NAIROBI, 6 June 2004 — Amid shrieks of joy and singing, Sudan’s government and southern rebels launched the final phase of talks to end Africa’s longest civil war with a signing ceremony yesterday.
First Vice President Ali Osman Muhammad Taha and rebel leader John Garang signed a document incorporating six accords, the building blocks for a comprehensive peace deal to end 21 years of civil war in the oil-producing country.
Taha and the head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Army signed the Nairobi Declaration on the Final Phase on Peace in Sudan in the presence of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in his Nairobi offices. “The document we have just signed ... represents a solemn declaration on our part that war in Sudan is truly coming to an end,” Garang said at the State House ceremony hosted by Kibaki.
Before a gathering of foreign dignitaries, including Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, Taha and Garang held aloft copies of the document in which both sides pledged to wrap up negotiations as soon as possible.
“I would like to reiterate the determination of the government of Sudan to continue the peace process and implement all texts relating to this peace process,” Taha said.
Mediators in Kenya, where talks are being held, have said a final deal could be concluded within two months. The government and SPLA rebels signed landmark protocols on May 26 on how to share power and manage three disputed areas.
Previous accords relate to a vote in the south on secession after a six-year transition period, forming a postwar national army and the equal division of oil revenues during the interim.
“The documents we have just signed with Vice President Ali Osman Taha represent a solemn declaration on our part that war in Sudan is truly coming to an end,” Garang said at the ceremony, marked by ululations and cheers.
Some northern Sudanese mingled with their southern counterparts to dance and sing freedom songs, a rare sight in the vast country with deep religious and cultural differences.
“This is a historic moment for the people of Sudan,” said Taha. “We declare that we have entered a new era,” he added.
But the talks have no bearing on the western region of Darfur, where at least 10,000 people have been killed, more than a million displaced and several hundred thousand left at risk of starvation amid a 15-month-old conflict pitting two rebel groups against government forces and their militia allies.
More than 1.5 million people have been killed and more than four million displaced in the wider civil war since the SPLA launched its rebellion in 1983.
Yesterday’s declaration committed both parties to “finalize negotiations and resolve (outstanding) details in as short a time as possible,” according to a copy of the text. “This occasion is a source of great joy, hope and expectation for the people of Sudan, the region and indeed the whole continent of Africa,” Kibaki said.
“I am confident that the painstaking and selfless efforts that two Sudanese patriots have put into the peace process will not be in vain. I appeal to — Taha and Garang — to maintain the current momentum toward lasting peace in Sudan,” Kibaki added. “We cannot afford to relax now. Sustained hard work and determination are required to meet the challenges that lie ahead,” he added.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan thanked the two leaders for showing “statesmanship in bringing the peace process to its current point.
“The United Nations stands ready to contribute directly to this final phase of talks which will also define the scope of the UN on involvement during implementation of the peace agreement,” Annan said in a message read by his envoy to Horn of Africa, Muhammad Sahnoun.
African Union’s Baba Gana Gingibe, former Nigerian foreign minister, said the two sides had reached “a great achievement of indescribable proportions.”
Meanwhile, rebels in Darfur yesterday abducted 16 Sudanese nationals working as UN aid workers, a senior government official said. Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nejib Al-Khari Abdel Wahab said the Sudanese, all employees of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), were taken hostage by rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM).
He added they were abducted in Malit east, in North Darfur State. He said the United Nations has made contact with the rebels, adding that they have admitted that they are holding the aid workers and promised to release them.
Abdel Wahab condemned the incident and said he regretted the threats posed to the safety and security of employees of the UN and other aid agencies, particularly given the efforts they are exerting to restore stability in the Darfur region.
Officials for the SLM could not immediately be reached for comment. When contacted in Nairobi, Ben Parker, the spokesman for the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, declined to confirm or deny the abduction.
Earlier, the state-owned Sudanese Media Center reported that four civilians died in separate rebel attacks in the same region. It said rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) ambushed a vehicle that was carrying a patient to hospital near Al-Fashir, the main city in Northern Darfur State, killing three people.
