The New York Times
May 31, 2001
WASHINGTON, May 30 — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is considering an experienced diplomat, Chester A. Crocker, as his special envoy to Sudan. But Mr. Crocker wants assurances that he would be insulated from conservative views at the White House, according to associates familiar with his thinking.
Conservative Christian advocates, who form an important part of Mr. Bush's political base, have taken a special interest in the civil war in Sudan, urging the administration to support Christian rebels in the south against the Islamic government. At the forefront of this effort is William Franklin Graham, who delivered the prayer at Mr. Bush's Inauguration.
But both Mr. Crocker and Secretary Powell have staked out a different position: that tilting too heavily toward the Christians would only aggravate the three-decade conflict.
During his visit to Africa last week, the secretary announced that the United States would deal with "all parties" to bring about a cease- fire in Sudan. In Nairobi, for example, he avoided meeting John Garang, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army and the person whom the Christians' advocates see as a major standard bearer. In a signal of evenhandedness, the secretary also urged the Sudan government to stop bombing supplies donated to the South by international relief groups, declaring such attacks "reprehensible."
Mr. Crocker, a seasoned Africa hand who teaches at Georgetown University, said today that he had no comment on whether he would take the appointment until he spoke personally to the secretary.
But he has made clear to associates that while he believes the time is ripe for solving the Sudan conflict, the administration must be unified and clear in how it wants to go about it. He has stressed, those who know his position say, that providing the southerners with even nonlethal assistance like vehicles and radios is not conducive to peace talks.
The administration is in the process of providing $3 million of such equipment to a southern rebel group, as a first step in what Christian advocates and some Republican senators hope will be a larger military commitment.
Mr. Crocker was assistant secretary of state for African affairs during the Reagan administration. He made a name for himself running complicated negotiations over several years that resulted in the departure of Cuban troops from Angola and South African troops from Namibia. He also played a major role in the Reagan administration's support of Jonas Savimbi, the leader of the opposition to the Communist government in Angola.
Because of his background in Africa and his Republican credentials, Mr. Crocker was a natural for Secretary Powell to turn to, even though the secretary has pledged that he would not mimic the Clinton administration's habit of sending special envoys to trouble spots.
Secretary Powell tried to head off having to appoint a special envoy to Sudan by asking Andrew Natsios, the administrator of the Agency for International Development, to deal especially with relief issues there, like food and medicine.
But supporters of the southerners, who include lawmakers from the Congressional Black Caucus as well, have insisted that a diplomatic envoy be appointed in order to elevate the importance of the Sudan issue. The coalition of blacks and conservative Christians is also interested in punishing the northern leadership.
The conflict has become a lightning rod for Christian advocates and for black lawmakers because of what they call the Sudan government's policy of allowing Christian black Sudanese to be abducted and sent into slavery in the Islamic north. Some church groups have financed "redemption" missions, in which visiting Americans pay money to "free" abductees.
The war also attracted attention because a hospital in southern Sudan run by Mr. Graham's group, Samaritan's Purse, has been bombed numerous times by the government.
But foreign companies are finding more oil reserves in Sudan, and diplomats argue that this wealth can used as a bargaining tool to end the war. So far, only the north has benefited from the oil, but the richest finds are believed to be in the south, which could induce the two sides to come to the bargaining table. |
