Washington, DC — The government of Sudan has proposed the formation of a political alliance with the rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).
The proposal follows the Machakos agreement reached between Sudan's government and Southern rebels in Machakos, Kenya, on July 20, establishing a "framework" for peace to end the 19-year civil war in the huge north-east African nation. The deal included agreement on two of the most contentious issues in Sudan: southern self-determination and the status of religion in the state.
"We have offered [the SPLM/A], aside from signing the agreement, that we [NIF] and you [SPLM/A] should form a political alliance because we are the major parties," said Sayed El Khatib, Director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Khartoum, during an interview with allAfrica.com.
It "would be a very good way of safeguarding the peace agreement itself if we had this political partnership," he said.
Sayed is spokesman for, and part of, a five-person Sudan government delegation in Washington, D.C., for unofficial talks with the SPLM/A at the invitation of the U.S. State department.
When asked whether a political alliance was indeed being discussed, the SPLM/A's chief negotiator, Nhial Deng Nhial, said "not quite". "I wouldn't characterize it as an alliance. A political alliance would probably suggest that there is a meeting of minds, even on the political ideology and philosophy, which is not the case. But a partnership for running the country during the interim peiod is plausible, and that's what we expect. You can have a working relationship."
Although Sudan's government and the SPLM/A have reached some understanding on structures of government and revenue sharing, they were still far apart on the crucial issues of power-sharing and wealth-sharing when the third round of negotiations for peace ended in Kenya late last month. The talks are scheduled to resume in mid-January
The meetings taking place at the State Department now were proposed shortly after the conclusion of that last round of talks in Kenya. Washington hopes to forge some understandings that will form the framework for reaching agreement when the talks resume in Kenya.
"We are not going to be signing any document," says Sayed. "If what the most optimistic think is true, probably we are going to emerge with something that is going to be taken back to the formal negotiating process and be pushed there."
