by Askia Muhammad
White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com)�Despite continuing "icy" rhetoric on both sides, the climate for peace in Sudan may be warming up, even as the calendar changes from winter to spring.

In Khartoum, Sudanese and American officials signed the fourth and final point of an agreement March 10 that was brokered by President George Bush�s special envoy�former U.S. Senator John Danforth�to begin a peace process to end the 19-year-old civil war.

In Washington, after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, rebel leader John Garang told reporters, "I believe there is a window of opportunity for the peace process in the Sudan to move forward" to end the conflict. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher described the talks as "good" and "interesting."

The government of Sudan considers the signing of the agreement, the fourth and final point set down in Sen. Danforth�s initiative, "an historic precursor to the declaration of a comprehensive cease-fire and the commencement of a serious process that will lead to peace for all the people of Sudan," the Embassy of Sudan said in a statement following the agreement.

But Dr. Garang was far less conciliatory. "I don�t have any confidence in that regime. They have always violated all agreements that they have signed," he said.

The agreement was forged after the United States angrily suspended contacts between Mr. Danforth and the Khartoum government to protest the bombing of civilian targets and sites of humanitarian aid operations in rebel-controlled areas of southern Sudan.

Mr. Garang called the Islamic Sudanese government "a dangerous regime, and we want the American people to know that the pain that they felt and still feel as a result of the September 11 events, we feel this pain, and we have been feeling this pain, as jihad has been meted on us, ever since this regime came to power."

Sudanese government officials deny that they are religious extremists or that they have any links to the deposed Taliban or to the so-called al-Qaeda "terrorist network." They also deny issuing any religious edicts, or proclaimed a "jihad," so-called "holy war" against southern Sudanese, or any of the country�s 30 million people.

"What he says makes no sense. Either he doesn�t know what the word �jihad� means, or he wants to use the word jihad to draw the sympathy of the fundamentalist Christians in this country, who are actually the only ones forming the backbone of his support," Ambassador Abdel Bagi Kabeir of the Sudanese embassy told The Final Call when asked about Dr. Garang�s charges.

Independent observers of African affairs agree.

"I wasn�t surprised about the way he decided to frame his visit, his emphasis on the jihad of the northern government, emphasis on the bin Laden connection, an emphasis essentially on terrorism," said Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, which hosted a press conference for Dr. Garang in Washington.

"I think it�s somewhat unfortunate but not uncommon that in other parts of the world movements or governments trying get the attention of the United States are trying to frame their issues in line with the U.S. war on terrorism," Mr. Booker told The Final Call, when asked if Dr. Garang�s comments are simply "pandering" to appeal to an alarmed U.S. audience.

"I think that�s unfortunate because I think the Sudanese democratic struggle could stand on its own merits. That�s usually what (Dr.) Garang does emphasize, but clearly he�s receiving various kinds of advice and decided to pitch it that way."

The SPLA leader�s comments and tone are not helpful to the peace process, however, warned another Africa-watcher.

"He�s not talking about peace. He�s talking about war," Melvin Foote, president constituency for Africa, told The Final Call. "Unfortunately the battle goes on between those who want to keep the war going and those who want to end the war. He hasn�t come here on a mission of peace. He hasn�t come here on a mission of �How do we negotiate an end to this, and what role will America play to help us to make sure it�s sustained?� There�s an opportunity being missed here."

During his negotiations with the warring sides, Mr. Danforth offered four proposals to which the government has now agreed: a truce in the Nuba Mountains in order to allow food aid to reach civilians there; the establishment of "zones and times of tranquility" to allow humanitarian efforts, particularly immunizations, on specific dates at specific places; an end to the abduction of civilians (also known as the slave trade); and an end to bombing and shelling of civilian populations.

Likening his movement to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, Dr. Garang, however, offered his own four-point plan for settling the civil war, and for driving the current government in Khartoum out of power in the process. Those points include armed struggle, pressure of Intifada-like popular uprisings, continued international pressure and a negotiated political settlement.

"These are four pressures that will work in any situation against an undemocratic, a Taliban-type regime. In the Sudan, political negotiations should result in the peaceful dismantling of the apartheid regime in the Sudan, just as it happened in South Africa. It should not be for reconciliation with the regime. It should not be within the context of an Islamic-Arab state, but negotiations in order to make a transition to the new Sudan," he said.

Photo: Sudanese rebel leader John Garang (left) and Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, at Washington press conference.
Credit: Askia Muhammad