be resolved. Peace is a cornerstone not only for Sudan but also for regional prosperity and stability. To maintain the peace momentum, the violence must stop in Darfur. Economic rivalry and the scramble over scarce resources between nomadic and sedentary peoples lie at the centre of the Darfur crisis. This issue now risks being reopened by fresh outbreaks of violence between nomadic Arab tribes and sedentary non-Arab ethnic groups. War in Darfur could spill over to other parts of Sudan, including the south where all parties would be loathe to lose the Naivasha accords, as well as the 9 January CPA, on which they worked so hard. Alas, Sudan seems to be wending back to familiar terrain: endless peace talks, low intensity warfare. This is the scenario the country should avoid at all costs. Garang's tragic death in a helicopter crash threatened to derail the Sudanese peace process. Luckily it hasn't. Some observers believe the SPLA has started to lose its grip on southern Sudan in the wake of Garang's demise. All parties, however, must not lose sight of the need to improve the chances of peace. Any delay of next week's Darfur peace talks in Abuja will create a political crisis in which the SLA and JEM will be in a position to hold the Sudanese peace hostage. The two groups are indeed threatening to boycott the talks. "The SLA would commit a very big mistake if it doesn't attend the talks and would prove that it was not ready for a peaceful solution and is not interested in solving the issue," Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Cairo after meeting his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul-Gheit at an Arab League foreign ministers meeting this week. The disparate Sudanese political groups, both government and opposition, must rise to the challenge they have set themselves. Outsiders can only help. The Sudanese themselves hold the key to lasting peace. Only they can bring about the necessary pooling of resources and efforts. The scale of the transformation required is huge. But, it is feasible.
