5 March 1998 The
Sudanese government accuses Eritrean forces of cross-border
shelling of the villages of Awad, Gulsah and Hudrah, in
Kasha state. The six hours of artillery fire cause casualties
and destroy schools and wells.
9 March 1998 The
new government for southern Sudan is announced. The government
is to be headed by Dr Riek Machar and is made up of 14 ministers
and the ten state governors in the south. The government
will be based in Juba, the capital of the south.
12 March 1998 The
Speaker of the Sudanese Parliament, Dr Hassan al-Turabi,
confirms that the new draft constitution provides for the
formation and functioning of political parties.
13 March 1998 The
Sudanese government states that it is ready to sign a cease-fire
agreement with rebel forces in southern Sudan. The foreign
minister, Dr Mustafa Osman Ismail, offers a cease-fire to
ensure a "proper atmosphere of peace" for the
April negotiations in Nairobi. The minister calls on the
international community to press the rebels to agree to
the cease-fire, which would guarantee humanitarian aid delivery
to affected areas in southern Sudan.
16 March 1998 The
heads-of-state summit meeting of IGAD, held in Djibouti,
express their support for the peace negotiations on southern
Sudan being held under the IGAD umbrella. The Summit urges
the parties to the conflict to declare a cease-fire as a
measure of good-will and in order to create a conducive
environment for the April peace negotiations. The Summit
also warns of the negative impact on the peace process of
external intervention.
18 March 1998 The
opposition NDA holds a conference in Asmara, Eritrea. SPLA
leader John Garang fails to attend. SPLA spokesman Pagan
Amum denies that Garang's failure to attend is to avoid
confrontation with other NDA members over his switch to
demanding "confederalism" for the South rather
than self-determination. Amum also declares that the IGAD
peace-talks would be unnecessary if SPLA military forces
topple the regime soon. He states:
"[T]here would be no
need for going to the Nairobi negotiations [IGAD] which
is to be held in April between the SPLA and the GOS if we
reach Khartoum before the time set for these talks . The
build-up of the military wings for the political parties
and groups within the Alliance is complete and thus, I can
say that we are the last stages in the way to topple the
Sudanese regime, and among other issues that we will be
discussing tomorrow is the development of the military actions
and increasing coordination and the executing of the plans
to topple the regime and to reach Khartoum . we will also
discuss the post-Khartoum issues, such as the government,
the coordination of the transitional period and the constitution
. IGAD is another topic. We will try to reach Khartoum before
then, if we could not, then we will participate in the talks."
"The NDA Begins its
Conference with the Absence of Sadiq and Garang", Al-Hayat,
18 March 1998
27 March 1998 Bishop
Gabriel Roric Jur, Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs, calls on the IGAD countries to pressure the SPLA
into accepting a cease-fire. He states: "IGAD, government
and the rebel SPLA should work to realize a cease-fire so
as to provide a climate which is conducive to making a success
of the talks in the next round." Following talks with
Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir the Catholic Archbishop
of Sudan, Gabriel Zubeir Wako, expresses his desire for
the church to participate in the IGAD peace negotiations.
President Bashir agrees to the request.
Three of the opposition
parties, - the Umma Party, the Democratic Unionist Party
and the Communist Party - express their desire to participate
in the IGAD peace process.
"Politics-Sudan: Catholic
Church to Join Peace Talks", News Article by IPS, 30
March 1998
28 March 1998 President
al-Bashir restates the Khartoum government's commitment
to the IGAD peace process. Speaking to an IGAD delegation,
he added that his government "is serious about reaching
peace".
News Article by Agence France
Presse, 28 March 1998
31 March 1998 The
SPLA rejects the new Sudanese constitution.
News Article by BBC, 31
March, 1998
3 April 1998 Foreign
Minister Dr Mustafa Osman Ismail calls on the international
community to put pressure on the SPLA to agree a cease-fire.
He states: "I want the international community to convince
the rebels of the SPLA to accept the cease-fire arrangement
so that humanitarian aid reaches the poor in rebel-controlled
areas." Ismail also states that the government was
"ready for talks with the rebels."
