Southern rebel leader optimistic about Sudan peace

CAIRO, Oct 18 (AFP) — Southern rebel leader John Garang expressed optimism a permanent settlement could be found to Sudan’s 20-year civil war in comments published Saturday in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat.

“I’m optimistic. I believe we can sign as soon as possible,” Garang, who Friday met Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha in Kenya to begin peace negotiations that would end a 20-year-long civil war in Sudan.

“The accord on military arrangements and security (signed September 25 between the two parties) constituted an important breakthrough, and represented an important step on the road to a final peace accord,” he said.

The head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) explained, however, that several questions remain to be dealt with.

The concerns power sharing, with the SPLA requesting a “rotating presidency throughout the six-year transition period — three years for the government and three years for the SPLA.”

Another prickly question is the status of the capital, he added.

“Khartoum should be the national capital, and must not be subject to religious laws,” Garang said, citing the example of Washington as the US federal capital.

The country’s northern region is currently under sharia or Islamic law.

The two parties should also discuss resource sharing, especially of oil, and the monetary system.

Garang said his movement had “printed a new currency, the ‘new Sudanese pound,’ which we are soon going to put into circulation” in the south where Sudanese dinars are currently in use.

The ongoing peace process aims at ending the civil war. Since 1983, the conflict has pitted rebels in the country’s south, the majority of whom are Christian and animist, against the Arab-Islamic power in the north.

The peace process anticipates, after a six-year test period of autonomy, the organization of a referendum under international supervision, in which the southern inhabitants can choose to remain an integrated part of Sudan or become independent.