A Shot at Peace in Sudan

Though the focus this month has been on the natural catastrophe of the tsunami in South Asia and the man-made killings in Iraq, Sudan has reminded us that even the most bitter of civil wars end, though it may take decades.

The government of President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir and rebel groups in southern Sudan headed by John Garang signed an agreement a week ago to end one of Africa’s longest wars. Just deciding what to agree on took three years; the war lasted 21 years and killed about 2 million people.

Informal coalitions of religious groups around the world, especially in the United States, helped pressure their own governments and Bashir’s to stop the killing. Bashir is Muslim, as is much of northern Sudan; the south is populated largely by animists and Christians. The north has substantial oil production and the south possesses large petroleum reserves, but the government in Khartoum was loath to share the wealth.

The pressure groups and nations that pushed for an end to the fighting will need to be vigilant; both sides have reneged on past agreements, and the new one contains elements that may be hard to implement, like power-sharing and possible independence for the south in six years.

Bashir toured the south last week, an important gesture of reconciliation. But while north and south must try to resettle at least 3 million people made homeless by the conflict, the government now also needs to stop the killing in Darfur, in the west, which the U.S. calls “genocide.”

The death toll in Darfur is estimated at 50,000; 1 million or more are refugees inside and outside Sudan. Both sides have broken cease-fires, but the government bears special responsibility for letting militias rape, pillage and murder. The Arabs of northern Sudan, traditionally nomads, and the farming Africans of the west have quarreled over land for decades, but the battle between rebels and government increased drastically two years ago. One reason for rebel anger is the government’s failure to distribute the oil wealth to western Sudan.

Countries in the African Union have provided hundreds of peacekeepers for Darfur and need to pressure Bashir to make peace. The United States should join other nations to warn the government that continued killing could lead to an embargo on oil sales. Sudan cannot be allowed to let its battle in the west continue for another two decades; the nation has seen too much death and destruction.