The visiting Italian foreign
minister also comments: "This is a good step and we
want the SPLA to positively respond to the call for a ceasefire."
He states that the SPLA was laying "obstacles before
the forthcoming negotiations by persistently rejecting a
ceasefire."
"Italian Official in
Sudan to Push for Ceasefire", News Article by Agence
France Presse, 2 April 1998
April 1998 The
Bahr al-Ghazal region is wracked by famine as a result of
the attack on Wau and its consequences. This attack, and
the fighting that followed it, led to a drastic deterioration
in the security and food distribution situation in that
region. The government had also restricted flights into
some contested areas of southern Sudan. Rebel responsibility
in large part for the famine situation was reported on by
CNN in early April 1998 under headlines such as "aid
agencies blame Sudanese rebel who switched sides":
"Observers say much of the recent chaos has resulted
from the actions of one man, Kerubino Kwanying Bol, a founding
member of the rebel movement.He aided rebel forces in sieges
of three government-held towns, which sent people fleeing
into the countryside." Newsweek magazine also
reported that: "Aid workers blame much of the south's
recent anguish on one man: the mercurial Dinka warlord Kerubino
Kuanyin Bol."
"1 million people face
famine in Sudan, Ethiopia", News Article by CNN, April
10, 1998, web posted at 6:04 p.m. EDT (22:04 GMT); Newsweek,
18 May 1998
16 April 1998 Sudanese
Vice-President George Kongor restates the government's support
for all efforts to convince the SPLA to join the peace process.
News Article by SUNA, 18
April 1998
18 April 1998 Cabinet
Affairs Minister Mohammed al-Amin Khalifa affirms the government's
readiness to participate in the forthcoming IGAD peace talks.
He calls on the SPLA to keep to the items of the IGAD-sponsored
peace initiative, and adds that the Khartoum Peace Agreement
has guaranteed the right of self-determination in the south.
News Article by SUNA, 18
April 1998
22 April 1998 First
Vice-President Ali Osman Taha restates his government's
offer of a cease-fire to advance the IGAD peace initiative.
He states that the success or failure of the forthcoming
peace talks was in the hands of the SPLA.
News Article by SUNA, 22
April 1998.
24 April 1998 BBC
journalist Barbara Plett, reporting from Sudan, states:
"What was I to make of signs that Sudan is liberalising.
Was this the beginning of glasnost in Africa's largest state?
The IMF seems to think so.This year it congratulated Khartoum
for carrying out economic reforms and took it off the blacklist.And
political debate is open and fierce. The growing number
of private newspapers freely criticise the government.We
have more political freedoms that almost any other country
in Africa, one university professor told me. The change
in atmosphere from previous visits is truly remarkable."
Barbara Plett, "From
Our Own Correspondent", BBC, 25 April 1998.
26 April 1998 The
Sudanese Foreign Minister states "Sudan's keenness
to participate wholeheartedly in the coming round of peace
talks in Nairobi on the grounds that war has proved to be
an improper means for solving conflicts."
News Article by Reuters,
26 April 1998.
27 April 1998 The
IGAD Peace talks are postponed by the Kenyan host from 4
May to 30 April. A Sudanese army spokesman states: "Intensive
troop concentrations have been monitored on Sudan's southern
borders, poised for an offensive in the coming days."
"Peace Talks Between
Sudanese Government, SPLA Postponed", News Article
by XINHUA, 27 April 1998
1-20 May 1998 Voting
takes place in a referendum on the new constitution.
1 May 1998 The
European Union calls for an immediate cease-fire in Sudan.
It states: "We urge all sides in the dispute to adopt
a positive attitude and come to an agreement at the next
session of the peace talks in Nairobi on May 2-5. In order
to enhance the chances of success of the talks and to end
the suffering of the Sudanese people we call on all parties
to effect an immediate ceasefire."
