NAIROBI, 10 January 2005 — Africa’s longest-running civil war came to an end yesterday as Sudan’s government and southern rebels inked a long-awaited peace accord amid calls for the deal to be extended to cover the crisis in Darfur.
Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and main rebel leader John Garang of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) brought 21 years of conflict to a close by signing the accord here, where it was negotiated under the aegis of East African mediators.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, whose country hosted mediation efforts, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, chairman of the regional group that sponsored the talks, signed as witnesses, as did other African heads of state and international witnesses, including US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Thousands of Sudanese refugees at the ceremony in Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium cheered as the agreement was sealed, singing, dancing and ululating while proclaiming “a new dawn” for their war-ravaged country.
Despite the elation, officials cautioned that both sides must fully implement the deal and urged it be used as a template for a resolution to the dire conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
Sudanese President Omar Bashir, who gave Taha responsibility for negotiating on Khartoum’s behalf, said the accord was “not just a deal” but “a new contract for all Sudanese.”
“It is a comprehensive accord that we must use ... to resolve the conflict in Darfur,” Bashir said in Arabic through a translator.
“This is the best Christmas and New Year’s gift for the Sudanese people, to our region and Africa for 2005,” said Garang. “This peace agreement will change Sudan forever.”
“I appeal to all the Sudanese people and our political forces to build consensus around this comprehensive peace agreement and use it to end (conflict) in other parts of Sudan,” he said.
Kibaki said the pact “marks the beginning of a new, brighter future for the people of Sudan,” adding: “We hope that today’s celebrations will also give momentum to a realization of peace and security in Darfur.”
“The people of Sudan expect a lasting peace,” Powell said, urging Khartoum and the SPLA to “act quickly to build on the good will and momentum of this bright day.”
He stressed that they must address the situation in Darfur, the western region of Sudan that the United Nations says is the site of the one of the world’s worst current humanitarian crises.
“These new ‘partners for peace’ must work together immediately to end the violence and atrocities that continue to occur in Darfur,” Powell said. “Not next month on, in the interim period, but right away, starting today.”
Some 70,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 1.6 million people left homeless since Sudanese troops and their militia allies began fighting Darfur rebels in February 2003.
UN chief Kofi Annan said the north-south agreement represented a “blueprint” for dealing with Darfur, where he described the situation as “horrific.”
