Abdalla Mohamed
For many observers, the signing of peace agreement between the Sudan Transitional Government(STG) and the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) on October 3rd in Juba, the capital of the South Sudan, represents a turning point for a country which has been suffering from wars for many decades. The SRF is an alliance of nine political and armed groups from different parts of the country including the conflict-torn states of Blue Nile, Darfur and South Kordofan.
The peace deal agreement followed ten months of negotiations in Juba, South Sudan, aims at ending decades of war in which hundreds of thousands died. The peace agreement covers a number of tricky issues, from land ownership, reparations and compensation, to wealth and power sharing and the return of refugees and internally displaced people. More important, the SRF fighters are to be dismantled and incorporated into joint units with the national armed forces.
However, two other well-established armed groups did not sign, reflecting the challenges still facing the peace process in the country. The first is the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army-Abdul Wahid Noor (SLM/A-AW), one of the key armed groups in Darfur, refused to participate in the peace talks from the outset.
The second group is the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, which controls parts of South Kordofan and the Blue Nile.
The government must exert its utmost efforts to bring these two groups to the negotiating table. It must also strive to include and involve other interest groups, including internally displaced people and civil society so they too can provide solutions to the multiple challenges the country faces.
In spite of all these challenges, however, this agreement is significant as it represents a glimpse of hope for the people in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile, whose rights have been systematically violated by the previous government. The importance of this landmark peace deal can also be linked to the fact that the modern history of Sudan is but a history of war. Historically speaking, ever since its inception as a sovereign state in 1956, Sudan has been in a state of continuous wars. The first brutal war broke out in 1955 in the South and finally brought to an end in 2005 when the southern people chose to secede.
Then the second war erupted in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government, which they accused of socioeconomic and political marginalization of the Darfur region. The fighting in South Kordofan started in June 2011 and spread into Blue Nile in September 2011 as government forces fought the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army North (SPLM/A-N), forcing at least 200,000 civilians into South Sudan as refugees, while some 1.5 million people have been internally displaced within the two states in the past nine years.
Considering how important the peace is to the country, the value of the signed peace agreement cannot be underestimated in any way. Throughout the years following independence, high hopes and great expectations have been heaped on the Sudan from the rest of the world. Sudan was depicted to be the bridge between Africa and the middle East, the breadbasket of Arab world, the caretaker of the precious waters of the Nile, and more importantly, a moderate force in the region. All of this potential has been consumed by the flames of war.
It would be rash to formulate plans for the future without first resolving the prevailing conflict in the country. It would be futile to talk about any economic plan, the breadbasket of the world food, without first creating national unity. It would be meaningless to talk about reconstruction and rehabilitation and development, the repatriation of refugees, the provision of post-war famine relief, without first settling the ongoing war in the country.
The writer is an Assistant Professor of Policy, Planning, and Development, Department of International Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University
