Washington, October 18: The Obama administration plans to announce a new Sudan policy on Monday that deepens engagement with Khartoum but also applies renewed pressure, in a move cautiously welcomed by advocacy groups.
The New York Times reported that the policy shift, set to be unveiled by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top officials, will include dialogue with Sudan’s leadership and firm deadlines on fulfilling promises made under a 2005 deal with rebels from southern Sudan.
“It appears to have many of the right elements … and now, what we’ll focus on is implementation,” said Save Darfur coalition president Jerry Fowler.
“The press reports have indicated that they will have a balance of incentives and pressures, so that was at the core of what were asking for,” he said, adding it was also important for the plan to address all of Sudan’s crises.
President Barack Obama’s administration has come under growing pressure from groups like Save Darfur, a coalition of over 100 organizations, to clarify how it intends to end violence in the western Sudan region of Darfur.
His administration began a review of its Sudan policy in March, but faces a complicated situation that includes ongoing tension over a 2005 peace agreement between Khartoum and southern Sudan that has not been fully implemented.
Sudanese President Omar Beshir is also the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in March, accusing him of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile, Obama’s special envoy on Sudan, Scott Gration, has come under fire for proceeding too cautiously.
He sparked a firestorm last month by suggesting that “psychological stuff,” rather than a credible fear of violence, had kept civilians from returning to their homes — comments one group called “incredibly offensive.”
But Fowler told AFP on Saturday that activists do not want to see Gration go — the appointment of a special US envoy for Sudan was among their top goals — they simply want a clear expression of US policy toward Khartoum.
“My particular position is that their policy has been unclear,” he said, expressing hope the administration would provide a clear way forward on Monday.
While some activists have expressed concern that the Obama administration will seek to engage with Beshir’s government, perhaps with an eye to improving cooperation in fighting violent extremist militants, Fowler said dialogue was not the problem.
“I don’t think the issue is engagement, or non-engagement, I think the issue is the terms of the engagement,” he said.
“I hope that this strategy makes clear that the terms are a balance of incentives and pressures and that incentives will be in exchange for concrete and lasting progress, and that progress needs to be on all the issues.”
Fowler said he will also be looking for a strong commitment by Obama to speak publicly about Darfur, but also to use diplomatic encounters to privately cajole key international players to support the US approach.
“For example, when he goes to China in November, Sudan needs to be on the agenda because of China’s important relationship with Sudan,” he said.
The Asian giant has become the biggest foreign player in Sudan’s oil sector and gets five percent of its crude oil from the African nation.
“There’s still conflict,” said Fowler, cautioning that Darfur’s population remains at risk, despite a drop in the overall level of violence.
“The situation has changed, but what hasn’t changed is the vulnerability of these people.”
The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in Darfur rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in February 2003.
The government says only around 10,000 people have been killed.
–Agencies