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Army Recaptures

New Vision (Kampala)
NEWS
October 11, 2002
Posted to the web October 11, 2002
Kampala
THE SUDANESE army has just re-captured the strategic southern town of Torit
from the rebel Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army. The SPLA has at the same time
claimed to have cut the main highway linking Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red
Sea.
This may sound like yet another of the familiar stories of the ping pong
struggle between the two old foes, who have been fighting for the last two
decades. Vast swathes of territory and the numerous garrison towns that dot the
south have been exchanging hands with quite some frequency since separatist
southern fighters took up arms against the central government in Khartoum.
But what makes the latest fighting all the more abhorrent is the fact that it
is yet another spanner in the works of a nascent peace. The two sides signed a
peace deal in Kenya and Uganda in July, raising hope that Africa's longest
civil conflict was finally coming to an end.
These hopes were underscored by exciting economic prospects, following the
discovery of oilfields that could hold some of the world's biggest reserves.
Quite apart from the very prospect of sharing the potential revenues, the
discovery of oil should, on the face of it, solve the basic issue that has torn
the Sudan asunder. Racial and religious differences have frequently been
mentioned as a cause, but the underlying problem is economic, with the south
underdeveloped, and neglected, relative to the north.
The oil, therefore, can go a long way in solving the question of economic
prosperity, or the lack of it, and, provided they become more open-minded and
tolerant, the Sudanese should overcome what should be minor prejudices in the
interest of prosperity for all. Renewed fighting is, therefore, working against
the interest of all Sudanese.
Published on: Friday, 11th October, 2002

   

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