US gets agreement on attacks against civilians

The United States says it has secured agreement from the government of Sudan and southern rebels to ensure the protection of civilians against military attack. "We now have an agreement... that will permit, we hope, more secure humanitarian activity in Sudan, and allow discussions on the way forward in the peace process," the State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said at a press briefing on Monday. According to Boucher, agreement was reached with the Sudanese government last week, and the deal was endorsed by the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) over the weekend. The agreement is to be monitored by two teams of monitors: one, for the north, in Khartoum, and the other in southern Sudan, probably near the SPLM/A base in the town of Rumbek, Lakes (Buhayrat) State, United Press International (UPI) quoted State Department officials as saying. "The Sudanese government has agreed to an international monitoring mechanism to assure that the agreement is complied with, and that will go forward as well," Boucher said. The agreement opens the way for the US to resume peace discussions with Khartoum, which Washington suspended in February following an attack by a government of Sudan helicopter gunship on a relief centre at the village of Bieh, western Upper Nile (Wahdah, or Unity State), in which at least 24 people were killed (more than 47 met their deaths, according to some reports). The Sudanese government had offered an explanation and apology for the attack, and efforts were now being made to prevent similar incidents, according to Boucher. He said last week that the US had received a letter from Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma'il in which the Sudanese government acknowledged the tragedy at Bieh, and indicated concrete steps it intended to take to ensure there was no repeat - "including moving the approval process for all military flights to the Khartoum military command". An undertaking to end attacks on civilians was one of four confidence-building measures proposed by the US peace envoy to Sudan, John Danforth, in November. The other three concerned: the creation of zones and times of tranquillity (throughout Sudan) in which humanitarian assistance could be offered to vulnerable populations; an end to the taking of slaves; and an internationally monitored cease-fire in the Nuba Mountains region of south-central Sudan. Bringing an end to attacks on civilians has proved to be the most contentious of Danforth's proposals, with the Sudanese government saying it would only end such attacks if the rebel SPLM/A suspended its own military activity. The rebel movement has repeatedly indicated its unwillingness to accept a global cease-fire in the absence of a comprehensive peace settlement. According to the Sudanese government, the scope of the US proposal has now been widened to include all forms of attacks on civilians by both the government and rebels (rather than focusing on aerial bombing, carried out by government forces). "The proposal is a comprehensive one that covers protection from war-related harm, of not only civilians but also civilian installations and other civilian aspects," AFP news agency on Sunday quoted Sudanese Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Mutrif Siddiq as saying. According to Boucher, the agreement on attacks on civilians meant the Sudanese government was now making progress on all four of Danforth's proposals. "It is the fourth point that he [Danforth] was looking for agreement on. So that completes his initial effort to get an agreement on those four points and to monitor their implementation," Boucher said.