Two Sudans: Deal reached, what’s next!? (1-2)

Both presidents of Sudan and South Sudan have commended and praised each other on the “breakthrough” they achieved during their talks in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, expressing their commitment to fulfill the deal they reached last Thursday on security, the common border and economic relations which included the oil exports from South Sudan, demilitarized zone and principles of border demarcation.  

Speaking at the signing ceremony, South Sudan president, Salva Kiir Mayardit said the agreement marked a great day for the two nations.

For his part, president Omer Al Bashir also welcomed the deal, saying it reflected a "desire to achieve peace and stability and the mutual benefit" of the two nations, pointing out that he sensed genuine desire on the part of his South Sudanese counterpart and his government  to stick to the terms of the agreement.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also praised both presidents for "demonstrating the statesmanship that made a comprehensive agreement possible, and for having once again chosen peace over war."

Ki-moon urged both countries to now embark on the implementation of the agreements they have signed and to finalize the processes they have initiated.”

We hope that this time they would really implement these important agreements and that they will not be just an ink on paper! And that the two parties will continue their efforts in order to reach a final agreement and finding solutions to the future of the other disputed and claimed areas and the status of Abyei.

It is now, the responsibility of the media outlets to support such important agreements by playing a positive and constructive role, in reading and interpreting the output of these agreements and keeping away from the negative critique and propaganda for the peace and security of the two countries, for the peace of the region and for the international community.

Let us forget about the past, look ahead and take practical steps towards dealing with the new reality in order to build distinctive neighbourly relations based on coordination and cooperation to serve common interests between the two countries.

To be or not to be!

To be or not to be! This can be an apt heading for today’s summit between the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan where hopes for a breakthrough in the ongoing negotiations between the two countries, being held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, are running high ahead of the summit which is taking place on the same day. The extended deadline set by the UN Security Council (UNSC) through Resolution 2046 for the conclusion of the negotiation expires on 22 September. Resolution 2046 threatened non-military sanctions on both sides should they fail to reach a deal on the borders issues as well as oil production, security and the contested Abyei area.

It is unlikely that such deadline will be extended again as that will tarnish the credibility of the AU and the UN.

What makes one optimist is that the two Presidents are coming to the summit after they have experienced the economic, political and social costs of bad relations between the two countries, and that the remaining issues that may require the final decisions of the two Presidents can be resolved if there is a political will.

However, it would be suicidal if the two Presidents failed at today’s summit to reach feasible solutions for all the pending issues. Hence, it is a matter of “to be or not to be”, to reach final solutions for all the pending issues or get sanctioned!

Out of context:

I would like to inform the readers of “Spotlight” that I will be traveling to Jordan during the period 23-28 September to participate in the Arab Forum for Democracy. The column will therefore be suspended until my return next week, hoping that I will be back with new concepts and experience in the field of journalism and democracy!  

The long-awaited presidential summit

Presidents Al-Bashir and kiir

The Spotlight of today will focus on two inter-related issues pertaining to relations between Sudan and South Sudan. The first of these is the long-awaited presidential summit, and the other one is the resumption of flights between the capitals of the two countries.

Today’s news reported that President Omer Al-Bashir has accepted invitations to attend a summit meeting with his South Sudanese counterpart, President Salva Kiir, on Sept 23, “next Sunday”.

The invitations came from the Chairman of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel for Sudan, Thabo Mbeki, and the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Haile-Mariam, whose country's capital, Addis Ababa, will host the meeting.

The messages were conveyed to President Al-Bashir by the visiting Ethiopian envoy, Nessan Johannes, who said in a press statement that the messages he delivered to the president dealt with the invitations to President Al-Bashir to participate in the summit, pointing out that the message from the Ethiopian Prime Minister affirmed his commitment to boosting efforts for peace between Sudan and South Sudan.

The other important issue is the resumption of flights between Khartoum and Juba which have been suspended for nearly five months due to the dispute over the status of South Sudanese living in the north last April.

The two issues are seen by observers and analysts as a very important developments towards reaching a final deal to resolving the conflicts between the two sides, whereas the presidential summit will wrap up two weeks of negotiations that meant to end hostilities between the two neighbours. The resumption of air transport, as well, is considered as start of people to people relations and building of social ties and bilateral cooperation for the best interests of citizens of both countries as it will allow exchange of goods and services as well as movement of the people in both countries.

We hope that the leadership of the two countries will take positive steps at their meeting next week, toward a final deal that would allow the resumption of oil exports which is very vital to the economies of both countries.

Friday incidents cancel EU visit to Darfur

 The European Union Commission in Sudan has cancelled a visit to its ambassadors to Darfur, following Friday’s demonstrations in front of many foreign embassies to protest the anti-Islam film, a source at the EU in Khartoum told AFP.

The source said on condition of anonymity that "it was decided at the moment to cancel the visit of the EU ambassadors which was scheduled Thursday and Friday because of the demonstrations that broke out last Friday and the storming of the German embassy in Khartoum."

"We have information about other demonstrations that would be organized next Friday in Khartoum in front of a number of embassies, so the EU ambassadors will not be traveling to Darfur." He added

The visit was supposed to take place next Thursday and Friday to assess the situation in the region, which has been witnessing unrest since 2003 and patrolled by the largest peacekeeping mission in the world, and the EU contributes to in its financing.

When politicians interfere in diplomacy!

 Sudanese demonstrators broke into the US embassy in Khartoum on Friday.

 In the news, the United States has evacuated its non-essential national staff from Sudan and Tunisia and warned its citizens against traveling to the two countries, in light of deteriorating security conditions following attacks on US embassies in Sudan and Tunisia last week to protest a release of  film clips, produced by a US-based filmmaker, which negatively portrayed Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). Meanwhile the Canadian foreign ministry has also closed its embassies in Libya, Tunisia and Sudan, saying that they will remain closed until the safety of staff is guaranteed.

The decision by the US Administration to evacuate its non-essential staff came as a reaction to the rejection by the Sudanese government to allow US special forces, “Marines”, into the country, saying that it was fully capable of safeguarding all diplomatic missions on its land.

So far, we can consider these as normal diplomatic actions and reactions, if we exclude the fact that the fault from the beginning was from the Sudanese authorities and that Friday’s violent incidents should have been controlled and dealt with in a proper manner.

However, that is not the issue. The issue is that when other governmental bodies or officials from the ruling party intervene in the work of the foreign ministry by issuing negative statements that could affect on the diplomatic relations, where the news also quoted NCP member of the Political Bureau, Rabie Abdelati, as describing the American embassy in Khartoum as “idle”, pointing out that the embassy does hardly any diplomatic work and is run by a Charge d’Affairs in a building without any real purpose!

My above claims are supported by evidences and statements by the foreign minister, Ali Karty, who criticized governmental bodies and accused some officials, before parliament, of interfering in his ministry’s work.

I think, as diplomats understand the Geneva Convention to prohibit  interference in internal affairs and bar diplomats from engaging in the country's internal affairs, politicians should also understand that they should not talk on behalf of the foreign ministry because it is simply not their job!