Related articles and links |  1 of 3

There certainly was reason for rejoicing last week when Sudan's Muslim-Arabic controlled government based in the north and rebels (Sudanese People's Liberation Army) from the largely Christian/animist south signed a historic peace agreement in Kenya after months of negotiations.

After the signing, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "The people of Sudan can now hope for a new future of peace and prosperity. The United States is deeply committed to assist in the implementation of the peace agreement and in the process of reconstruction and development."

The agreement set the terms for a political power-sharing transitional government and the status of three disputed regions in the south. The accord also provides for a split in oil revenues, the maintenance of separate armies with integrated forces deployed in strategic areas and a future referendum allowing southerners to decide whether to remain part of the country or break away.

Africa's longest running civil war has claimed more than 2 million lives—mostly civilians who died from famine and disease—and displaced over 4 million.

Sudanese Christians have been caught in the crossfire of the civil war with many being tortured, raped and killed. Christian villages, churches, schools and hospitals in the south have often been attacked, bombed and burned. The south has been devastated, making Sudan one of the poorest countries in the world.

While the peace accord is certainly good news for a country where atrocities, starvation and bloody fighting have become a way of life, the agreement seems to raise more questions than it answers. Questions as:

• Can agreement on the details of a permanent ceasefire, including provisions for international peacekeepers, be reached during final talks, which resume June 22?
• Will the armed militias—as many as 30—that were excluded from the agreement step up fighting in order to have their own grievances addressed? A civil war lasting over 17 years between Ugandan troops and the Lord's Resistance Army based in lawless areas of southern Sudan is another source of instability.
• Will the Islamic government in the north really allow the oil-rich south to vote on independence after a six-year transition?
• Will the conflict in the western Darfur region of Sudan, which the United Nations has classified as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, be addressed? The Darfur fighting has resulted in 30,000 deaths and displacement of 1 million people as rebels from the region, mainly black Africans, clash with government-backed Arab militiamen. The May 26 agreement did not speak to this separate civil war.

The answers to these and other questions are not apparent now. It will take time to put the peace plan into effect. However, many Christians in the south remain wary of whether the government is really committed to permanent peace. And with good reason.

After all, in 1986 the Government of Sudan decided to Islamize the nation; introducing Shari'ah law and declaring a jihad (holy war) on Christians. Since then, Christians have been terrorized. Children and women have been sold as sex slaves. Christian students have been kidnapped and taken to attend schools in the north where they are forced to convert to Islam.

Due to the persecution in the south, Sudan is ranked No. 15 on Open Doors' World Watch List, which rates countries where Christians suffer most for their faith.

While there are some hopeful signs the persecution will ease under the new agreement, many Sudanese Christians expect the persecution to continue in some form or another during the six-year transitional period. Under the accord, Sharia law will remain in effect in the north.

next page... |  1 of 3

May (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48