Rebel delegation visit still overwhelms Khartoum
KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec 06, 2003 (PANA) — Sudanese residing in the capital were
Saturday reeling from the tumultuous welcome that greeted the
arrival Friday in Khartoum of the first delegation of the main
southern rebel group in 20 years.
Even media reports continue to inundate the city, recounting the
event many Sudanese see as historic, as well as crucial for peace
talks slated to continue this weekend in the Kenyan town of
Naivasha.
More than 30,000 opposition supporters had overwhelmed airport
security on Friday to greet the rebel delegation, hoisting them
on their shoulders.
“This is one of the biggest rallies that have seen recently. I
cannot say how many people are here, but the crowd is
commensurable with the event,” said the head of the reception
committee, Kamil Gadora.
For the first time in two decades, delegates from the Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the political wing of the
armed southern rebellion, landed at Khartoum airport, a move that
would have led to instant arrest only months ago.
Shouting “Welcome to the heroes, welcome to the new Sudan,” the
crowd overwhelmed the convoy of cars carrying the delegation,
which had come to Khartoum as part of efforts to build broad
support for the peace talks taking place in Kenya.
As the delegation made its way from the airport, a mammoth crowd
of supporters surrounded it, some kissing the windshields of
their vehicles.
Thousands of others outside the airport waved banners and chanted
“Down with the Old Sudan”, while brandishing posters of the rebel
leader John Garang.
Most came from the squalid camps on the edge of Khartoum that is
home to most of the city’s southern population, forced from their
homes by a war that has claimed more than two million lives since
1983.
The visit coincided with the resumption of talks between Sudanese
Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha and rebel leader Garang at
a lakeside lodge in Naivasha, Kenya.
Pagan Amum of the SPLM army leadership council heads the 10-
member visiting party.