Yassir Arman Reflects on Negotiating Peace

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KHARTOUM 000502 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/SPG DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR SU SUBJECT: Yassir Arman Reflects on Negotiating Peace ¶1. Summary: The following is an interview with SPLM National Assembly Leader Yassir Arman, recently published in the Sudan Vision daily, a pro-government English daily newspaper. Arman discussed the process that led to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and emphasized that all the Sudanese people should embrace the CPA because it will benefit them all if fully implemented. At several points in the interview, Arman is asked about his experience as a northerner in the SPLM. Each time, Arman refuses to recognize that his regional origin is relevant. He says the SPLM is a national movement working for the benefit of all Sudanese and that a birthplace in the north or south is irrelevant (Note: Arman is one of the main SPLM leaders working to establish the party as a political force in the north. End note). End Summary. ¶2. (Begin text, printed as received) Q: Ustaz Yassir, we shall start further back before Machakos when all Sudanese used to dream about arrival at a final peace and about bringing war to an end. How did you feel within SPLM/A, as a political and military movement and as Northerners? A: We can speak about our feelings as members of a movement but not as Northerners. I do not speak on behalf of Sudanese in the movement, nor did I even meet Northerners in the Movement. So that we might speak about special feelings among Northerners. Q: No, I mean feelings that you personally have as a northerner have? A: No, all my feelings are those pertaining to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. I am part of it like the others I belong to a certain region and have a birthplace there. These are issues that cannot actually be classified in terms of North and South, at least not to a degree that can be described as pure distinctive northern feelings. SPLM, before and after Machakos did not expect the journey towards peace to be easy. Nobody expected at all the peace can be arrived at with the National Congress Party. The gap between it and SPLM was quite wide, but there were some developments within the Sudan as well as outside that were happening. These developments created an environment conducive for arrival at the Peace Agreement. As for me, I can only relate a short but meaningful story: On July 19th, a day before signing the Machakos protocol, I was in Asmara, the Eritrean Capital. Myself and Pagan Amum were supposed to participate in negotiations. We did not go because we were engaged, then, in some other issues which were related to the Eastern front. Dr. John Garang contacted me at around three or four p.m. He was saying that negotiations will end tomorrow, and an agreement might be arrived at. He asked me to set the information strategy we should adopt to deal with that situation. He agreed that Nhial Deng will contact me to brief me about some details. I returned home quite late to find that Dr. Garang had contacted me several times between 3 and 4 and without finding me. He contacted me at 6 a.m., he works usually till midnight and starts work again at 9 a.m. When he phoned me I told him "There must be something serious which made you start work so easily." His answer was: "It is something about negotiations". Of course the round failed. His answer was "No, it did not! I was astonished "Do you mean to say, we arrived at an agreement?" "Yes we agreed". So it was then that things started to develop in another way. But negotiations were even more difficult in Naivasha. Negotiations of both sides were quite efficient and that gave the agreement more depth and dimensions. Its implementation will not be easy at all. It is quite obvious that to make war is much easier than make peace. Q: This would lead us towards conditions during negotiations and the amount of optimism and pessimism that used to prevail there? A: Negotiations were like a stock-exchange where shares fluctuate daily, against all predictions. They were just as our leader, Dr. John Garang, used to tell journalists in Naivasha about negotiations being like weather, changing every now and then. Q: Ustaz Yassir as a member of the negotiating KHARTOUM 00000502 002 OF 004 delegation, we would like you to describe the most difficult moments during negotiations and about moments when tensions grew more acute and the feeling that they might collapse crept over everybody? A: There were so many such moments that I cannot relate them all. There were moments when negotiations were taken over by Dr. John Garang and Ustaz Ali Osman Mohamed Taha about the military and security arrangements. There was also another movement when we discussed the number of forces, their reduction and their redeployment. They were all issues that were quite complicated and almost collapsed. But we arrived at an agreement despite that. There were several complicated situations and negotiations especially after the Nakuru Document which the Government rejected. That was quite a critical stage; added to that was what happened in Torit during negotiations leading to the withdrawal of the Government delegation and almost brought the round to a collapse. There were several such moments when negotiations were about to collapse. Q: How did you feel when you first met the Government negotiation delegation? Did you really wish peace to be achieved so that you might return to your people in Khartoum? A: Naivasha was not the first occasion for me to meet the NCP delegation. The first time came when it was headed by Mohamed Al Amin Khalifa in Addis Ababa in 1989. We met again in Nairobi under sponsorship by the American former President Jimmy Carter. There were several other meetings some of which I really attended. Q: Did you feel differently in Naivasha? A: It was not a different feeling in Naivasha despite the fact that after Machakos hopes were greatly revived. Naturally we are affiliated to SPLM/A, if it were to proceed in war for forty years we would not hesitate to fight on its side. Our commitment towards the Movement and its issues will not be affected by time. But as people we want to achieve peace. We want to return to our people. I don't mean our homeland. We have been to Rumbek, Maridi and Hamash Koreib, we do not feel we have been out of our homeland. We just feel we must return to our smaller communities, our families. We have been giving priority to our political commitments over all other commitments however dear they are. Q: How did you feel when you entered Khartoum for the first time as a resident after the CPA was signed? A: It was a mixture of feelings. I wanted to lead a different life, but due to certain other developments, I got settled in Khartoum. That was something quite good and enjoyable. I have been longing for the sound of land and the people who loved us and we loved them. For