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Improvement in Sudan Possible, State's Zoellick Says

13 April 2006

Deputy secretary cites "very important moment" for Sudan, region

By Charles W. Corey
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Despite ongoing tragedies in Sudan, the possibility for improvement exists, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick said April 13, adding that this is a "very important moment" for Sudan and the surrounding region.

Sudan's current problems, Zoellick said in a speech in Washington, have "very deep historical roots."

The "core challenge," Zoellick said, is "trying to reconcile and reorganize Khartoum's[Sudan’s capital] relations with the peripheries of Sudan."  Soldiers, administrators and traders settled Khartoum, he recalled.  "Its lifeblood was the Nile [River]," he said, and it has been oriented, traditionally, toward the Arab world's centers of development and learning -- Cairo, Egypt, Damascus, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

In its relations with the rest of Sudan, Zoellick said, Khartoum has been "ruler, manipulator, exploiter … a tradition that runs across not just the current Sudanese independent government, but goes back to colonial periods and even pre-colonial periods."

Southern Sudan, he said, represents the "sharpest example" of this long-standing struggle.  "It's got tribal dimensions … religious dimensions … dimensions between Arabs and Africans, and, of course, it has a very, very sad history of long-standing and terrible violence."

Zoellick said Khartoum's relations with Darfur are analogous, as are its relations in eastern Sudan (Beja) and parts of the North as well.

"The fundamental question that we are struggling with is, ‘How do we try to reconcile the metropolitan center with the peripheries in a new fashion?’" he said.

There is recognition, he said, especially in Africa, that "how Sudan comes to terms with these questions is going to affect many others beyond Sudan."  Sudan, after all, is Africa's largest country, he reminded his audience, with nine neighbors.

"So, from this perspective, you can see that the Comprehensive Peace Accord [CPA] that was achieved in January 2005 represents a potentially critical historic change," he said.  The CPA ended a 21-year civil war that resulted in millions of deaths.  Equally important, he said, the CPA offers a "constitutional framework" for all of Sudan. (See related article.)

Although it has great potential, he said, the CPA has two critical challenges: first, it is very complex; and, second, the North-South divide cannot be separated from other splits within Sudan, including the situation in Darfur.

Zoellick called the CPA's record "mixed"  -- its implementation "slow," with "some slippage."  But despite obstacles, he said, "I do feel that there is progress."  Regarding the CPA and also Darfur, he said, "For all the tragedy and all the difficulties … I do believe there is the possibility to improve the situation."

To make the CPA work, he said, "substantial contributions" will be needed from the United States and the rest of the donor community.  The United States is ahead on its pledges to Sudan, he noted, contributing about $1.3 billion annually -- which is divided between Darfur and the South.

What is most frustrating, he said, is that "a huge amount of that money still has to go to meet basic needs -- food, humanitarian and medical supplies."  He expressed hope that, over time, more of those funds can be devoted to land mine removal on roads, establishing health systems and creating the prospects for development.

DARFUR REMAINS “EXTRAORDINARILY FRAGILE”

Turning to the situation in Darfur, Zoellick said that humanitarian conditions there remain "extraordinarily fragile."  Through 2005, he said, there was "some progress" in reducing the mortality rates.  But he quickly added that with the changing nature of the conflict in late 2005, the danger levels have started to rise.

"What has always worried me is that we have a very, very thin veneer here in terms of security and humanitarian support, and it would not take much to break through and take a situation that is already terrible and make it beyond belief.  That is why we have the intensive focus that we do," he said.

So far in 2006, he said, the United States has supplied 86 percent of all food that the World Food Programme has sent to Sudan.

Zoellick said "stability is vital" in Darfur so that people can not only exist, but also begin to get their lives back together.  On this point, he told his audience, the "Sudanese government is not doing enough" to help.

On the security situation, he said the international community owes "a substantial statement of thanks" to the African Union Military Force in Sudan (AMIS), which has played a "key role" in Darfur by stemming the violence.

"We need to work very closely with the African Union, its diplomatic side and also its military side," he said.  "They will be the core of any force going forward."  They have done an important job, he said, and need additional support.

While all of this is taking place, he said, there is still some resistance from the government of Sudan -- the Government of National Unity in Khartoum.  "Here, I think, there is a basic diplomatic approach," he explained.  "We have to keep making clear to them that they stand alone in resisting this.  The genocide, the ongoing violence, the terrible risks for their own people have led to a group of Americans, Europeans, Africans, Arabs, Asians -- all telling them that they must move on this topic."

Enabling safe conditions in Darfur would be in the interests of the government of Sudan, he said, because "any time anything wrong happens in Darfur, whatever the cause -- whether it be rebels or bandits or Jingaweit or whoever -- … the blame goes on Khartoum."

Zoellick said another important aspect of resolving the situation in Darfur is holding accountable those who took part in the killings and murders there.

On the Darfur peace negotiations now under way in Abuja, Nigeria, Zoellick credited the African Union with playing a very important role in that process -- but whatever is accomplished in a peace agreement, he said, "is only one more step" in a long process, which must include the critical development needs of Darfur.

After Darfur, he said, "we can't stop," but must also give attention to matters in Beja in eastern Sudan.

"The goal here," he said, "is to try to create a comprehensive peace, a new political framework that leads to democracy and some chance of development for all the people of Sudan."

For more information, see Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)