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Hopes for Sudan's Reconciliation Loom After All Accept Peace Plan
Hopes for ending a 18-year civil war and achieving political reconciliation in Sudan loomed after all sides offered acceptance of an Egyptian-Libyan peace plan.
Pagan Amum, secretary general of the Sudanese opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), told reporters here on Thursday that "We have accepted the joint peace plan. Certainly, it means that we are ready to go to a peace conference," a key proposal in the peace plan.
Amum made the remarks after a meeting between Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and NDA Chairman Mohammad Othman el-Merghani, which focused on way to activate the Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative.
On Tuesday, Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) led by President Omar Hassan el-Bashir decided to accept the initiative. It also called on the opposition parties to accept the plan and submit their responses quickly.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said on Wednesday that the government will give its reply to the two sponsors by the end of this week.
"Things are going ahead in the right direction," Merghani said at Thursday's news briefing.
The Maher-Merghani talks came within the context of efforts by Egypt and Libya to help achieve national reconciliation in Sudan through the join peace initiative, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency reported.
Merghani told reporters that he and John Garang, leader of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), have agreed on Sudan's territorial integrity since November 1988.
"The articles of the Egyptian-Libyan initiative can address the issue of autonomy proposed for the southern Sudan, especially those (articles) on setting up a transitional national authority to foster unity," he said.
NDA has acted as an umbrella organization of Sudan's southern rebels and northern opposition.
Last week, Egypt and Libya put forth a new reconciliation plan for Sudan, which calls for resuming the peace process, forming a transitional cabinet of all political forces, specifying date and arrangements of new general elections, and an immediate cessation of all forms of hostilities.
In l999, Egypt and Libya launched an initiative that called for a national conference, to be attended by the Sudanese government, all opposition groups in the north and SPLA in the south, to put an end to protracted civil war.
The Sudanese government forces have been fighting with the SPLA since 1983, which has been struggling for greater autonomy for the predominantly Christian and animist south.
The SPLA has recently captured a number of key towns in the southern Bahr el-Ghazal region. In the light of SPLA's continued attacks, the Sudanese government has warned that the government forces will resume air strikes in the south, a move suspended in May.
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