me it is quite a good thing that war ended after twenty years of war spent with SPLM. It is quite a pleasure to return and meet our dear ones. Many of my close friends did not return home yet. We were quite lucky to come here. Q: This leads us to another question. Were you able to resume your previous life and social relations which you had before joining SPLM/A? A: No, that is not possible. My life had been totally changed. I became restricted and more tied to official organs and meetings. I was not married when I left Khartoum, nor did I hold an official post. I was free and led a much singular life. I was even more youth then. Many of my previous friends and colleagues are no longer residing in Khartoum. Even those who are still present in Khartoum do not have time to spare so that we can meet. They had also had their life changed. They are married and are burdened by obligations towards their families. They had grown up, so had their obligations and responsibilities. Q: As northern members of SPLM/A, did you play any role towards bridging the gap between the two sides or were you leaning towards the Movement? A: I do not know about such roles. I only know that our presence within SPLM indicates that it is a new movement that includes both northern and southern Sudanese. It includes also members from east, west and central Sudan. This is the actual situation within SPLM, and I do not know what you mean by northern. KHARTOUM 00000502 003 OF 004 Q: I mean members from Northern Sudan. A: There are many northerners in SPLM. There are also members from Nuba Mountains, aren't they northerners? There are thousands from Blue Nile region, aren't they northerners? There are also others from all parts of the Sudan. Maybe you mean that myself and Dr. Mansour came from Central Sudan. We are a small group coming from Central Sudan, we have an effect here because every human has an effect whether as an individual or as a group. We have struggled for peace but not because we were northerners. Our leading peacemaker Dr. John Garang is the first one who should be praised and honoured. He devoted all his life in aim of achieving peace, he had this objective in mind even when he went into war. He fought for peace, for insuring a better life for our people and for issues of justice and equality. He will therefore, remain forever, as one of our national heroes. We are happy that our people had honoured him in Al Saha Al Khadra. He had passed away quite satisfied about the Sudanese nation, and we are quite proud of him. Q: Ustaz, tell us about any amusing situations that imparted some amusement and brought you out of the dreary tensions of formalities during negotiations? A: Oh, you are taking me unprepared I cannot recall all situations despite the fact that there were many of them. I remember that the Minister of Investment, Ustaz Malik Aggar, and he was well-built and quite big, was in the Government Delegation. The region where negotiations were held had a large population of hippopotamus, which frightened people from making morning walks. Many people claimed that they had seen hippos running in fear whenever they saw Ustaz Malik. That was quite an amusing topic among negotiations. Moreover, Dr. John Garang was known for his mirth and jollity, he had several merry occasions which broke the monotony of serious negotiations. He used to crack jokes especially when tensions grew tight. Many people relate jokes and funny stories made by him. Q: How were your relations as Sudanese out of the serious atmosphere of negotiations? I mean as Sudanese who are pursuing some objectives? A: They were quite good. Relations between Sudanese during negotiations and during the war period were quite distinguished. This was asserted by former President Jimmy Carter and his wife and all mediators. They all asserted that Sudanese people are endowed with psychological and social characteristics that extend back to the Meroetic kingdoms. They are characteristics that enable the Sudanese to behave in a civil way even during periods of differences and disputes. There were quite civil relations out of the negotiations hall which developed into friendships between people there. That gave rise to mutual confidence and trust between the two sides and assisted arrival at peace. Q: Were there any outstanding stances by some negotiators which you feel deserve to be recorded? A: There were quite a number of these. I think the Peace Agreement had resulted from present efforts that all collaborated together to arrive at an agreement. That did not take place only in Naivasha, but attempts had been going for about twenty years. It is quite essential to record that all those attempts had borne fruits in Naivasha. As for the characters which played an important role in this respect, there are, beside Sudanese characters, other like General Lazarus Sumbyeiwo, the Kenyan mediator, who was well-known his discipline and patience. He was a real addition to the negotiators. There were also other personalities which contributed to a marked degree such as Nicholas Haytham a South African Professor, a former legal advisor to President Mandela and members of the National African Congress. His presence as an expert contributed greatly towards the success of negotiations. In addition to all that there were the remarkable concessions made by the efficient leadership of Dr. Garang and Ustaz Ali Osman Mohamed Taha. Even ordinary Sudanese people contributed in those efforts, and I think that the first peace hero is definitely our Sudanese nation. It was this nation which paid both war and peace bills. Q: Ustaz Yassir, a year had passed since the Peace Agreement was signed, what does that mean to you? KHARTOUM 00000502 004 OF 004 A: There are so many indications, if a year had passed that means there are five years remaining for self- determination. This means that Sudan's unity will be subjected to test. If the CPA was not properly implemented, then the result would be tragic. The agreement is now put to practice only partly. This means that there should be some change in the Sudanese mode of life. This change should affect ordinary people's life, obligations had grown bigger and all the rosy dreams about the agreement and those who signed are backing now. Sudanese people are more aware now and aspire for a different and better lie. If those expectations were not achieved, then the wide reception and celebration for the agreement and those who arrived at it will take another form. It is necessary, therefore, that all should do their best to fulfill all promises made for Sudanese people. At least part of those promises should be fulfilled. Sudanese people had celebrated signing the agreement because it will insure their bread-winning, their peace and their unity on a new basis. The old set- up of bases and principles proved a failure in respect of Sudan's unity. They will not accept the old basis, especially in Southern Sudan. Our real battle will be that of achieving unity on a new basis. (End text) HUME