Sudan’s SPLM to rejoin national government

December 11, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) said on Tuesday they would order ministers to rejoin a national coalition government, ending one of the biggest political crises to hit the country since the end of a two-decade civil war.

The SPLM said it would end its boycott of the Government of National Unity on Wednesday after leader Salva Kiir met President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and resolved a string of grievances.

The former rebel movement pulled its ministers out of the coalition government in October, accusing Khartoum of stalling on a 2005 peace deal that ended Africa’s longest civil war.

The move sparked a bitter row between the sides and stirred fears of a return to conflict.

But SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum told reporters that Kiir and Bashir had now resolved almost all the points of contention, including a timetable for the withdrawal of troops to either side of Sudan’s north-south border.

The SPLM and Khartoum were still at loggerheads over the demarcation of the central oil-rich Abyei region, he said. But both Bashir and Kiir had agreed to discuss the issue again in a week and were confident it could be resolved, he added.

“We have achieved a lot… We have resolved all the outstanding issues that caused the crisis, with the exception of Abyei,” said Amum.
The Sudanese presidency is due to hold meetings on Abyei beginning from the next Saturday after the return of Salva Kiir from his visit to Ethiopia.

Abyei’s status was left unresolved in the agreement signed between Khartoum and the SPLM in 2005. Khartoum eventually rejected the findings of an independent commission on the demarcation.

Amum said the SPLM had agreed to provide all necessary funds for border demarcation and a national census.

“We have also agreed to institute a full transparent system in the management of the oil sector,” he said. All political parties would also start on a program of “national reconciliation” to heal wounds left by the rift.

The sharing of oil revenues has been one of the most contentious issues since the peace deal. The census is supposed to pave the way for national elections in 2009 and a referendum on the possible secession of the south in 2011.

On the troops redeployment, the meeting affirmed the commitment to complete the deployment of forces, especially in the south, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile and securing the petroleum areas by the Joint Forces.

Last week, Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) agreed to finalize the redeployment of troops by the end of this year.

The two parties approved a three-stage redeployment plan with the following targets: 33.3% redeployment by 15 December 2007, 66.6% redeployment by 31 December 2007, and 100% redeployment by 9 January 2007.

The peace partners reiterated their adherence to the principle of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, and said working for harmony of the laws at all the government levels with the Constitution.

The meeting further referred to lessons that resulted from the crisis experience, especially with regard to the optimum utilization of the available mechanisms for solving problems that may occur between the two partners from time to time.

While the National Congress Party expressed opposition to any international mediation, the SPLM sought to mobilise regional and international sponsors of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Around 2 million people died during more than 20 years of north-south fighting, fuelled by the discovery of oil against a background of ethnic and religious differences.

(ST/Reuters)