Dr. Ghazi the Islamic Jihadist longs for war

By Justin Ambago Ramba

January 6, 2009 — The Sudanese Presidential Advisor, prominent and militant Islamist Dr. Ghazi Salaheddin Attabani, known for his extreme views has since remained vocal in his opposition to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between his party the dominant National Congress Party (NCP) of Omer al Bashir and the southern former rebels of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM) in 2005.

Dr. Ghazi, who currently oversees the NCP’s dossier on Darfur peace talks, is hardly a peaceful man himself. His records are full of covert and military activities starting way back when he was a medical student at the prestigious Khartoum University were he rose up to be a leading member of the Moslem Brotherhood Association.

Before becoming a Biochemist a profession he later abandoned , this politician of Turkish origin is well remembered in the Sudanese politics which is full of military battles, when he actively participated in the invasion of Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, , in 1976 with an intension of toppling the military, “one party system”, of late Jaa’far Nimeri.

However the chief Mujahid turned politician and his entire Jihadist group that was composed of perceived Libyan trained “mercenaries” and exiled Opposition Front, were defeated as they tried to seize control of the country.

Dr.Ghazi is a high profiled member of the International Islamist’ Conference, and a former Mujahidin fighter in Afghanistan, whatsoever that translates to, led the Khartoum NIF/NCP government in the initial stages of the Sudanese peace negotiations that took place in Kenya. Given the fact that he was never for any peaceful settlement, Dr. Ghazi immediately resigned his position when he realized that the peace pact was imminent under the continuous US administration’s pressure.

Since the signing of the CPA, Dr. Ghazi Sulahaldeen, Dr. Mustafa Ismail, Dr. Nafie Ali Nafie, Dr. Mutrif Siddig and many others decided to retreat into the Republican Palace taking along with them the real executive powers from most to the ministries of the Government of the National Unity (GoNU) in Khartoum, and were exercising those powers as either Assistances or Advisors to the incumbent President Omer Al Bashir right from inside the Palace, while leaving the other partners in the GoNU with ghost ministries in which the Under Secretaries control the scenes.

As a head of the NCP caucus in the National Assembly, Dr. Ghazi spent all his time frustrating his party’s SPLM peace partners by championing the dirty policies of foot dragging on the discussions of crucial bills that would have brought about the much anticipated democratic transformation in the country. He also had a long hand in delaying the other issues like the border demarcations (now he is complaining of), the referenda bills as well as the popular Consultation.

It wouldn’t amount to any overstatement should one conclude that Dr. Ghazi’s main role in the last five years which is the age of the peace agreement, was to find ways of crippling the CPA with the ultimate aim of scrapping it altogether had the circumstances allowed for that And in a characteristic move, he also absented himself from the last sessions after realizing that the National Assembly had no choice but to endorse the referenda bills without the ill – intended last minute amendments. This is his second action in a bit to make history for him that he wasn’t a part to the secession of south Sudan, should it so happen.

But for Dr. Ghazi to come back into the game that he had quitted twice before, marks a very interesting development. And to declare in the media that the latest adopted referenda bills represent “recipe for war”, is indeed absurd and shouldn’t have come from a prominent member of the NCP whose top two figures, President Omer al Bashir and Vice President Ali Osman Taha have lately declared together with their partner the First Vice President and President of South Sudan, that they would never take the Sudanese back to war.

An issue like the border demarcation though central to the implementation of the CPA, no doubt has been treated with intentional delaying tactics by the NCP as a way of expressing their disappointment to the rapidly growing southern Sudanese nationalism that has prompted the international community to conclude that whatever the circumstances , south Sudan is bent to secede come 2011.

The north/ south border are not just a matter of land sovereignty as such, but the north’s reluctance is driven by its greed to exploit the Oil-fields that by international recognition, over 85% of it lies within south Sudan. But as the currently functional Oil Wells are located close to the north/ south border areas, the NIF/ NCP would delay border demarcations to as far as it can, meanwhile siphoning away the crude Oil.

Nevertheless within what is made public, the commission for the borders demarcation is currently engaged in its duties that they hope to finish before the April 2010 general elections, despite the fact that everybody is aware of the northerners’ ill intensions.

While the other issues that include the division of assets, loans and the other international agreements (e.g. the Nile Water Agreement), are issues that can not be ignored at any rate. However to resort to war threats as done by Dr. Ghazi doesn’t in any way promote any civilized values.

Having said all these, it remains obviously fundamental for a future south Sudan independent state to have its borders defined and demarcated. So it can not be true that, the people of south Sudan could in any way be held responsible for the current delay.

However the post referenda arrangements can obviously only be taken realistically once the outcome of the referendum is officially known accepted, endorsed and adopted, though of course this doesn’t rule out the necessary exercises of brainstorming that can rightly alert people to potential obstacles and ambiguities whose solutions can be suggested beforehand.

The post referendum war that the Presidential Adviser is currently propagating for in the media is a thing to be expected and even more detrimental events can all be contemplated, though none of these should be used to scare the southern voters.