News Article by Agence France
Press, 1 May 1998
1 May 1998 The
British foreign affairs commentator Jonathan Steele attacks
US intervention in Sudan. Writing in The Guardian
he states: "Welcome to the 1980s. Long live Ronald
Reagan. Remember the scenario - a rebel group being trained
and armed by the CIA to topple a sovereign government, cross-border
incursions from secluded camps, and the whole destabilisation
exercise backed by international sanctions and a massive
propaganda campaign. It sounds like Nicaragua or Angola
circa 1984. In fact it's Sudan 1998 . Sudan's human rights
record is far from brilliant, but this has never been a
reason for US destabilisation elsewhere. The Sudanese government
is no more severe on opposition parties than are the neighbouring
governments of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Uganda which Washington
supports. Sudan respects women's rights far more fully than
Saudi Arabia or the Islamic governments of Iran or Afghanistan."
He further comments that
"The conflict in southern Sudan is not a simple case
of a largely Arab north against a largely Christian south,
since there are numerous ethnic divisions among southerners.
The government in Khartoum has agreed not to impose sharia
law in the southern federal regions set up under the new
constitution. It has offered a referendum on secession.
Desultory peace talks have been held with the rebels of
the SPLA under international auspices, although the last
round was sabotaged by [US Secretary of State] Mrs Albright's
sabre-rattling on the border which emboldened the rebels.The
only hope of preventing famines in the future has to be
peace. Unless the United States takes a neutral position,
drops the double standards and stops arming one side against
the other, the chances of compromise are nil."
Jonathan Steele, "Stop
This War Now: The US Could Remove the Threat of Starvation
for Thousands of Sudanese", The Guardian (London),
1 May 1998
4 May 1998 Sudanese
President Omer al-Bashir offers amnesty to southern rebels
on the eve of peace talks with the SPLA. Bashir urges rebels
to participate in national reconciliation and to "return
to the homeland, the doors of which will always remain open".
News Article by Associated
Press, 4 May 1998
4 May 1998 The
Democratic Unionist Party states that peace talks are no
solution to the Sudanese conflict: "The real solution
to the Sudanese issue lies in blockading the regime, politically
and economically, until it falls."
"Sudan Opposition Group
Says Peace Talks No Solution", News Article by Reuters,
4 May 1998
4-6 May 1998 The
sixth round of IGAD-sponsored peace talks are held in Nairobi.
The government of Sudan and the SPLA agree to hold an internationally-supervised
referendum on self-determination for the south. These talks
falter, however, on the SPLA's continuing insistence on
redrawing the boundaries of what constituted southern Sudan
and on the issue of state and religion.
The Kenyan foreign minister,
Bonaya Godana, states that the government had offered a
cease-fire to enable the delivery of relief food to starving
people in southern Sudan, but the rebels insisted it was
not necessary.
News Article by Associated
Press, May 06, 1998; "Referendum Agreed at Sudan Peace
Talks", News Article by BBC News, 7 May 1998; "Communiqué
by the IGAD Ministerial Sub-Committee Meeting on The South
Sudan Conflict Held From 4th to 6th
May 1998, Nairobi, Kenya", IGAD, Nairobi, Kenya
7 May 1998 The
SPLA declare the Nairobi peace talks to have been a failure.
They play down the significance of the agreement on a referendum
on self-determination for southern Sudan, claiming it did
not address the fundamental issues of the war.
"SPLA Brands Nairobi
Peace Talks a Failure", News Article by Agence France
Presse, 7 May 1998; "SPLA Plays Down Deal on Referendum
in Southern Sudan', News Article by BBC News, 7 May 1998
7 May 1998 The
Sudanese Foreign Minister states that the government was
fully committed to a referendum on self-determination in
south Sudan and would accept the south becoming a sovereign
state: He declares: "If the south wants to secede and
live as a sovereign state then let us live as good neighbours."
Dr Riek Machar, President
of the Southern Coordinating Council, who had been present
during the recent round of peace talks, states that: "The
government is saying 'yes' to self-determination, 'yes'
to international observers and 'yes' the referendum should
be about unity or secession. The solution to the war has
been reached.Let us go and work out the remaining interim
arrangements."
