Sudan and Chad sign yet another deal but no one is holding their breath, writes Gamal Nkrumah The die was cast in the Senegalese capital Dakar. At the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit meeting, Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby clinched a peace deal. The international media reported the event, but few commentators felt that the deal was anything but transient. Peace between Sudan and Chad cannot be durable without the permanent resolution of the Darfur crisis. What this means in practice has yet to be spelled out. There are numerous underlying concerns. The first is governmental incompetence in both Chad and Sudan. Another problem is the demoralisation of the populace. This is, after all, the fifth deal signed between the two countries. It was obvious from the cameras that even though the Sudanese president was smiling from ear to ear, his Chadian counterpart was scowling. That much was clear for all to see. There is no love lost between the two presidents, and by all accounts the Dakar deal was clinched amid much recrimination. The Chadian authorities, in particular, have grave reservations. They believe that the Sudanese government is trying hard to undermine the Deby regime in Ndjamena. The Chadians have persistently claimed that the Sudanese government is backing armed opposition groups in Chad, and were directly responsible for last month's attempt by Chadian opposition forces to storm the capital. The Sudanese, on the other hand, retort that the Chadian authorities are instigating the fighting in Darfur, aiding and abetting Darfur armed opposition groups. The Chadian and Sudanese political crises dominated discussions at the OIC summit meeting in Dakar. No month passes without a spatter of shots in either Chad or Darfur. The ethnic composition in both Darfur and Chad are very similar. Tribes move freely across the extensive and porous common border. The oil-rich countries are still among Africa's, and the world's, poorest nations. There are also tensions related to the exploitation of oil. Indeed, oil appears to be more of a curse than a boon. World powers are drawn into the brawls and spats of Chad and Sudan. In Sudan, the Chinese have the lion's share. China pumps out and imports much of Sudan's oil. The Chinese authorities are accused of propping up the Sudanese government and of being instrumental in prolonging the war in Darfur by defending the Sudanese government at international forums such as the United Nations. Western powers accuse China of overlooking gross violations committed by the Sudanese authorities in Darfur in particular and Sudan at large. Across the border in Chad, French oil multinationals predominate, even though American oil firms have also become active in the country in recent years. Oil in Chad, like in Sudan, is seen by many as the direct cause of the flaring of the civil wars. While oil fuels these wars, the humanitarian catastrophe as a result of the war is escalating daily. The armed opposition groups in both Sudan and Chad will not give up their jostling for power in the foreseeable future. "The Khartoum government has signed agreements before with Chad. And, still our people are getting killed, raped and maimed," Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nour, leader of the main Darfur armed opposition group the Sudan Liberation Army told Al-Ahram Weekly. There was never a letup. Even though the rebels were nearing the end of their strength, yet they would not give up the fight for what they see as their right to participate in the decision-making process of their respective countries. They also are determined to enjoy the benefits of the new-found oil wealth. Khartoum and Ndjamena are still digesting the implications of this deal. Yet, the prospects for lasting peace are not encouraging. Deby, for instance, barely contained his anger when Al-Bashir accused him of being a Western stooge. Before the deal was struck, he expressed his blazing indignation as forcibly as he could. Al-Bashir, the cooler of the two, strolled into the conference centre in the Senegalese capital in a seemingly more optimistic frame of mind, seated himself into a comfortable position and busied himself with networking fellow Muslim leaders. It was rumoured, however, that prospects of meeting Deby initially drove the Sudanese president's anxiety into open panic. "I have travelled a long way and have a splitting headache," he was quoted as telling his Senegalese host Abdulaye Wade by way of an apology for not attending the opening meeting of the OIC. Apparently he had cold feet. The deal, like the OIC summit meeting itself, was a qualified success, though. It was the usual display of African pomp and ceremony, albeit with an Islamic twist. Chad and Sudan are two predominantly Muslim African nations with many cultural and ethnic affinities. However, politically they are poles apart. Chad is pro-Western and Sudan is virtually treated as a pariah state by Western powers. As the two presidents made preparations to depart from Dakar, they smiled again for the cameras. But the question uppermost on most of their people's minds is that these very smiles did not quite look genuine; they rather appeared overly insincere. Deby's blunt comments notwithstanding, the Chadian and Sudanese leaders have made giant strides to secure a semblance of peaceful co-existence. However, a big shift towards more friendly bilateral relations is highly unlikely. Confidence in the prospects of democracy in either Chad or Sudan is not great. But, while the West turns a blind eye to Chad's human rights record, it is vociferously anti-Sudanese. Strident advocates of human rights in the West hardly mention Chad. The onus is on Sudan where Darfur has become the cause celebre of Western media and governments. The two African leaders' unstinting appetite for publicity eventually took precedence as it did last year when they prayed together in Mecca after concluding a similar deal. It cannot patch over the underlying tensions.