Lately the NCP that is afraid to go into history for midwifing an independent state in the south, has lately been engaged in last minute efforts to influence the south Sudanese grassroots by painting a negative picture of the anticipated independence.

Not long ago, Dr, Mustafa Osman Ismail another Presidential Advisor, was quoted saying that, the south Sudanese intellectuals who are championing the vote for independence, are doing so without the people’s mandate.

He also went to suggest that should the southern Sudanese masses be brought to know the real costs that would be incurred in establishing an independent state in the South, including all the tedious procedures that the two sides would have to go through, they (the southerners), may choose to vote for any form of unity.

The Vice President Ali Osman Taha, who amongst the NCP leaders have taken the credit for most of the drastic decisions pertaining to the CPA between his party and the SPLM partners. Taha, who also still hopes to see a post referendum united Sudan, has recently appealed to the people of south Sudan that whatever are the difficulties that they face now can only be made worse through separation.

Meanwhile, while addressing heads of civil services, the Sudan’s Vice President was quoted as saying, the country will encounter many political, economic and security challenges if southerners chose separation.

According to Sudan’s Al-Ayyam newspaper, Taha urged civil servants in the north to leave their offices and head to the south to engage in dialogue to secure the country’s unity

What is obvious from the above pattern of campaigns by the NCP leadership at these last minutes is that after failing in their mission of making the unity of the Sudan attractive to the southern voters by rendering services, they are now resorting to very cheap propaganda of scaring southern masses from making their final decision to vote for an independent state.

This situation should be clearly understood and can only be compared to, as if asking a freed slave to choose either to go away as a free man or to remain in servitude voluntarily due to the difficulties he would face in starting his life away from his former master. The rest is a logical conclusion that can be deduced by an average minded human being.

To have the job thoroughly done, it would be incomplete should Dr. Ghazi’s position towards SPLM that represented the southern masses at the CPA go unattended to. His suggestion that the SPLM should be punished for abandoning the New Sudan Vision again sounds absurd. There are good chunks of the south Sudanese population who do not share Ghazi’s opinion including myself as; we still strongly believe that SPLM is a unionist Party.

Dr. Ghazi, who distanced himself intentionally from the CPA, has failed to appreciate the post CPA Sudan. He must understand that the SPLM which used to make people dance to the delusions of the New Sudan Vision is no longer free to dictate that on the people of south Sudan. The days of killing secessionist with impunity are long gone. Now it is the masses that will make every body to dance to the independence of south Sudan state including those SPLM unionists.

SPLM’s unchanged position on the Unity of the Sudan has been clearly registered by the statements made by both Yasir Arman the deputy Secretary General for the northern sector and his other colleague Atem Garang the deputy speaker of the National Assembly when they came out of the Parliament and declared their readiness to engage in propagating for an attractive unity of the Sudan on new basis, following the adoption of the referenda and Popular Consultation Bills.

It must be clearly stressed here that the people of south Sudan who are going to vote in the referendum are not necessarily members of the unionist SPLM party of Salva Kiir Mayardit. The decision is going to be taken by the masses of south Sudan at large, and should the outcome favour the secession of south Sudan, then it has nothing to do with the SPLM, but rather a victory to the Separatist South Sudanese Nationalists.

However the New Sudan Vision that was primarily crafted by the late philosopher Dr. Garang de Mabior to maintain the unity of the Sudan still remains relevant to sustain the unity amongst the North Sudanese in their New State of Northern Sudan which will emerge passively as a result of the referendum, or its by-product. This is important for Dr. Ghazi to consider when he is handling the dossier of the Darfur Peace Negotiations, otherwise he will be forced to resign again when the Doha peace talks finally heads towards a CPA type settlement.

Peaceful political divorce between the two portions of the Sudan remains to be the wishes of the majority of our people both in the north and the south. Many would want to see that good and peaceful neighbourhood is encouraged and maintained for the benefit of the two separate communities that will come to exist following the 2011 referendum should the south opt for secession.

On the other hand as it has already been highlighted by many, the year 2010 will be a tough year for the Sudan, as the whole country shall pass through two very important events, i.e. the general elections, to be followed by the referenda and the Popular Consultations.

The US administration, the Troika, the IGAD as well as the International Community should step up its duties towards a peaceful democratic transformation in the Sudan and a complete implementation of the CPA, extending well beyond to a peaceful declaration of the Independent State of South Sudan should that be what the referendum leads to.

The maintenance of a peaceful co-existence between the two parts of the Sudan in an event of secession of the south remains the responsibility of the two governments, the regional governments, the US administration, the African Union and the United Nations. All must be involved in promoting pre-emptive measures that can defer any anticipated catastrophes.

Dr. Justin Ambago Ramba, M.B, B.Ch, D.R.H, MD, is the Secretary General of the United South Sudan Party (USSP). He can be reached at either [email protected] or [email protected]. All the articles of the author are available at www.nilebuffalo.com and blog http://ussp-news.blogspot.com