"Focus-Sudan Says Happy
for South to Secede", News Article by Reuters, 7 May
1998
9 May 1998 A
leader of the National Democratic Alliance opposition, former
prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, criticises the offer made
by the government of Sudan of a referendum on self-determination
for southern Sudan: "secession by the south in current
conditions will damage the north and the south, and will
mean the continuation of hostilities."
"'Nairobi Peace Plan
for Sudan will Aggravate Civil War': Former PM", News
Article by Reuters, 9 May 1998
10 May 1998 The
proposed Sudanese constitution is attacked by conservative
Islamist groups in Sudan. The Muslim Brothers group denounce
the proposed constitution for including a number of clauses
that compromise Islamic laws such as having placed Islamic
laws on an equal footing with customary laws and for having
permitted non-Muslims to hold top political posts in the
country. The group rejected clauses which state that any
citizen, whether a Muslim or not, has the right to contest
presidential elections: "The head of state must be
Moslem, because there is no room in Islam for infidels to
rule over Moslems." These objections are over-ruled
by the constitution's drafters.
"Sudan: Radical Islamic
Groups Reject Proposed Constitution", News Article
by IPS, 10 May 1998.
20 May 1998 The
rebel SPLA launches an offensive that seizes government
garrisons in Wadega, Guffa, Abaldugu, Melkan, Sama'a and
Nila. SPLA commander Majak d'Agoot states: "We've really
hit them on a sensitive spot. We have captured areas we
have not held before. We are in a maximum state of alert
and are preparing for other advances."
"Sudan Civil War Enters
New Phase as Rebels Capture Key Garrisons", News Article
by The Daily Telegraph (London), 20 May 1998
26 May 1998 BBC
journalist Martin Dawes, reporting from famine-affected
areas of southern Sudan, states that the SPLA had rejected
a government offer of cease-fire. He declares: "For
the fighters the threat of mass starvation is not sufficient
reason to stop."
29 May 1998 Sudanese
President Omer al-Bashir renews an offer of amnesty for
all armed rebels in southern Sudan. He states that given
the 1997 Peace Agreement there was no need for continued
conflict.
"Bashir for Pardoning
Rebels in the South", News Article by ArabicNews.com,
29 May 1998
31 May 1998 The
Speaker of the Sudanese Parliament, Dr Hassan al-Turabi,
meeting with a visiting American congressman, stated that:
"The real humanitarian aid for the people affected
by the war in south Sudan is to bolster efforts for ending
the war and achieving peace."
June 1998 The
new constitution is adopted.
June 1998 Commenting
on the new Sudanese constitution, the Speaker of the Sudanese
Parliament, Dr Hassan al-Turabi,
"Of course, Sudan has
a rich experience in constitutional practice. We have tried
everything - democracy, dictatorship, Parliamentary and
Presidential systems, centralised and decentralised systems.
You name it, we have tried it. Let me.compare our new Constitution
to those in other African and Arab countries.Under our Constitution,
the law may regulate the manner of preaching and debate
- the avoidance of public disorder must always be an important
concern: [England has] similar restrictions. Fanaticism
must be discouraged whenever it tends to a breach of the
peace. But the law cannot suppress religious opinion.It
is even permissible to criticise Islam - so long as such
expressions of opinion remain peaceable.In parenthesis,
though let me say that we Sudanese are not by nature fanatical
about our religious views. We hold our religious views very
strongly at time. But this is by no means the same thing.
I can therefore say that our laws on religious liberty are
more liberal in every respect than those in every other
Islamic country - more so even than in those countries that
describe themselves as secular. Indeed, in some respects
we even compare well with England. We have no religious
test whatever for any office. The President may be a Muslim.
He may be a Christian. He may believe in one of the native
religions that exist in the south. Under the [British] Act
of Settlement, the Queen must be a communicant of the Church
of England. If she converts to Catholicism - let along Islam
- she forfeits her Crown. She is also Head of the English
Church, for [Britain] is not a state in which religion and
politics are separate. We have nothing similar to this."
