by Fredrick Nzwili

Delegates of the Sudan Ecumenical Forum (SEF) from Africa, Europe, and North America have hailed recent peace protocols signed between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement /Army and the government of Sudan, but they would liketo see a final agreement clinched.

SEF chairperson Bishop Kevin Dowling, a South African RomanCatholic, said the forum, meeting in Nairobi from 13-16 June, was delighted there was now a chance for a just and sustainable peacein Southern Sudan.

" We are concerned the momentum must be continued," Dowling saidon 17 June after the forum's assembly. He urged the protagonists to sign a final and full peace agreement in addition to the protocols signed on 26 May, in order to end Africa's longest war.

Dowling warned of other regional conflicts which could upset the fragile peace in the Southern Sudan, particularly in Darfur in the west of the country, and another in northern Uganda. He also cited Sudan's Shilluk Kingdom, where earlier in June, the aid agency World Vision warned of an urgent need for humanitarian access.

Archbishop Joseph Marona of the Episcopal Church of Sudan had on 14 June said: "We cannot celebrate peace with a crisis looming in Darfur where so many families have lost everything and are now at great risk of starvation."

Melaku Kifle, representing the World Council of Churches, said at a media conference that the voice of the churches and politicians was missing on Darfur.

" Ten years after Rwanda, churches said enough is enough, but we are witnessing a genocide in Darfur," said Kifle. "What is important, is to challenge our leaders and churches to stand up and express their views. If we don't wake up, we will have another disaster."

Bishop Dowling had told delegates he had witnessed a profound lack of trust in the government, particularly among the people of
the south. "They fear the agreement will be undermined," he said.

The former president of the Sudan Catholic Bishop's Regional Conference, the Rev. Paride Taban, asserted that the fears of the people of Southern Sudan were real, with concerns the government might later bribe them not to choose independence in a referendum after a six-year interim period has lapsed.

" These fears are not unfounded. The Arab world, especially Egypt, is opposed to self-determination because of the Nile waters," he said, noting that Iraq could have been pouring arms into Sudan, but after the toppling of former dictator Saddam Hussein, the supply of weapons had ceased.

	See Also... Topic: Conflict |  Ecumenical |  Peace |  Geographic Region: Sudan |  Source: Ecumenical News International
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Date posted: Jun 18, 2004