The key to unity is fairness and transparency, posits Gamal Nkrumah President Hosni Mubarak in an unprecedented endorsement for Sudanese national unity told delegates in the Libyan Mediterranean seaside city of Sirte, the venue of the second Arab-African summit, that unity is the preferred option for Sudan. "Disintegration of the country will compromise the national interests of the Sudanese people, northerners and southerners, and all Africans and Arabs," Mubarak was quoted as saying. Mubarak was supported by most of the Arab and African leaders assembled in Sirte. The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was especially vocal in his condemnation of the secession of southern Sudan, warning that it will spell disaster not only in Sudan, but also in the entire African continent. Gaddafi warned of the "contagion" of "secession fever". He noted that other African countries are vulnerable to this particular problem. That if Sudan broke up, it will lead to political chaos and instability. Propagandists of both sides are gearing up to polish their credentials in the international arena. The Sudanese protagonists are heading for a showdown. "Sudan is in dire need of radical political reform," warned Sadig Al-Mahdi, former democratically elected Sudanese prime minister ousted in a coup d'etàt instigated by the now defunct National Islamic Front (NIF) and Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. Al-Mahdi, head of the opposition Umma Party, told Al-Ahram Weekly that if sweeping democratic changes are not instituted then Sudan is most likely going to be dismembered and return to the bloody civil war that ripped the country apart. "Everything now depends on how the government headed by Al-Bashir conducts itself. We are on the threshold of a new Sudan, we have before us a fresh start and abundant natural resources including oil. Let us not miss this golden opportunity," Al-Mahdi stressed. Sudan's Second Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha flew to the southern Sudanese administrative capital of Juba to meet with Sudanese First Vice-President Salva Kiir who is also the president of the autonomous region of south Sudan. Kiir, who announced last week his inclination to vote for independence of southern Sudan in the forthcoming January 2011 referendum to determine whether southern Sudan will secede or remain as an integral part of the Sudanese political entity, is in a belligerent mood. Kiir wants to see the government in Khartoum headed by the National Congress Party (NCP) of Al-Bashir pay particular attention to the demands of southerners for an equitable distribution of the wealth of the country and a say in the decision-making process. Above all, Kiir would like to see a transformation in the political system that has run Sudan since independence from Britain in 1956. The people of Sudan are poised for a "New Sudan", one in which all Sudanese are accorded the same political rights and benefit from the newfound oil-wealth of the country, mostly located in the south of the country. Otherwise, the threat of a return to civil war lingers. "Objectively things are not really better even though the oil revenues are coming in," concluded Al-Mahdi. A main grievance of southerners is the lack of transparency in how the oil contracts are negotiated and oil revenues are disposed of. Al-Bashir's critics contend he cannot have his cake and eat it. Alaska and Alberta are model success stories of regional governments which managed their windfall gains from oil to the enormous benefit of their people through transparency without seceding from Washington or Ottawa. South Sudan deserves no less. President Al-Bashir is in an equally combatant disposition. "We will not accept any alternative to unity. Yes, we are prepared to make some compromises here and there, but the principle of a united, sovereign Sudan is utterly unalterable," the Sudanese president was unequivocal. "We reject foreign interference in our domestic affairs and we strongly object to foreign powers inciting the southern Sudanese people to opt for secession. Such machinations are unacceptable." The NCP of Al-Bashir and the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement are currently engaged in peace and reconciliation talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. United States diplomats and officials are also participating in the Addis Ababa negotiations. Washington wants Khartoum to officially acknowledge that the oil-rich enclave of Abyei is part and parcel of southern Sudan. The disputed territory is inhabited by a majority of ethnic Dinka Ngok, most of whom are pro-SPLM, with a minority of nomadic Arabised Messeiriya tribesmen who are overwhelmingly loyal to the NCP. A number of high-profile international personalities have visited Sudan recently. A United Nations Security Council delegation even included the chief diplomatic representative of the US at the UN Susan Rice and Scott Gration, the US chief envoy to Sudan. Also on a fact-finding mission to Sudan is the former South African president Thabo Mbeki representing the African Union. US President Barack Obama said that the Sudanese protagonists should negotiate terms of unity. The Obama administration's approach might sound to many Sudanese like a recipe for dangerous delay. An exceptionally large number of international organisations are participating in the humanitarian relief effort in Sudan, including Darfur and southern Sudan. Organisations such as the World Food Programme, the UN Children's Fund and the UN Population Fund are particularly active in the humanitarian relief effort. The Sudanese government, however, has been ambiguous about the political role played by these organisations, suspecting them of encouraging southern Sudanese groups to secede. The international humanitarian organisations have denied the charge. Sheikh Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudan's chief Islamist ideologue and leader of the opposition Popular Congress Party, told the Weekly that in order to rescue the democratic reform heralded by the Al-Bashir regime, it needs to demonstrate that it can shore up Sudan's fragile nascent democracy. "It is a daunting task", Turabi stressed. "Failure to institute democratic reform in Sudan would deepen fears that the country is at risk of breaking up into rival, warring states." (see p.8)