Reflections on the New
Constitution for Sudan: An Interview with Dr Hassan al-Turabi,
Speaker of the Sudanese Parliament,
The Sudan Foundation, London, June 1998
6 June 1998 Dr
Riek Machar, head of the Southern Coordinating Council expressed
his wish to meet with SPLA leader John Garang in order to
help with forthcoming negotiations between the Government
of Sudan and the rebels.
News Article by ArabicNews.com,
6 June 1998
8 June 1998 Rebels
kill three members of a UN-led relief team and wound four
others in an attack in the Nuba mountains. The Sudan Council
of Voluntary Agencies condemn the murders of the World Food
Programme and Sudanese Red Crescent workers.
"Three Relief Workers
Killed in Sudan's Nuba Mountains", News Article by
Agence France Presse, 10 June 1998
9 June 1998 SPLA
leader John Garang says that he rejected an offer to make
peace with the Sudanese government. Garang had met with
his former deputy Riek Machar in the northern Ugandan town
of Gulu. Garang pressed his former comrade to rejoin the
rebels: Machar said that was "out of the question,
particularly as the Khartoum peace agreement has fulfilled
all the demands of south Sudan".
"Sudanese Rebel Leader
Garang Snubs Ex-Deputy's Peace Overture", News Article
by Agence France Presse, 9 June 1998; "Sudan Ally Hails
'Positive' Talks With Rebel Chief", News Article by
Reuters, 10 June 1998
10 June 1998 The
Nuer-Dinka Loki Accord is signed in an attempt to settle
conflict between the two tribes.
15 June 1998 The
Sudanese government calls on the United Nations to press
the SPLA to end the war in the south. First Vice-President
Ali Osman Taha says that "the removal of the reasons
of the war represent the comprehensive solution to the suffering
of women and children".
News Article by Reuters,
15 June 1998
15 June 1998 Dr
Riek Machar, head of the Southern Coordination Council,
expresses his hope to hold a discussion meeting with SPLA
leader John Garang in order to pave the way for forthcoming
IGAD negotiations in Addis Ababa in August.
Machar also appeals to the
United Nations to put pressure on Garang to join the peace
process and complains that the SPLA is yet again recruiting
child soldiers in the Bahr al-Ghazal area.
"Mashar Hoping for
a New Meeting With Garang", News Article by ArabicNews.com,
15 June 1998; "Sudan Appeals for UN Help to Realise
Peace", News Article by PANA, 15 June 1998
15 June 1998 US
Congressman Tony Hall reveals that the Sudanese government
had agreed to his suggestion official monitors to observe
any cease fire.
"US Rep Urges Sudan
Cease Fire", News Article by Associated Press, 15 June
1998
11 July 1998 Dr
Riek Machar, the President of the Southern Coordination
Council, outlined the role of the Council: "It is the
government for the South. It is entrusted with the resolution
of the government apparatus of the ten states. It does planning,
social, economic planning. It is also responsible for maintenance
and security. It is responsible for the development of the
South. It is responsible for the rehabilitation of schools,
roads, health services. It is a government. It is also supported
by an Advisory Council, which shall be announced soon. The
Advisory Council's work would be to improve on the legislation
process in the ten states of the South and coordinate that
process.Maintenance of peace also means that we must continue
the negotiations with the remaining faction that has not
joined the peace process.It is only through negotiations
that we can resolve the conflict in Sudan."
"Sudan Looks Ahead
to Peace and National Development. Interview: Dr Riek Machar",
Executive Intelligence Review, 24 July 1998
at www.aboutsudan.com
15 July 1998 The
Sudanese government declared a cease-fire to assist with
humanitarian assistance to famine-affected areas of southern
Sudan. Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail states: "We
hope the position of the rebel movement will develop into
an overall ceasefire and declaration of its commitment to
negotiation as the sole means for resolving the south Sudan
problem." Ali al-Haj Mohammed, a government peace negotiator,
stated that: "We have been asking for a ceasefire but
the stumbling block has been the SPLA. We would like the
ceasefire to give us time to negotiate security arrangements
and power sharing. These are issues of peace we would like
to discuss with the SPLA.to stop the war."
