Buffeted by internal divisions, locked in endless wars with rebels, isolated by the international community, and teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, the government of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir is now reaching out to long-estranged friends in what some say is a desperate attempt to hold onto power. In a surprise move, Al-Bashir has held talks with one-time friend and mentor Hassan Al-Turabi. The two men have been estranged for nearly 15 years, during which time Al-Turabi went into opposition and formed a rival political party, the Popular Congress Party (PCP). The government hailed the recent meeting as a first step towards an all-encompassing national dialogue, while its critics claimed that it was playing for time. The move came as clashes intensified in the district of North Kordofan between government forces and rebel groups. Thousands are said to have fled their homes to escape the fighting in which dozens have been killed on both sides. The Sudanese army also said that it had recaptured the city of Malit, a key trading post in North Darfur from the armed groups which had seized it. Malit is a border town in which taxes are collected on trade between Sudan, Libya and Egypt. The announcement came a day after rebels had bragged of their capture of the same town. According to initial reports, nearly 85 people on both sides died in the fighting that erupted on 14 March between several Darfur-based rebel groups and government forces. In a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Khaled Al-Sawarimi, an official spokesman for the Sudanese army, said that the offensive had targeted some of the villages situated north of Al-Fasher. The rebels, most of whom belong to the Sudanese Liberation Army of Minni Minnawi (SLA-MM), had been trying to seize hardware from government posts, he added. According to Al-Sawarimi, it was the Sudanese army that had ended up capturing large amounts of weapons and munitions from the rebels. Within a few hours, Al-Sawarimi said, the army had restored peace to the city of Malit and was now chasing the rebels away from nearby areas. Al-Sawarimi accused the rebel groups of putting the lives of civilians in danger and wrecking the development plans the government intended to start in the region. Meanwhile, SLA-MM spokesman Adam Akbar said that his group, acting in unison with the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), had carried out the operation and succeeded in seizing a large amount of army hardware. The two groups would stage further attacks in the future, he added. Over the past few weeks, North Darfur has been the site of continued clashes, during which rebel groups have staged attacks on the areas of Kalamando, Lait and Toweisha, according to government sources. On the diplomatic front, Sudan has appealed to the UN Security Council to take action against the rebels, who it said were “killing and terrorising” civilians in North Darfur. Khartoum said it was willing to attend peace talks with the rebels, so long as the Gulf state of Qatar was the key mediator. The international community has reacted to the recent bout of fighting and the large-scale humanitarian crisis it has caused by blaming both the government and the rebels. US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power criticised the Sudanese government for its inability to defuse the situation. She also slammed the peacekeeping forces run jointly by the UN and the African Union (AU) for failing to protect civilians and safeguard the delivery of humanitarian aid. She said that this peacekeeping operation, known as UNAMID (also the UN-AU Hybrid Operation in Darfur) was the largest in the world and had a mandate that should allow it to act in a more timely and forceful fashion. For his part, Hassan Hamid, acting chargé d'affaires at the Sudanese Permanent Mission to the UN, called on the UN to “punish” the rebel movements for staging attacks in Darfur in which many civilians had been killed or displaced. In an attempt to contain the situation, the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) gave the mediation team led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki until 30 April to negotiate a peaceful end to the war in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions. A statement issued by the AU called for the speedy delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population affected by the recent bout of fighting. During their meeting, Al-Bashir and Al-Turabi agreed on the need for a comprehensive political settlement and promised to exclude no party from the dialogue. According to some observers, the rapprochement between Al-Bashir and Al-Turabi came after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Germany pressured Khartoum to reach out to its opponents. Some say that Al-Turabi's willingness to reconcile with his long-time rival may have had something to do with the setbacks the Islamists have recently suffered in Egypt and Gaza. A source close to the Sudanese Islamists said that Al-Bashir had asked Al-Turabi to get in touch with the rebel groups and persuade them to take part in nationwide talks. The same source added that Al-Turabi's Popular Congress Party had been holding talks with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which has also voiced its tentative willingness to attend the talks. Al-Bashir's opponents say that if Khartoum is serious about nationwide talks, it can show good faith by starting them itself. Reform within the ranks of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) would help defuse tensions in the war-torn nation, they say. Others are more sceptical about Khartoum's current bid for reconciliation. According to one observer, what Al-Bashir and Al-Turabi have failed to resolve in 24 years cannot possibly be sorted out in a one-hour encounter.
