*EPF505 07/02/2004
Powell Lays Down Clear Benchmarks in Sudan, Official Says
(Normalization of relations depends on end of violence in Darfur) (610)

By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent two-day visit to Sudan drove home the point that the Khartoum government can only expect normalization of relations with the United States if it makes immediate efforts to rein in militias, called the Jingaweit, that have wreaked havoc in the nation's western Darfur region, killing between 15,000 and 30,000 people and placing countless others in jeopardy from disease and famine, according to former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Charles Snyder.

Speaking by phone from his State Department office July 1, Snyder told the Washington File, "I think the secretary laid down some very important benchmarks to reverse the situation in Darfur" during his June 29 and 30 visit to Sudan, including a cessation of government support for the Jingaweit, humanitarian access to the region and a speedup of political negotiations. "He laid down some clear markers that we will not stand idly by, while mentioning the things we need to see happen."

Snyder added, "Powell went the extra step to emphasize that President Bush meant what he said in the beginning -- ����We're willing to do a just peace.' But a just peace extends to the whole country. This business that is going on in Darfur says this is not a valid [negotiating] game we've been playing and we'll draw the necessary conclusions if they don't act."

Those conclusions, the State Department official said, might involve holding up the normalization of relations with Khartoum, "which extends to things far beyond commerce. For example, one of the things they've been after for a long time is parts for their railroad system, like locomotives. But much more important to them is our ability to be supportive of them in international forums like the IMF/World Bank -- the kinds of things that could make a huge difference to their economy."

Another factor in the commitments Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail made to Powell to "combat any militias" and "lift any restrictions on humanitarian aid" to Darfur is the recent framework agreement signed by the Government of Sudan and rebel forces in Naivasha, Kenya, according to Snyder.

"The very devices that are encompassed in that accord are the ones that can solve this [Darfur] problem," Snyder asserted.

The diplomat and retired Army colonel, who was instrumental in facilitating the negotiations, said, "What the Naivasha discussion does for us is provide a working relationship with us and the Sudanese so when we ask them to take immediate action in Darfur it doesn't come in the context of someone who won't work constructively with them."

The Naivasha agreement also provides a process that could be employed to insert a monitoring group into Darfur to verify whether the Sudanese government is complying with its promises to rein in the militias, Snyder added. "The Nuba Mountains monitoring process that occurred earlier after a cease-fire was agreed to in that region proved that the relatively small size of this AU [African Union] proposed cease-fire force for Darfur can also operate successfully.

"Naivasha will make it easier for the AU to succeed in Darfur because everyone understands the rules of the game and how these things work," Snyder added. "The reason the AU monitoring force has been set up so rapidly is that we literally lent some people from the civilian protection monitoring teams and planes that already existed under Naivasha to help the AU get started, and we couldn't have done this before Naivasha," Snyder concluded.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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