[Episcopal News Service]
On July 20 the government of the Sudan and the main opposition party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, signed an agreement that offers the first glimpse of peace after several decades of a devastating civil war that has claimed the lives of an estimated two million people and forced another four million to abandon their homes.
'The Machakos Protocol represents a significant step toward peace in Sudan,' said the Rev. Harum Ruun of the New Sudan Council of Churches. 'We encourage the parties to involve their people in understanding and feeling ownership of the protocol and future agreements.'
The protocol tackles such thorny issues as the separation of religion and the state (the north is Islamic and the south is a mixture of Christians and animists) and includes the right to self-determination by the people in the south. But there was no agreement on how to share income from the oil fields, many of them in the south. A second round of talks in Kenya will address continuing issues. A key component in the agreement calls for a referendum within six years.
Since the protocol is not a comprehensive cease-fire, the fighting continues and some reports claimed that the government was still attacking villages in the south. 'We are optimistic that, in the long term, can bring a halt to the tragedy of the civil war and make a real difference to the lives of the Sudanese people,' said Dan Silvey, senior policy officer for Christian Aid.
Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey said that he was 'pleased and encouraged by the recent progress that has been made towards peace in Sudan. Any durable resolution of the conflict will need to deal honestly with such issues as religious freedom for all and self-determination, and I am heartened that this reality has been embraced by those involved in the negotiations.' Carey has made several high-profile visits to Sudan to express his support for the suffering Christian community in the south.
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