"Sudan: Peace Talks Break Down," Africa Research Report, September 15, 1989.
Summary:
“The first round of
preliminary peace talks between Sudan’s new military junta and the rebel Sudan
People’s Liberation Army aimed at resolving the country’s six-year civil war,
have broken over the thorny issue of Islamic sharia laws.”
During peace talks in
Sudan, the SPLA demanded for abolition of sharia laws, which were implemented
by Gen. Jaafar Numeiry in 1983, which was also a key reason the south
revolted. The issue being faced now by
the new government was how to create a constitution that would be accepted by
all citizens. The leader of the SPLA, John Garang, attacked Bashir’s regime due
to the connections with the Islamic powers and for its violations of human rights. He then suggested having a separate federal
system for the north and the south; however, this idea had still not been
brought up at the peace talks.
Even the military leaders
were divided on how to run the country.
However, both sides were preparing to fight for their own personal
beliefs. With all this controversy and
conflict, many critics stated that Sudan had a “grim outlook” if the junta were
to come to complete power. With the
north being as powerful as it was, it was definitely possible for southerners
to be killed off and overpowered. The
British paper, “The Independent” states, “It is hard to see how Sudan can
survive if the fundamentalists win the power struggle in Khartoum.”