"Sudanese Government
Accepts One-Month Truce", News Article by Agence France
Presse, 15 July 1998; "Sudan Ceasefire: Government
Responds", News Article by BBC, 16 July 1998
15 July 1998 The
SPLA leader states that the Sudanese government must be
removed by military or political means.
"SPLA Leader Garang
Says Khartoum's Government 'Must be Removed'", News
Article by DPA, 15 August 1998
21 July 1998 The
Roman Catholic Bishop of the starvation-affected diocese
of Rumbek, Monsignor Caesar Mazzolari, stated that the SPLA
were stealing 65 percent of the food aid going into rebel-held
areas of southern Sudan. Agence France Presse also reported
that: "Much of the relief food going to more than a
million famine victims in rebel-held areas of southern Sudan
is ending up in the hands of the Sudan People's Liberation
Army (SPLA), relief workers said."
'Aid for Sudan Ending Up With SPLA: Relief
Workers', News Article by Agence France Presse, 21 July,
1998
22 July 1998 The
President of the Southern Coordination Council, Dr Riek
Machar, urges John Garang and the SPLA to present in writing
his differences with the Sudanese government position regarding
peace negotiations: "[W]e, as a government negotiating
party, have made clear our position with regards to those
issues while Garang has not pronounced his attitude until
now."
"Khartoum Tells Rebels
to be Clear on Controversial Issues", News Article
by Agence France Presse, 22 July 1998
30 July 1998 The Sudanese
Ambassador to the United Nations, Fatih Erwa, outlines how
his government is seeking to address Sudan's humanitarian
crisis: "(T)his problem is a political problem. And
the government is seeking a peaceful solution through negotiations.
The government has offered cease-fire to allow the humanitarian
assistance to go to the south before this late agreement,
and this was even last May the government offered and the
rebels refused to do that. Now, when this has come through
an initiative from the Kenyan president, the rebels accepted
it, Sudan, the Sudanese government accepted it willingly,
and we're ready to extend it any time. Over and above, we
are offering now a permanent cease-fire until we finish
the peace talks.and we offered that there should be a self-determination
from the south. If the southerners, they want independence,
they can go an independent state, if they want one united
Sudan, it's their own will and free will to do that. This
was our government's policy, and we are ready even today
for a permanent cease-fire until we finish the peace negotiations."
"Sudan's Troubles",
Online Newshour with Jim Lehrer, 30 July 1998 available
at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/july-dec98/sudan_7-30.html
4 August 1998 In a letter
to the Sudanese President, the Secretary-General of the
United Nations noted the government's measures to address
the ongoing famine in southern Sudan: "The decision
taken by your Government to expand aircraft clearance for
Operation Lifeline Sudan to increase its access to people
in dire need is commendable. I was also encouraged by the
agreement reached on the three-month cease-fire in Bahr
al Ghazal. I was particularly gratified by the declaration
of your Government this morning to extend it unilaterally
to cover all of southern Sudan."
4-6 August 1998 The seventh
round of IGAD peace talks are held in Nairobi. In a statement
at the beginning of the talks the Khartoum government declares
a unilateral and comprehensive cease-fire. The issue of
self-determination is returned to at these talks. It is
suggested by the SPLA that the question of self-determination
for the Nuba Mountains and Ingessana Hills should not be
an obstacle to southern self-determination. The SPLA did
insist on the inclusion of Abyei within what they considered
southern Sudan for purposes of any referendum. On other
issues, the government offers a federal system while the
SPLA insisted on a "confederal" system.
Communiqué by the IGAD Ministerial Sub-Committee
Meeting on South Sudan Conflict Held From 4th -
6th August 1998 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia",
IGAD, Addis Ababa, 7 August 1998
