Prospects of ending the Sudanese political crisis are gaining momentum, but tensions remain, writes Gamal Nkrumah Conflicting signals are emanating from the corridors of power in Washington and at the United Nations. Sudan has emerged as a key issue in the United States presidential elections. The Arabised militias in Darfur -- better known as the Janjaweed and closely aligned to the Sudanese regime -- are being blamed by Western governments and humanitarian relief agencies for the Darfur crisis. The UN is considering whether Khartoum has fulfilled its pledge to bring the Janjaweed to book. The armed opposition groups battling the Janjaweed are banking on international intervention. The urgency of the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur is such that a constant flow of plentiful supplies of food and medical relief supplies is needed. Millions of lives are at stake. No crops were planted this year, which means that the humanitarian catastrophe will last for at least another year. The good news in all this is that the Sudanese authorities and armed opposition groups, as well as civilian political forces, are trying to resolve their differences by peaceful negotiations. Three different peace talks are currently underway between the Sudanese government and opposition forces -- peace talks in Naivasha, Kenya, between the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudanese government; peace talks in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, between the Sudanese government and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the two most influential armed opposition groups in Darfur; and talks in Cairo about the political future of Sudan between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the largest umbrella opposition grouping, and the Sudanese government. Still, Sudan has a long way to go before its political problems are resolved. The shaky ceasefire agreement between the Sudanese government and SLA and JEM, which was signed in the Chadian capital N'djamena on April 2004, has done little to relieve the suffering of millions of displaced, war- ravaged people in Darfur. Ironically, Sudan, a country that could potentially become the breadbasket of the Arab world, now needs an emergency, uninterrupted and permanent for the foreseeable future, supply of food aid. Sudan also desperately needs funding and logistical support to get aid to Darfur. Sporadic fighting is grinding the Abuja peace talks to a halt. The SLA and JEM have accused the Sudanese government of assisting the Arabised militias -- the Janjaweed -- who are accused of attacking and terrorising innocent civilians and the already displaced in refugee camps. "If the situation continues this way, it will lead to the collapse of the talks," warned Ahmed Tugod, JEM's chief negotiator in Abuja. The Sudanese authorities, on the other hand, feign innocence, saying that they want cooperation and not confrontation with the international community. Sudanese officials claim that they are doing their best to get humanitarian relief assistance to the hardest hit of the 1.5 million displaced in Darfur. Torrential rains are not helping matters, yet despite difficult terrain aid convoys are getting through. "All Sudanese diplomatic missions abroad have been instructed to issue entry visas within 48 hours to humanitarian relief workers wishing to get to Darfur," the Sudanese ambassador to Egypt, Ahmed Abdul-Halim, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Contrary to what the international media is claiming, we are not doing this because we are being pressured. We are doing our best to help our people because it's our national obligation towards our citizens. The Sudanese government is committed to helping the people of Darfur," Ambassador Abdul-Halim added. "Even British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw last week commended the government's efforts in Darfur," Abdul- Halim said. "International sanctions will never resolve the humanitarian crisis, it will only worsen the situation in Darfur," he explained. Abdul-Halim added that "the demonisation of the Sudanese government by Western powers is unacceptable. The government has apprehended some of the Janjaweed -- and incidentally not all of the Janjaweed are of Arab descent." He claimed that "There is an orchestrated endeavour by a cabal of media and aid agencies that have portrayed the crisis in Darfur as one between Arabs and Africans. But all Sudanese are African, even the Arabs," the Sudanese ambassador continued. The Darfur crisis has emerged as a litmus test for African conflict resolution mechanisms. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has taken a keen personal interest in resolving the Sudanese crisis. The Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), a regional organisation that groups seven East African countries, including Sudan, is the official sponsor of the peace talks in Naivasha, Kenya. The African Union is supervising the peace process in Darfur and has provided peacekeeping troops. The Sudanese government, however, is cautious about handing over the task of resolving the crisis to international bodies. "It is the duty of all Sudanese political forces to consolidate national unity, to come together and pull the country out of this morass. The rebels [SLA and JEM] unfortunately are depending on international support. They make false accusations about the Sudanese government dragging its feet over resolving the Darfur crisis and bringing the Janjaweed under control. Their real objective is to pave the way for international intervention," says Abdul-Halim. Others are sceptical about the possibility of international military intervention in Darfur. "I believe it would be practically difficult to mobilise a strong Western peacekeeping force to police Darfur," Farouk Abu- Eissa, former Sudanese foreign minister and former head of the Cairo-based Arab Lawyers Union told the Weekly. Abu-Eissa, who is currently the official spokesman for the NDA, said that the only way to maintain peace in Darfur is to extend the present peace process in southern Sudan to Darfur. "But peace in Sudan, including Darfur, can only come about as part of a comprehensive political settlement that includes all Sudanese forces."
