OpenLine Blog On The DarFur Crisis and Visit To Sudan

Thursday, April 19, 2007

8:30 A.M. Up very early. Assessing my week thus far. We are scheduled to visit the National Assembly Building to talk with the leadership of the National Parliament and take a 2-hour boat ride up the Nile River.

10:30 A.M. We arrive at the National Assembly building for our scheduled meeting. We meet representatives from the Darfur region and Southern Sudan. They all talk about the unity in the government to resolve any differences and that stress that the government of Sudan is doing the best it can under the circumstances to resolve the crisis in Darfur and they repeat the already established talking points about Darfur. It was a good meeting. Lots of information exchanged, especially from former Ambassador to the U.S. from Sudan, Mandi Ibrahim Muhammad, who explained in detail the how the crisis in Darfur developed. You can hear former Ambassador Ibrahim Muhammad’s presentation in National Assembly for the delegation by clicking here. Here is a partial transcription of that presentation:

[Sudan]. . . is not only the microcosm of Africa it is also one of the most promising countries in this part of the world. But it is the most complex as well. 573 ethnic groups, over 400 dialects, Islam, Christianity, and all African religions, 2.5 million Square kilometers l[and mass], extending from latitude four of the equator to parallel 2 ----- with nine African neighbors with open boundaries --- Somewhere around 8400 plus kilometers of boundaries. It is an enormous responsibility on any government to be able to deal with such a country with such diversity. Unfortunately, the war in the South started before the full assumption of power of the Sudanese. The transfer of power was not yet realized in Sudan, the war started in August of 1955 and our independence won on the 1st of January 1956. It just tells that this war is not a Sudanese war . . . its an introduction of the foreign powers that was still in control of the country. The British . . . they created the atmosphere . . . .they built certain regions in the Sudan called the closed districts, the South, the Juba Mountains, the Blue Nile areas. They called them the closed districts . . .Where they were able to fully control those areas in isolation from other parts of the country so that ultimately they become time bombs to the countries independence. So this is a machination and the making of a foreign power. People fight over land, property and power that's natural. But it is very sad to see a war started before the country is fully independent. And it tells . . . in every possible way . . . that this is the formation of a foreign power. What is happening in Darfur . . . has been happening in the Middle East . . .is a reflection of that as well. Today and some years back, (if you are a rebel group) you would be able to see Pres Bush . . . .but if you are the President of the Sudan  . . .you will never have that [opportunity]. Is that normal? Who would ever dare to say that is normal.  All the leaders of the rebellion in the South were able to see President Bush. . . No one in the Sudan administration was able to do it [see Pres. Bush]. That is open intervention in the affairs of this country, Sudan [and also] . . .Angola, Zaire Congo, South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt. These six countries in Africa . . .if they are allowed to stabilize, to use their full resources, human and material resources, . . . .they would be able to lift Africa into new heights. And Africa would stabilize. And Africa would no longer be a continent whose valuable resources can be extracted for the interest of the foreigners whose enormous markets of 800 million consumers would be only available for foreign. . . its natural resources and its enormous human resources. The destabilization that you have been witnessing for two and a half centuries  . . . and that might continue is because of that. If we as Africans fail to unite and fail to end the wars and the conflicts in each country between this country and the other . . . and we fail to move in their direction of democracy of rebuilding and reconstruction. If we fail to do that, if we consume our human and natural resources in fighting each other there is no way for the future of the country of this continent (Africa). But I tell you no country has been destabilized like Sudan. For the last 50 years we've only had 10 years of stability the war between the North and South . . . .we could not be stable because of the war in Darfur. Darfur has been fighting for centuries between tribes. There were problems that could be surmounted by the chiefs of the tribes.  What has made Durfur a crisis is the international intervention, internationalizing of Darfur. Taking the conflict out of its context has made it like that. As a former ambassador [to the U.S.] . .  when I met your President Clinton . . . and they were saying you in Sudan have the war between the North and South. If you reach a settlement, if you sign a peaceful agreement. . . we will lift the sanctions and will lift Sudan from the countries harboring terrorists. And I tell you about the second one . . . .terrorists. For the last 17 years terrorists  in many neighboring countries . . . countries that are friendly to the U.S. ---- African and the Arab world . . Asia . . .Many countries which are friendly to the U.S. . . .we have seen terrorists attacking Americans. . . .bombing their embassies. . . killing American and European individuals. . .  Abducting some of their citizens. Not a single incident for the last 17 years has happened here in Sudan against any American or European . . . .yet Sudan is one of the countries harboring terrorists. . . . and we've never been listed [removed] from the list of countries harboring terrorists. Even the CIA has been saying we've been cooperating fully against terrorism. They promise that once Sudan signs an agreement between North and South . . . they are going to lift the economic sanctions.  . .And allow normal relations between the two countries. We signed that agreement. We signed another agreement that once peace comes to Darfur . . . we signed an agreement in May last year . . . but we remain on the list. . . Each year they raise the bar higher and higher and fail to realize their promise. The destabilization of this countryis deliberate . .. it’s not casual. Because Sudan can be the United States of Africa with its enormous oil reservoir . . . with its strategic minerals . . .with its largest arable land on the continent . . with huge share of rain fall and underground water . . .with its strategic position that links central Africa with the Middle East. . . . Sudan with its vital and vibrant society . . .can become the United States of Africa. And I'm sorry to see that our African brothers in America have been used as we have been used to destroy one of the promises of Africa ----- Sudan. We are all victims to the mass media propaganda. Talked about Sudan is supposed to be ruined with sanctions isolation from Western posers US and Great Britain. Today Sudan is among the 10 top countries of economic growth. Besides the sanctions and alienation and wars. What you expect if this country is free from wars and fighting and economic sanctions. What do you expect?  We are going to be a United States of Africa. All its neighbors --- 9 country neighbors. . . Refuge. . .Open borders. At each border we share the same ethnic groups. Economic growth will not only be hailed by Sudanese but by its neighbors as well. And we will go beyond our borders. The foreign powers are not going to encourage a country that is going to behave like that in Africa. They want to destroy every promising example in Africa. So we need you from there [USA] to pass a sobering message to our brothers and sisters in the U.S. . . to know that destroying Sudan is destroying the future of Africa. Open to all delegations . . .we will keep moving forward however . . . the pressure might be.

[Former Ambassador Mandi Ibrahim Muhammad]

 

1:00 P.M. We leave the National Assembly meeting and head to the boating dock to board our cruise up the Nile with Sudanese journalists. As we head to dock for the boat ride, we again take a slight detour to visit the site of the U.S. missile attack in August 1998 against what the Sudan government calls a “pharmaceutical factory”. You may recall that President Clinton order the missile strike in retaliation for the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, claiming that the Sudan plant was being used to make chemical weapons at the bequest of Osama Bin Laden, the terrorist leader. We tour the site of the attack and witness firsthand the devastation caused by the U.S. missile attack. We leave the site of the attack shaking our collective heads. On our way out of the destroyed plant, we observe two generations of women living on the plant grounds with children. We arrive at the dock and board the boat for the cruise. There are no other journalists on board the boat. I guess the Sudanese journalists could not find the boat. We cruise up the Nile. We listen to a band playing traditional Sudanese music. A few members of our delegation start dancing and having lots of fun, including James Mtume. Can you believe that? Brother Mtume can boogie down. I did not know the brother could dance so well. A very cool, Mtume.

4:00 P.M. The cruise comes to an end and we return to our hotel. Time to get ready for the return trip home and assess our trip and our findings.