KHARTOUM, 1 May 2005 — Sudanese leaders are to begin drafting an interim constitution today expected to seal a peace deal with the south, but with major opposition groups boycotting the meeting. Inauguration of the process coincides with the deployment of international forces to support the Jan. 9 peace accord the government signed with the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement in Kenya.
The first 12 United Nations troops, all from Nepal, arrived early this week and more will follow over the coming days, according to the UN Mission in Sudan. Sudanese President Omar Bashir and SPLM leader John Garang will address the 60-strong National Constitutional Review Commission’s inaugural session yesterday during a ceremony in the capital Khartoum, officials said.
Garang will not be physically present in Khartoum, which he has not visited since 1983 when his movement declared war against Khartoum, demanding greater autonomy for the animist and Christian south from Muslim north. He will address the gathering by telephone, officials said.
Sudan’s ruling National Congress party and its peace partner, the SPLM, decided to proceed with preparations to inaugurate the NCRC after they failed to persuade the country’s main opposition groups to sign up. Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said on Wednesday that the meetings would begin “in spite of the absence of some political parties”. A new constitution is crucial as it would clear the way for the formation of a national unity government and usher in a six-year interim period called for in the January peace accord.
