FACTBOX-Sudan’s bid to chair the African Union
Jan 22, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan has nominated itself as next chairman of the African Union but on Sunday it toned down what had been an aggressive campaign for support amid misgivings by some African states about handing the position to Khartoum.
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s Sudanese government says it has the right to take the AU chair because it is hosting a two-day summit starting on Monday, but some African nations are reluctant to support a bid that could scupper Darfur peace talks and damage Africa’s image.
Here are some key facts on the controversy surrounding the Sudanese bid to chair the AU:
A HISTORY OF CONFLICTS IN SUDAN:
North-South:
1983 – The government, dominated by northern Arabs, adopts aspects of Islamic sharia law and, later, martial law. Relations with the mostly animist and Christian south deteriorate.
1983 – John Garang launches southern rebellion and assumes leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and its political wing, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
Jan. 9, 2005 – Former rebel chief John Garang and the chief government negotiator sign a comprehensive peace accord ending 21-year civil war that killed an estimated 2 million people, mainly through disease and hunger.
July 9, 2005 – Garang was sworn in as Sudan’s first vice-president. The deal gave southerners the right to vote over secession after a six-year interim period and share oil revenues. Garang was killed in a helicopter crash three weeks later. The next month Salva Kiir, last surviving founding member of the SPLM, was sworn in as first vice-president.
Darfur:
Feb. 2003 – Rebels rise up against the government saying Khartoum discriminates against non-Arab farmers in Darfur. More than 2 million Darfuris, mainly subsistence farmers from a variety of tribes and ethnic groups, flee their homes for refugee camps in Sudan and across the border to Chad. The United Nations called Darfur one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
April 2004 – A ceasefire is agreed in Darfur and the African Union eventually sends nearly 7,000 peacekeepers with a mandate to monitor the peace and protect those displaced in the camps. Since then the ceasefire has been frequently violated, with fighting blamed on government troops, rebels and “Janjaweed” militias.
CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING AU CHAIRMANSHIP
– The prospect of a Sudan AU chairmanship horrifies Khartoum’s many critics who see it as one of the worst possible ambassadors for Africa and the AU, which was set up in 2002 to promote democracy, human rights and development across Africa. They fear it could sink the Darfur peace process.
– The AU chairmanship would put Sudan at the head of the organisation which has peacekeeping troops in Darfur. AU troops in Sudan’s vast west are given the task of protecting civilians from attacks, some of which have been blamed on government-backed militias.
– The Sudanese government, which the United States says has carried out genocide in Darfur, has boosted its prestige by hosting the AU summit. Khartoum denies genocide accusations. However the International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating war crimes committed in Darfur.
(Reuters)