Khartoum is courting Washington, expelling Western diplomats and welcoming home the leaders of armed opposition groups, writes Gamal Nkrumah Until a few months ago it was easy for critics of the Sudanese government to lambaste its inadequate efforts in enforcing peace instead of waging war. However, after signing a comprehensive peace treaty with the predominantly southern Sudan People's Liberation Army in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on 9 January 2005, the Sudanese government is now reactivating the stalled peace process with the various armed opposition groups of Darfur. And, Sudan has already mended fences with another disgruntled group of Sudanese, the easterners. Sudan, however, needs international support as never before. Amid much fanfare, pomp and ceremony the leaders of the Eastern Front, a coalition of opposition forces representing the interests of the peoples of eastern Sudan, and including the Beja Congress, were met by Sudanese Vice-President Ali Othman Mohamed Taha at Khartoum International Airport. Hundreds of people also turned up at the airport to welcome the Front leaders. The non-Arab Beja are the largest ethnic group in eastern Sudan and are divided into different tribes and clans. They, however, have long complained of being marginalised economically and politically. The Front also includes members of the Arab Rashaidiya tribe, concentrated in eastern Sudan. The arid and rugged region is one of Sudan's poorest and least developed. It has one of the highest malnutrition rates in Sudan. The Eastern Front had waged a 10-year armed struggle against Sudanese government forces and had joined forces with the umbrella opposition grouping the National Democratic Alliance. Hundreds of supporters welcomed the 64 leaders who flew to Khartoum from the Eritrean capital Asmara. Among the leaders were the Secretary-General of the Eastern Front Moussa Mohamed Ahmed and his deputy Amina Darrar. Three prominent members of the Front are expected to be designated ministerial portfolios in accordance with a peace treaty signed last October between the Sudanese government and the Eastern Front. Sudan is also preparing to receive the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon next week. The UN secretary- general is scheduled to visit Sudan, Chad and Libya in an effort to speed up the peace process in the war-torn westernmost province of Darfur. One of the main sticking points in the Darfur peace process is that Sudan insists that it will not accept non-African peacekeeping troops. Recently, the UN Security Council sanctioned the deployment of 26,000 multinational peacekeepers. However, the Sudanese authorities say that they will not permit non-African peacekeeping troops to police Darfur. The official line is that non-African troops will be tantamount to an army of occupation just as in Iraq or Afghanistan. The Sudanese government, backed by the African Union, believe that an African peacekeeping force would be more acceptable to the local population. However, fears were expressed by Western diplomats that an exclusively African peacekeeping force would not be capable of properly policing Darfur. The region is notorious for its poor infrastructure and rugged terrain. Only two airports in the Darfur region can accommodate large carriers -- Al-Fasher and Nyala. This makes logistical support for the peacekeepers difficult. In the meantime, the UN launched a $420 million food relief appeal in order to alleviate the suffering of the people of Darfur. The humanitarian catastrophe in the sprawling province is cause for increasing concern among the international community. It is against this backdrop that the escalation in tensions between the Sudanese government and Western powers raises alarm bells. Indeed, Khartoum recently expelled two Western diplomats -- Kent Degerfelt of Sweden (the European Union representative in Sudan) and Canada's Charge d'Affaires Nuala Lawlor. The Sudanese government pronounced them persona non-grata because they "interfered in the domestic affairs of Sudan." Last October, Khartoum also expelled the UN chief envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, and this week it deported Paul Barker, the director of the US humanitarian group CARE. The organisation says it spent an estimated $60 million in the past three years in humanitarian assistance to Sudan, mainly for development and relief assistance projects in Darfur. Nevertheless, the Sudanese authorities has made overtures to the US over Darfur despite the unremitting criticism of the government by US President George W Bush and senior members of the Bush administration. Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Al-Samani Al-Wasila went to Washington for high-level discussions with officials of the Bush administration. This is not all show. There are signs that America is turning a blind eye to some of the policies adopted by the Sudanese government that Washington has long objected to. That is just how Sudan wants it.
