US rebukes Sudan, southern rebels for stalled peace talks but sanctions not expected
WASHINGTON, April 20 (AFP) — The United States rebuked Sudan and southern rebels for failing to break a deadlock in stalled peace talks on the eve of a deadline for US President George W. Bush to report to Congress on the progress the two sides have made in ending Africa’s longest-running civil war.
However, senior US officials said Bush was considering a “positive” finding in the report, due Wednesday, and would not recommend or impose additional sanctions on Khartoum or move toward a cutback in US support for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. The United States has repeatedly warned Khartoum and the SPLA of the looming deadline.
Instead of recommending or imposing penalties, the officials suggested Bush might only issue a critique of the two sides for repeatedly missing self-declared deadlines for a final peace deal, including a December 31 pledge they made to US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
“Basically it will be a positive finding. They are still talking and that’s good so we’re not going to whack anyone at this point despite the failures,” one official said.
“I don’t think we’re at the point of sanctions,” said a second official. “There’s still some hope that they could finalize something soon and we don’t want to brandish the stick just yet.”
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington did hold out some hope for a quick agreement, but allowed it would be “foolhardy” to expect one.
He also expressed disappointment that Khartoum and the SPLA had yet to forge a settlement at the talks in the Kenyan town of Naivasha and remained stuck on the same issues they were debating two weeks ago.
“Certainly we know that the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Army have not reached agreement in Naivasha and that is disappointing,” he said, adding with exasperation: “They continue to negotiate the same issues they’ve been discussing for the past two weeks.”
The Sudanese government earlier had hit back, saying the United States was hindering its negotiations to end the war by raising the threat of sanctions.
The current deadlock revolves mainly around whether or not to impose sharia law in the capital, something the Islamic government favors but the mainly Christian and animist SPLA opposes.
“We think the issues are defined, the issues are clear,” Boucher said. “The involvement of the mediator is such that they could reach agreement and we would hope they would take the opportunity to do so. We hope that this will produce results imminently.”
Asked whether Washington had any reason to expect the two sides could reach an imminent result given their past history of missed deadlines, Boucher replied: “I think it would be foolhardy to expect, but we certainly hope they would.”
Under the 2001 Sudan Peace Act, Bush must determine every six months whether Khartoum and the SPLA are making good faith efforts to reach an agreement and can impose sanctions on one side, the other or both depending on his findings.
Under the law, the United States can seek a UN arms embargo on the Sudanese government and restrict its access to credit and oil revenue if Khartoum is found to have obstructed a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
At the same time, it bars Washington from taking those steps and paves the way for limits in aid to the SPLA if the rebels are found to be at fault.
Low-level talks aimed at the ending the conflict that has claimed at least 1.5 million lives and displaced four million people started in 2002.
Since July 2002, when they struck an accord granting the south the right to a referendum after a six-year transition period, other deals have been reached on a 50-50 split of the country’s wealth — particularly revenues from oil, and how to manage government and SPLA armies during the interim period.