A precious peace
Editorial, The Financial Times
August 5, 2005 — Rioting in Sudan has claimed at least 130 lives after the death in a helicopter crash of John Garang, the former rebel leader just installed as first vice-president in a government of national unity. One of the most painstakingly negotiated and precious peace deals in Africa is in danger of falling apart, only weeks after it began to be put into effect. It will take intense commitment from all sides in the decades-long civil wars in Africa’s largest country, and the sustained involvement of the international community, to hold it together.
The peace deal, brokered with substantial US involvement, remains the best hope not only of reconciling the Islamic north and non-Islamic south of the country, but also of ending the brutal conflict and persecution in the western province of Darfur, where more than 2m people have fled their homes for refugee camps. The problem is that for the peace to take hold, decades of mistrust must be replaced by co-operation and joint action to share the country’s resources.
In spite of the riots, concentrated in the shanty-towns of Khartoum and Juba, the southern capital, there are hopeful signs. Order is being restored partly by joint forces of the Khartoum government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, Mr Garang’s organisation. The first UN peacekeepers who had arrived to police the peace agreement have also been involved.
The smooth transition of leadership within the SPLM to Salva Kiir Mayardiit, Mr Garang’s long-serving deputy, also suggests that fears of instant faction-fighting within the southern forces may have been exaggerated. All have been anxious to insist that Mr Garang’s death was indeed an accident, although suspicions of foul play are inevitable in the febrile atmosphere of a country that has known little but civil war for almost 50 years. His funeral tomorrow in Juba may be a chance for a public demonstration of reconciliation.
Much depends on the readiness of the northern leadership in Khartoum to abide by its commitments in the peace process. The most immediate threat comes from the irregular militia groups armed and encouraged by the northerners to fight on its behalf – the same tactic as used by Khartoum to devastating effect in Darfur. They must be disarmed, and work must begin on returning hundreds of thousands of displaced people and refugees to their homes. International pressure will have to be maintained on the old Sudan government to resist the temptation to divide and rule.
On the face of it, Mr Garang’s tragic death looks like a severe setback to one of the few successful demonstrations of US diplomacy in Africa. Another came this week with the military coup in Mauritania, where it is unclear if the new regime will maintain a pro-US stance. But it is in the interests of all Sudan, and the entire international community, for the peace process to survive.