RUMBEK, Sudan, Jan. 23 -- Southern Sudanese women wearing skirts made from plastic bags sang victory songs as they waited for their leader's plane to touch the tarmac.
Scouts in khaki outfits shooed goats off the runway. And barefoot children climbed onto a rusted-out plane, clasped hands and chanted: "Our guns are crying no longer. We are at peace."
John Garang, top left, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, steps behind a cow that was slaughtered as a peace offering at the Rumbek airport. At left, Sudanese celebrate his arrival and the end of 21 years of war.
(Karel Prinsloo -- AP)
|
_____Crisis in Sudan_____
•
Q&A: Darfur A brief explanation of the issues and current humanitarian situation in Western Sudan.
•
Photos: Continuing Crisis
•
Photos: Sudan's Rebels
•
Annan Urges Action on Darfur at U.N. Commemoration of Holocaust (The Washington Post, Jan 25, 2005)
•
U.S., Europe Debate Venue for Darfur Trials (The Washington Post, Jan 21, 2005)
•
Sudan, Southern Rebels Sign Accord to End Decades of War (The Washington Post, Jan 10, 2005)
•
Powell Sidesteps Question About Sudan Genocide (The Washington Post, Jan 9, 2005)
•
Sudanese Leaders, Southern Rebels Finish Peace Deal (The Washington Post, Jan 1, 2005)
|
| |
|
After 21 years of fighting between the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army and the Islamic government, John Garang, the rebel leader, returned Saturday to the group's headquarters in Rumbek, 560 miles south of the capital, Khartoum, after signing a peace deal two weeks ago in neighboring Kenya.
"It feels great after a peace agreement -- honorable and dignified," said Garang, whose once wild beard was now trimmed. "You can see the people are very happy."
The accord between the government and the rebels based in the mostly animist and Christian south ends a war that left 2 million people dead, primarily from famine and disease, and 4 million homeless.
The agreement gives the south religious autonomy and a share of the country's oil riches. After a six-year interim period of self-rule, residents of the south will vote in a referendum on whether to remain part of Sudan or secede. The agreement also calls for Garang to become Sudan's first vice president, and his swearing in as part of an attempt to unify the government is expected within months.
But the deal, signed Jan. 9, does not cover an unrelated conflict festering in Sudan's western region of Darfur, where tens of thousands have died and nearly 2 million people have been driven from their farms and into crowded camps.
"We will work for peace for Darfur," Garang said later at a rally. "We cannot have peace in one part of the country and war in another."
Analysts said Garang, who has been accused by the government of backing rebels in Darfur, could play an important role in bringing peace to that region.
After the rally, a visiting U.N. envoy, Jan Pronk, said he hoped Garang would use his influence to bring peace to Darfur.
"Let's just hope they come to peace in a shorter period," Pronk said.
At a news conference Sunday, Garang said his movement, known as the SPLA, could help solve the Darfur crisis. "We know the Khartoum government, and we know the rebel parties," he said. "There needs to be a fair and just settlement in Darfur. The SPLA will be helpful on all sides to do what it can do."
Fighting in Darfur started in February 2003 when African rebel groups took up arms against the government, demanding greater representation and economic development. The government has accused the rebels of using civilians as human shields and responded by bombing villages and arming an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed.
The Darfur conflict has made many countries uneasy about investing in the south, which was expecting to bring in revenue from its oil resources.
