US’s Zoellick in Sudan to promote peace
Nov 8, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick arrived in Sudan Tuesday in a fresh effort by Washington to shore up the fledgling north-south peace deal and press for an end to the conflict in Darfur.
Zoellick was accompanied on the visit, his fourth to the country this year, by senior State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendai Frazer.
“Helping to end violence, ease suffering and forge a lasting political solution for Sudan’s conflicts remain high priorities for the US,” said Zoellick in a State Department statement ahead of the trip.
The US official was scheduled to meet Sudanese leaders Wednesday for discussions expected to focus on implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended more than two decades of north-south conflict.
Khartoum and the former southern rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), signed the deal in January. Implementation of the accords has slowed to a crawl since the death of veteran SPLM leader John Garang in a helicopter crash.
“The CPA has survived the tragic death of one of its architects, but progress needs to be stepped up,” Zoellick said.
The 32-month conflict raging on in the western region of Darfur would also feature prominently in Zoellick’s discussions with Sudanese leaders, US officials said.
“Large-scale killing in Darfur has subsided, but a recent upswing of violence is a serious danger,” the US official said.
The Darfur conflict pits government forces and their Arab militia allies against ethnic minority rebels.
The conflict has been exacerbated by splits within the two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
“Darfur rebel groups are fighting amongst themselves. Any spark could set off a wildfire, so all of the key parties have important work to do to keep things on track,” Zoellick said.
He flew to Khartoum from meetings in Nairobi with SLM leaders aimed at trying to reconcile the group’s rival factions ahead of a new round of peace talks with the government in Abuja, Nigeria.
Successive rounds of African Union-sponsored peace talks have so far failed to end the conflict, which has left up to 300,000 people dead and displaced more than two million, according to a British parliamentary report.
The US hopes that the north-south peace deal can be used as a model to end the conflict in Darfur.
Zoellick said: “We are focused on using the CPA as a framework to assist the people of Sudan achieve lasting political solutions to the country’s multiple crises, including Darfur.”
He is planning to travel to Darfur for talks with AU observers monitoring a fragile truce in the region and visit camps for internally displaced persons before heading to Juba in south Sudan.
(AFP/ST)