Revival of Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative

Libya’s Minister for African Unity, Ali Abd al-Salam Turayki, said on Sunday that his country wants to revive the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative to end the Sudanese conflict.
He told reporters that he had discussed "reactivating the Egyptian-Libyan initiative to achieve unity in Sudan" with Egyptian President Husni Mubarak, AFP reported.

The joint initiative, launched in 1999, aims to end the Sudanese civil war, but omits discussion of the principle of self-determination, which the Libyans and Egyptians fear would pave the way towards secession, and the equally important issue for southern Sudanese of the relationship between religion and state.

Although tentatively accepted by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in July 2001, with preconditions attached, such as adding the principle of self-determination, the initiative is unpopular among southern Sudanese, says the multinational advocacy organisation International Crisis Group (ICG) in its latest report on Sudan, issued in January 2002.

"Given the extreme unpopularity of the joint initiative in the south, the SPLA could not fully support it without major changes, such as inclusion of the self-determination and religion issues or a linkage to the [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development] IGAD process."

"It was designed largely to undercut support for the IGAD Declaration of Principles and its emphasis on self-determination," ICG stated.

Even southern Sudanese members of the Khartoum government were against the initiative, helping to organise a rally in Khartoum in July 2001 to demand its inclusion of the self-determination issue, ICG noted.

The joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative is one of a number of separate and competing peace initiatives aiming to end the Sudanese conflict, the longest running being that of IGAD, followed by a bilateral effort by Eritrea, a Nigerian initiative, and supplementary efforts by the US and other European nations.