Supporters of Sudan’s CPA gather at high-level forum

June 24, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – Thirty-three countries and organizations, representing the original witnesses and other international supporters of Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), met at a forum today in Washington, D.C. after four days of talks between the rival parties that had signed the peace deal in 2005.

Participants at the conference agreed to a joint communiqué emphasizing “the importance of credible, peaceful and transparent nationwide elections in Sudan in line with the National Electoral Commission’s timetable of February 2010 and legitimate popular consultations in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States,” indicating support to not push back the elections date again.

Figures in both the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and National Congress Party had given indications that the February 2010 election date, which already represents a delay from the treaty-mandated timetable, might be pushed back again. The communiqué also touched on potential flashpoints, like the 2011 referendum and the Abyei boundary decision soon to be announced by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

At the Park Hyatt hotel where the forum was held, US Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration said “This really is a very special event, the first high-level conference of its type since the signing of the CPA back in 2005, and we thank you for coming from near and from far.”

The top negotiator for the Sudan’s ruling party, Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani, called the event a “watershed” in a written statement to today’s Washington Times advocating for “a constructive American engagement.”

Likewise, a former Bush administration official, Andrew Natsios, in today’s Washington Post endorsed the Obama administration’s engagement policy, though criticized administration officials for using the word “genocide,” which Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg used again today in remarks on behalf of Secretary Hilary Clinton.

Secretary Clinton was scheduled to appear at the event but did not do so. Since injuring her elbow last week, she has cut back on her public appearances, said a State Department official.

Steinberg said at the conference that “as we celebrate that achievement [of the CPA], we also can never let the recent peace allow us to erase the memory of the millions who were killed in the conflict that preceded the settlement.”

Gration said, “Although much progress has been made in the past four and a half years, there’s still much that remains to be done. There’s still many things that remain unfulfilled and unimplemented, and that’s what we’re here to do today. With less than 19 months to go, our work is cut out for us and we have to set a foundation for Sudan for peace, security, and prosperity.”

SPLM and NCP delegations agreed to meet with the United States as mediator at three-party talks in July in Khartoum and August in Juba.

(ST)