Key events in Sudan’s civil war
KHARTOUM, Oct 22 (AFP) — Sudan’s vice president and main rebel leader have agreed to sign a comprehensive deal to end two decades of civil war by the end of December, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday after meeting both men in Kenya.
Here is a list of key events in the conflict between Khartoum’s Arab and Muslim government and rebels, mainly in the Christian and animist south, that has killed 1.5 million people and displaced more than four million:
1983
President Gaafar Muhammad Nimeri’s decision to bring an end to the autonomous status of the south (dating from the Addis Ababa agreement of 1972) and enforce Islamic Sharia law provokes an outbreak of hostilities after 11 years of peace. John Garang, a dissident colonel, founds the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
1986
After the fall of Nimeri’s government, Garang refuses to participate in the democratically elected civilian government of Prime Minister Sadek el Mahdi.
1989
– June 30: An Islamic fundamentalist military government seizes power in a coup.
1990
The SPLA joins the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which represents nearly all opposition forces, including those in the north.
1991
Ethnic conflict within the SPLA results in new factions.
1992
After an offensive lasting several months, government troops recapture many southern towns including Torit, the guerrilla headquarters.
1992-1993
Peace negotiations in Nigeria fail.
1994
– May: The Sudanese government and the SPLA adopt a declaration of principles preconditional to the establishment of a secular state, the abolition of Islamic law, and the separation of state and religion.
The declaration provides for the referendum of self-determination in the majority anmist and Christian south.
– Sept: Negotiations fail this time under the aegis of the mediation wing of the east African Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), in Nairobi. Khartoum refuses to discuss self-determination for the south and the separation between state and religion.
1997
– Jan: opposition forces open a new front in the east of the country, in addition to one in the south.
– April: Khartoum reaches an agreement with six southern minority factions clearing the way for a referendum on the question of self-rule in the south for a provisional period of four years. Garang refuses to sign the agreement.
– Nov: Failure of the first peace talks for three years, held in Nairobi.
1998
– May: The announcement of an agreement on the idea of self-rule for the south is made after talks in Nairobi. According to Khartoum, these talks were a success, even though the SPLA called them a failure.
– July: The government and the southern guerrillas declare a ceasefire in the Bahr el-Ghazal region to ease the transport of humanitarian aid to the victims of famine, which threatens 1.2 million people in the south.
– August: Talks break down over extent of southern Sudan and the separation of state and religion.
1999
– August: Egypt and Libya launch a peace initiative parallel to the one sponsored by IGAD, in order to include the northern opposition in a settlement.
2000
– March 16: The Umma Party of Sadek el Mahdi withdraws from the NDA, saying he favors a political solution with Khartoum.
– March 27: First meeting between President Omar el-Beshir and the leader of the NDA, Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani. Khartoum agrees to open direct negotiations with the NDA.
2001
– Feb 19: The SPLA and the Popular National Congress of opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, a former staunch ally of Beshir, sign a “memorandum of understanding. Turabi, accused of wanting to overthrow the regime, is arrested days later.
– June 5: Beshir says he will not abandon the oil fields to the rebels after SPLA leader Garang links a general ceasefire to the suspension of oil drilling in the south. June 17, Garang warns that foreign oil firms would be “legitimate targets.”
– June 28: The NDA approves the Egyptian-Libyan peace plan which calls for a ceasefire and a government of national unity and pleads for the unity of the country. However, the NDA seeks to include the principles of the separation of state and religion and the right for self-determination for the south.
– July 21: Beshir rejects separation of religion and the state and the breakup of the country.
– Sept 6: US President George W. Bush announces a “major” peace initiative for Sudan, appointing John Danforth as a special envoy.
2002
– Jan 19: An agreement for a six-month renewable ceasefire is signed for the central Nuba mountains following negotiations between Khartoum and the SPLA under the aegis of the United States and Switzerland.
– March 21: Beshir prolongs until March 2004 the period of transition in southern Sudan, postponing a referendum called for in an agreement signed in 1997.
– May 13: US envoy Danforth recommends the United States act as a “catalyst” for peace in Sudan, saying it was time to push hard for an agreement.
– June 8: Beshir pledges to re-establish peace this year in Sudan, whether through negotiations or military actions.
– June 9: Rebels seize the southern town of Kapoeta, which had been controlled by the government since 1993.
– June 17: Start of new talks between the Khartoum government and the SPLA rebels in Kenya.
– June 30: Beshir marks his 13th anniversary in power by calling for peace within the framework of a united Sudan, pledging equal rights and an equal distribution of wealth between the north and the south.
– July 5: Khartoum and SPLA agree to renew for six months the ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains.
– July 20: Khartoum and the SPLA sign protocol agreement in Machakos, Kenya setting out a period of six-year autonomy for the south under the aegis of IGAD, followed by a referendum on independence.
– July 27: First meeting takes place between Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, in power since 1989, and Garang.
– Oct 15: The government and SPLA order a ceasefire still in place in October 2003.
2003
– June 29: Beshir confirms that the SPLA has asked to be a main partner in the next government.
– Aug 11-23: Peace talks in Kenya devoted to power and resource sharing hit stalemate.
– Sept 25: Agreement on security issues during the transition period is signed, after three weeks of talks between Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and Garang in Naivasha.
– Oct 22: Powell says after meeting Taha and Garang in Naivasha that both men are committed to signing a comprehensive deal by the end of December.