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Sudan Peace Pact welcome

The Nation (Nairobi)
NEWS
May 28, 2004
Posted to the web May 28, 2004
Nairobi
The signing on Wednesday night of the final set of documents that should lead
to a comprehensive peace deal for the Sudan stands as a vindication for the
sacrifices Kenya has made in shepherding the process.
It is doubly satisfying that the Sudan agreement come as the same time as a
breakthrough seems to have been achieved in the Somali peace talks also taking
place in Kenya.
The two separate peace initiatives are truly regional and international
efforts, but it is to Kenya's credit that she is playing the leading roles.
Apart from simultaneously hosting the two separate separate peace talks, Kenya
is also providing the lead negotiators.
The Somali peace talks at Mbagathi, Nairobi, were initially chaired by former
Foreign Minister Elijah Mwangale, before he gave way to respected diplomat
Bethwel Kiplagat.
The Sudan talks have been taking place mainly in Naivasha under the stewardship
of soldier turned peacemaker, Gen Lazarus Sumbeiywo.
If all goes according to plan after yesterday's historic accord in Naivasha,
the combatants in Africa's longest-running civil war should, in the next few
weeks, sign a peace deal that will lead to a cessation of hostilities and the
formation of a unitary government.
A great deal can, however, still go wrong. Sudan continues to attract unwelcome
attention over an entirely different conflict in its Darfur region.
The Somali talks have often been diverted by embarrassing side-shows such as
continuing wrangles over the bona fides of participants and the ejection of
delegates from hotels over unpaid bills.
Most recently, there was the arrest and jailing in Nairobi of one of the most
important factional leaders, Hussein Aideed, over a civil debt. The Kenya
Government had to move fast and bail him out to save the talks.
Somalia, even with an agreement possibly in sight, remains a state without a
government, with patches of the huge country controlled by warring clan
militias.
The situation in Sudan is much less complex, but a war there has run for
generations and may not stop simply because an accord has been signed.
It will take a great deal of patience and statesmanship from the leaders of
both sides for any peace settlement to hold.

   

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