29 November 2004
Sudan's North-South Peace Process Called Key to Darfur Crisis
State's Snyder comments on Nairobi memorandum of understanding
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- When the Khartoum government and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that commits both sides to conclude a peace agreement by December 31 they created the conditions for a peaceful resolution of all of Sudan's intractable political disputes, including Darfur, says State Department official Charlie Snyder.
Snyder, the State Department's senior representative on Sudan, was a prime facilitator of negotiations between Khartoum and the SPLM in Naivasha, Kenya, an ongoing process funded in part by the U.S. government over the past two years.
The diplomat spoke to journalists November 23 after returning from Nairobi, where he witnessed the November 19 signing of the Khartoum-SPLM/A MOU that committed both sides to hammering out final power-sharing arrangements before the end of 2004. Commenting on the deadline, he said, "Yes, they can do it."
Snyder dismissed criticism that the MOU is an empty act, noting, "Basically, the intention in doing what we did was to refocus on the North-South process with the idea that we needed to do something to jumpstart [give new energy to move] this to the finish line -- something dramatic, and something that also unified the international community with us."
The U.N. Security Council lent its prestige to the MOU by meeting in Nairobi November 18-19, the first time it has gathered outside its New York headquarters in 18 years. It hammered out a resolution of its own that gives full backing to the ongoing peace process.
Civil war has raged in Sudan almost continuously since 1983 causing more than 2 million deaths. The crisis in Darfur, which began as a rebellion in the early 1990's, has now flared up into a genocidal campaign that Khartoum is reluctant to stop because of its dependence on the Jingaweit militia, as analysts such as former Sudanese diplomat Francis Deng have pointed out.
Snyder said the recent MOU and follow-up final agreement relate to Darfur because "the political solution for the whole country is really contained in the North-South process. The truth of the matter is the issues between the North and South are exactly [the same as] those between the center and periphery" of Sudan. "And the problem in Darfur is [that it is] a marginalized peripheral area, just like in the East, in Beja, and just like the South is."
On the rebel side, Snyder said, "the ingredients of change -- maybe not the specific detailed change the Darfur rebels [pushed for] -- but the ingredients of change in the right directions and in the right categories that they wanted are all represented in the North-South agreement."
In Nairobi, Snyder said, "I spent two hours with some of the senior leadership of Darfur and pointed out to the rebels that they were becoming the problem." Because of recent attacks on Khartoum government policemen sent to Darfur to stabilize matters, they were "giving the Government excuses to continue to strike at them."
A number of issues like wealth sharing and the composition and funding of the national army still need to be worked out, but these are "manageable issues," Snyder said. The important point is that the Nairobi MOU showed there is finally a will on both sides to work out a solution, forming a template for peace that can be applied to other disputes as they arise, he concluded.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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