ASMARA, 13 July 2005 — Rebel groups fighting in Sudan’s western and eastern regions have voiced hope that former southern rebel chief and Sudan’s new Vice President John Garang would help restore stability in the vast African nation.
Garang was over the weekend sworn in to the post of vice president as a new power-sharing constitution came into force in a bid to seal a peace pact ending two decades of civil war between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Khartoum government.
“Change will happen, this change for sure will be positive,” Salah Barqueen, a senior official from the Eastern Front, said on Monday. The front last month launched a major military offensive against the government in the Red Sea state.
Izzedine Baggi, a senior official from the Justice and Equality Movement, which together with the Sudan Liberation Movement, have been fighting the government in the western region of Darfur for more than two years, opted for a “wait and see” stance.
