Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 15:37:53 +0100
A dubious comeback
The Sudanese government’s current bid for national reconciliation may not be
enough to resolve the country’s problems, writes Salah Khalil
21 March, 2014
Buffeted by internal divisions, locked in endless wars with rebels, isolated
by the international community, and teetering on the verge of bankruptcy,
the government of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir is now reaching out to
long-estranged friends in what some say is a desperate attempt to hold onto
power.
In a surprise move, Al-Bashir has held talks with one-time friend and mentor
Hassan Al-Turabi. The two men have been estranged for nearly 15 years,
during which time Al-Turabi went into opposition and formed a rival
political party, the Popular Congress Party (PCP).
The government hailed the recent meeting as a first step towards an
all-encompassing national dialogue, while its critics claimed that it was
playing for time. The move came as clashes intensified in the district of
North Kordofan between government forces and rebel groups. Thousands are
said to have fled their homes to escape the fighting in which dozens have
been killed on both sides.
The Sudanese army also said that it had recaptured the city of Malit, a key
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North Darfur from the armed groups which had seized it. Malit is a border
town in which taxes are collected on trade between Sudan, Libya and Egypt.
The announcement came a day after rebels had bragged of their capture of the
same town. According to initial reports, nearly 85 people on both sides died
in the fighting that erupted on 14 March between several Darfur-based rebel
groups and government forces.
In a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Khaled Al-Sawarimi, an
official spokesman for the Sudanese army, said that the offensive had
targeted some of the villages situated north of Al-Fasher. The rebels, most
of whom belong to the Sudanese Liberation Army of Minni Minnawi (SLA-MM),
had been trying to seize hardware from government posts, he added.
According to Al-Sawarimi, it was the Sudanese army that had ended up
capturing large amounts of weapons and munitions from the rebels. Within a
few hours, Al-Sawarimi said, the army had restored peace to the city of
Malit and was now chasing the rebels away from nearby areas.
Al-Sawarimi accused the rebel groups of putting the lives of civilians in
danger and wrecking the development plans the government intended to start
in the region.
Meanwhile, SLA-MM spokesman Adam Akbar said that his group, acting in unison
with the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), had carried out the
operation and succeeded in seizing a large amount of army hardware. The two
groups would stage further attacks in the future, he added.
Over the past few weeks, North Darfur has been the site of continued
clashes, during which rebel groups have staged attacks on the areas of
Kalamando, Lait and Toweisha, according to government sources.
On the diplomatic front, Sudan has appealed to the UN Security Council to
take action against the rebels, who it said were “killing and terrorising”
civilians in North Darfur. Khartoum said it was willing to attend peace
talks with the rebels, so long as the Gulf state of Qatar was the key
mediator.
The international community has reacted to the recent bout of fighting and
the large-scale humanitarian crisis it has caused by blaming both the
government and the rebels.
US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power criticised the Sudanese government
for its inability to defuse the situation. She also slammed the peacekeeping
forces run jointly by the UN and the African Union (AU) for failing to
protect civilians and safeguard the delivery of humanitarian aid.
She said that this peacekeeping operation, known as UNAMID (also the UN-AU
Hybrid Operation in Darfur) was the largest in the world and had a mandate
that should allow it to act in a more timely and forceful fashion.
For his part, Hassan Hamid, acting chargé d’affaires at the Sudanese
Permanent Mission to the UN, called on the UN to “punish” the rebel
movements for staging attacks in Darfur in which many civilians had been
killed or displaced.
In an attempt to contain the situation, the AU Peace and Security Council
(PSC) gave the mediation team led by former South African president Thabo
Mbeki until 30 April to negotiate a peaceful end to the war in the Blue Nile
and South Kordofan regions.
A statement issued by the AU called for the speedy delivery of humanitarian
assistance to the civilian population affected by the recent bout of
fighting.
During their meeting, Al-Bashir and Al-Turabi agreed on the need for a
comprehensive political settlement and promised to exclude no party from the
dialogue.
According to some observers, the rapprochement between Al-Bashir and
Al-Turabi came after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and
Germany pressured Khartoum to reach out to its opponents.
Some say that Al-Turabi’s willingness to reconcile with his long-time rival
may have had something to do with the setbacks the Islamists have recently
suffered in Egypt and Gaza. A source close to the Sudanese Islamists said
that Al-Bashir had asked Al-Turabi to get in touch with the rebel groups and
persuade them to take part in nationwide talks.
The same source added that Al-Turabi’s Popular Congress Party had been
holding talks with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which has also
voiced its tentative willingness to attend the talks.
Al-Bashir’s opponents say that if Khartoum is serious about nationwide
talks, it can show good faith by starting them itself. Reform within the
ranks of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) would help defuse tensions
in the war-torn nation, they say.
Others are more sceptical about Khartoum’s current bid for reconciliation.
According to one observer, what Al-Bashir and Al-Turabi have failed to
resolve in 24 years cannot possibly be sorted out in a one-hour encounter.
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