Rebel leaders announce merger

The leaders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), John Garang, and of the Sudan People’s Defence Force (SPDF), Riek Machar, on Monday announced that the two forces had formally merged under the name SPLM/SPLA and agreed on collective leadership, on the basis that unity was "paramount for the success of the liberation struggle". "We are one and the same again," Garang told the BBC, adding that he did not believe Machar's grouping would again sign its own peace deal with the Sudanese government, as it did in 1997. That agreement collapsed three years later. Machar defected from the SPLM/A to the government in 1997, becoming assistant president. He resigned this post in February last year, accusing the government of having sent troops to fight his soldiers in the southern Wahdah (Unity) State. Machar comes from the Nuer ethnic group, while Garang is a member of the Dinka community. Ethnic rivalry was one of the reasons for the original split of the SPLM/A in 1991, after which Machar created his own rebel movement, according to regional analysts. "Things do change, history does change. We are confident that this is an agreement that will hold," the BBC quoted Garang as saying. The merged rebel movement would elect a leader at a convention to be held this year, he added. Machar said the merger would strengthen the rebels' cause on the international diplomatic and political front, allowing them to make their case more strongly. "We declare the year 2002 as the year of reconciliation, peace and unity among our people and appeal to all to join and actively promote this process," the two groups declared in a press release. The two rebel groups also announced their merger in May 2001 after months of negotiations, stating that the combined movement would battle against genocide, ethnic cleansing, slavery, "wanton looting" of oil and natural resources, and displacement of southern people by "non-indigenous settlers from the north", news organisations reported. In a press statement released in Nairobi the same day, the SPDF described the declaration as "premature", and said that the member who signed on its behalf was not authorised to do so. The SPLM/A described this as "bactracking by the SPDF", but while at least some of its members considered the declaration "null and void", unity talks continued. This week's merger announcement comes as the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is meeting in Khartoum to discuss the Sudan peace process, among other issues. At a press conference in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Garang and Machar signed the formal agreement under which the SPLM/A and SPDF are committed to the "immediate cessation of hostilities [against each other] and coalescence of previously antagonistic military units into a single entity to engage enemy forces in combat operations." The agreement provided for the establishment of technical committees to work out detailed recommendations on the integration of military forces, political structures and governance systems, and the streamlining of humanitarian institutions. The technical committees are due to present their recommendations to the two leaders for approval within one month from the date of their formation. The SPLM/A and SPDF (merged) also agreed "to conduct immediate military operations" against forces of the Khartoum government, as well as to intensify all other forms of struggle. According to what the SPLM/A and SPDF called their Nairobi Declaration, the merged rebel movement reaffirmed the IGAD peace process and the Declaration of Principles (DOP) upon which it is based, as "the most credible peace process that will bring about a just and lasting negotiated political settlement in the Sudan." It also committed itself to "freedom of delivery of relief and humanitarian assistance to the needy." Under the agreement, the new SPLM/A is due to recommend to the next SPLM National Convention the issue of electing democratically political leaders (at local councils, commissioners and governor level) "to run the affairs of the people in a framework of democratic governance." The agreement also reaffirmed the right to self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan including Abyei, Southern Kordofan, Southern Blue Nile and other marginalised areas; and emphasised the critical importance of a continued SPLM/A role within the opposition umbrella National Democratic Alliance (NDA).