U.S. says Sudan peace deal within reach
By Mathew Green
NAIVASHA, Kenya, Jan 16 (Reuters) – The U.S. special envoy for Sudan on Friday said that Khartoum and southern rebels are within reach of clearing obstacles to a final agreement to end more than 20 years of civil war.
But John Danforth, President George W. Bush’s special envoy to Sudan, warned that such a deal would not solve a separate civil war causing misery in the west of the giant country.
Danforth, speaking at peace talks hosted by Kenya, said the signing this month of an agreement over wealth sharing by government and southern rebels was a major sign of progress.
He said two outstanding issues remain to be tackled; the status of the disputed areas– Nuba Mountains, Southern Blue Nile and Abyei– and how to share power.
“There are only two remaining issues to be resolved, and they seem to be within reach,” Danforth said at the talks venue at a hotel at the Kenyan town of Naivasha.
“I am absolutely convinced that both sides want to achieve a positive result and want to reach a peace agreement for Sudan.”
The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) has been fighting the Islamist government in the north for more autonomy for the largely Christian and animist south.
The war, in which two million people have been killed and four million displaced, is complicated by factors such as ethnicity and religion as well as ideology and economics.
Danforth said Sudan remained a foreign policy priority for Bush and that Washington was committed to help ensure any peace agreement would be implemented effectively.
“We are going to be involved, as best we can, not only until there is a peace agreement but thereafter as well,” he said.
“The U.S. is there for the long haul.”
Danforth downplayed concerns that a statement by Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Tuesday that the Kenya-hosted talks were not mandated to discuss the three disputed areas would hinder progress.
While the government and SPLA have made progress, fighting in the west has escalated in the last few months.
The fighting pits separate rebel groups against government and militia forces and has forced more than 600,000 people to flee their homes in the past year. Almost 100,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad.
“We are very concerned about Darfur, we are very concerned about human misery, we are anxious that there be a humanitarian ceasefire in Darfur, that relief be allowed into that part of the country,” Danforth said.
The conflict in Darfur does not fall within the scope of the peace talks in Kenya. Danforth called for both sides in the west of Sudan to open talks to settle their conflict.
“If the peace agreement was reached today, here in Kenya, that would not solve the problem of Darfur and I think it is important to recognise that,” he said. “The parties should stop the fighting and they should enter into negotiations.”