NAIVASHA, Kenya, 22 October 2003 — US Secretary of State Colin Powell launched a bid yesterday to “put some energy” into Sudan’s peace talks, holding out a promise that the United States would review its sanctions against Africa’s largest nation if the government and rebels reach a final agreement.
Powell stopped over in Kenya to press the two sides to complete their negotiations quickly to end Sudan’s two decades of civil war. Khartoum and the southern rebels resolved some major issues last month, but negotiators said yesterday they were still weeks or months away from reaching a comprehensive peace agreement.
Speaking to reporters on the plane before arriving, Powell said he wanted to “try to put some energy into the talks and see if I could help them get closer to a solution.” Powell said he would also convey to participants in the 15-month-old Kenya-based talks the desire by US President George W. Bush to “see this concluded as quickly as possible.”
“I’ll also convey to them that with complete and comprehensive agreement it makes it possible for us to review the various sanctions that are in place, and the various listings that are in place with respect to Sudan.” Powell said Washington was ready “to invest all that we can” diplomatically and politically into the peace process and that it would launch a sweeping review of its sanctions-heavy Sudan policy should an agreement be reached.
“I thought it would be useful (to) stop here and try to put some energy into the talks and see if I could help them to get closer to a solution,” he told reporters. The talks, in the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, appear to be nearing a resolution to end a war that has been raging since 1983 between the Islamic government in Khartoum and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, a southern rebel group.
“Let’s not miss this opportunity,” Powell said, noting recent significant progress in the talks, particularly a landmark security agreement reached last month. The current round of talks center on power- and wealth-sharing and the status of three disputed central territories.
While a final deal is not expected to be sealed in Powell’s presence, the two delegations are widely thought to be in the final stages of putting an agreement together. Powell meets today with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and SPLA leader John Garang and said he would make clear to them that US President George W. Bush is anxious to see an end to Africa’s longest-running civil war.
Bush wants to see “it resolved and recognize the achievement of it in an appropriate manner,” Powell said, hinting at the possibility of a White House ceremony to commemorate the occasion.
More concretely, a comprehensive settlement accompanied by improved counterterrorism cooperation would trigger the policy review and could lead to an upgrading of the diplomatic ties and removal of Sudan from the US blacklist of “state sponsors of terrorism.”
