Reuters News Agency
Geneva — The Sudanese government and rebels met in Switzerland Saturday to sign a ceasefire covering a key
guerrilla stronghold in a move diplomats hope will lead to a wider peace deal after 19 years of war and two million
deaths. (My note, I have not heard much outrage on this thread relating to these figures, they pale in comparison to the Israel/Palestine conflict)
The ceasefire for the Nuba mountain region, which faces the gravest humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged country,
will initially be for six months but is renewable, a Swiss government spokesman said.
The formal truce comes into effect within 72 hours and will be monitored by a joint military commission made up of
three representatives from each side and with a chairman from a neutral country yet to be chosen.
"The agreement ... should contribute to reaching a political solution to the conflict in the Nuba Mountains," a Swiss
government statement said.
Africa's largest country has been racked by civil war since 1983. In broad terms, the conflict pits rebels seeking
greater autonomy for the mostly Christian and animist south against the mostly Islamist government in the north.
The deal, mediated jointly by Switzerland and the United States, was struck after five days of closed-door talks at
Buergenstock in central Switzerland between government representatives and members of Sudan's People's
Liberation Movement (SPLM), the political wing of the main guerrilla group.
The two sides, which were already observing a shaky truce in the area, also agreed to allow civilians to move freely
inside the Nuba region, covering some 80,000 square kilometres, and permit humanitarian aid to enter by air.
Acccording to a United Nations report last month, the humanitarian situation in the region had deteriorated with
increased reports of deaths and human rights violations as well as mounting shortages of drinking water.
Sudanese Minister of Foreign Relations Mustafa Osman Ismail told Egypt's official Middle East News Agency
(MENA) that the ceasefire accord was a first but important step.
"This step has to be followed by other steps because we want peace in all regions of Sudan, and not just in the Nuba
mountains," Mr. Ismail said in Khartoum.
U.S. special envoy to Sudan John Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and an ordained minister who
helped bring both sides together, said in Cairo this week that he was still not convinced there was a real will for
peace.
Apart from a Nuba ceasefire, Danforth had also been pressing for an end to slavery and abductions — which human
rights officials say are still rife — and for the government to agree to halt all bombing of civilian areas by its air force.
Diplomats say last fall's terrorist attacks on the United States moved Sudan further up Washington's list of policy
priorities because Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, accused of masterminding these attacks, lived there from
1991 to 1996.
Sudan says Mr. bin Laden worked as a businessman and investor while he lived in Khartoum and denies he pursued
any terrorist activities there. Sudanese officials are upset that the country remains on a U.S. blacklist of states
accused of sponsoring terrorism. |
