Crocker says US not ready for peace process

The man the US government had hoped would bring peace to Sudan, Chester Crocker, said on Friday the current domestic political situation in the US was hindering peace efforts in the war-torn country. In an interview with allafrica.com, he was quoted as saying the situation in Washington was “not a strong basis for the conduct of a serious engagement in a peace process”. Crocker had been the leading candidate to become the US government’s special envoy for Sudan, but rejected an offer from President Bush, citing personal reasons.

Crocker was quoted as saying that attention from pressure groups within the US, such as the Congressional Black Caucus and conservative Christian groups, would make the work of an envoy to Sudan very difficult. It would be tough “to decide how much of what we do is basically to keep interest groups happy on a domestic political basis, and how much of what we do is based on foreign policy merits,” he said.

Crocker was sceptical that current peace initiatives in Sudan would be effective: “There’s been a lot of play-acting, a lot of pretence, a lot of posturing about peace,” he said. He added that the peace processes currently being pursued were not genuine attempts at bringing an end to the 18-year civil war: “They are not serious, and I’m not personally persuaded that the situation is all that ripe for getting such a peace process going at the moment,” Crocker added.

Speaking at a rally in the garrison town of Wau on 19 June, Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir appeared to agree with some of Crocker’s sentiments: “Pressure groups in Congress are obstructing any attempt at progress in the relations between the US administration and the Sudan,” he was quoted as saying by the official Sudanese news agency Suna.