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Final Sudan Peace Agreement to be Signed

This Sunday the Islamic government of Sudan will sign a final peace agreement with the Christian and animist Southern Peoples Liberation Movement/Army ending 21 years of war. Since war began in 1983, more than 2 million people have died, approximately 628,000 Sudanese have sought refuge in neighboring countries, and more than 4 million people have been displaced, creating the largest internally displaced person (IDP) population in the world.

With the Tsunami tragedy in Asia and general apathy of the West toward Africa (and especially Dafur), this remarkable event has been de-emphasized in the mainstream media.

"It was a monumental task, nearly mission impossible," says Lazaro Sumbeiywo, a retired Kenyan army general who was mediating the talks between the Arabic-speaking Khartoum government and rebels from the mainly black African and Christian south, told a press conference in Nairobi. He later added, "It was reached by the will of God. I feel humbled that actually God chose me [to broker peace in this conflict]".

A significant factor that motivated Sudan toward a peace agreement was pressure by the United States and the international community that identified the Islamic Khartoum government as a sponsor of terrorism [more].

Joining the two Sudanese groups will be African leaders and representatives from the rest of the world. An official in the mediation team told AFP that presidents from the regional body InterGovernmental Authority of Development (IGAD, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda), which was tasked with mediating the marathon peace talks, will attend. Leaders from neighboring African countries will also be there and US former president Jimmy Carter is expected to join the event.

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