Religious leaders’ efforts to promote peace
NAIROBI, Nov. 06, 2003 (IRIN) — The government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) have hailed recent efforts by muslim and christian leaders to promote peace and dialogue as part of efforts to end their country’s 20-year civil war.
The Sudanese deputy ambassador to Kenya, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, on Tuesday said any initiative by religious leaders to ease the tensions between Muslims and Christians was welcome. “We welcome all religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Religious leaders always have a very important role in societies such as ours,” he said.
“They should assist to ease the tensions and send a message of tolerance to their communities. The idea we have as a negotiating party is also to sensitise civil society and other groups,” he added.
He was commenting on recent remarks by the general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the Rev Mvume Dandala, challenging Sudanese church leaders to gear themselves up for the task of “profiling and marketing peace” in their country.
Dandala told a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, that the church had a crucial responsibility in monitoring peace implementation, noting that a final peace agreement between the Sudanese government and SPLM/A was expected to be signed soon.
He went on to say that the church needed to ensure that the Sudanese people were educated on the protection of human rights, which was a critical element in fostering peace in the country. “Signing the peace agreement is one thing, but the development of a harmonious society is another. Churches will have to play a leading role, as they have done in the past, to help create a harmonious society,” he said.
Samson Kwaje, the official spokesman of the SPLM/A told IRIN on Tuesday that the church was “better placed to promote peace in Sudan due to its credibility. When a priest preaches on the pulpit, nobody challenges him.”
The church in Sudan had often associated itself with the southern struggle, leading to its persecution by the government in the north, he said. “Somehow, the church has a stake in peace in Sudan, because with peace, freedom of religion would be better,” he said.
Earlier this week, a leading Sudanese Islamic leader, Hasan Abdullah al-Turabi, also called for the enhancement of inter-religious dialogue in Sudan. Turabi, who is the chairman of the opposition Popular National Congress (PNC), led a delegation to visit and congratulate the newly appointed Sudanese Catholic Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako in the capital, Khartoum.
Turabi said Muslims and Christians needed to continue working for peace in the country “through dialogue and coexistence”. “As a cardinal, your voice will be heard and respected in Sudan, Africa and in the world,” Turabi was quoted by the Catholic news service (CISA) as saying.
Kwaje said Turabi, as an authoritative Islamic leader in Sudan, had a major role to play in promoting dialogue and peace in the country. “He [Turabi] has authority. Whatever he says can be taken seriously. Even those with a hostile attitude can believe in his pronouncements,” Kwaje told IRIN.
Kwaje added that the SPLM/A movement was already conducting awareness campaigns among its constituents in southern Sudan about progress in the peace process, and sensitising them on their roles in perpetuating peace in the country. “We ourselves are doing a lot. When talks adjourn, we go back to south Sudan and have consultative meetings with local governors, religious groups and women’s groups on the peace talks, and sensitise them on their responsibilities,” Kwaje added.
The Sudanese peace talks, due to resume in Kenya at the end of November, have made promising progress in the past few months. Despite the outstanding issues of wealth and power sharing, and the disputed territories of Southern Blue nile, Abyei and the Nuba mountains, both negotiating parties have committed to signing a final peace agreement before the end of the year.