SUDAN: Sudan's government and rebels have promised to deliver a peace deal before Christmas, Mr Colin Powell said yesterday following a visit to breakthrough talks in Kenya.
"The peace process in Sudan is now irreversible," said the US Secretary of State. He was flanked by Sudan's First Vice President, Mr Ali Osman Taha and the rebel leader Mr John Garang. "The way is now open to a final and comprehensive solution. The momentum must not be lost," he said.
Mr Powell travelled to the talks on Lake Naivasha, near Nairobi, to spur efforts to end 20 years of crushing civil war.
After years of stop-start negotiations and gunboat diplomacy, government and rebels are finally talking face to face. Crucial issues have already been agreed. The rebels will effectively rule southern Sudan for six years, after which southerners will vote to stay with the north or secede.
But three thorny issues are still blocking a full settlement. One, the division of oil revenues, has been largely agreed. Negotiations on power-sharing have seen progress.
But talks on the third the fate of three contested areas that fall within northern Sudan but are claimed by the south - have become fraught with argument.
"The three areas are difficult," acknowledged Mr Garang of the SPLA rebels yesterday. "\ it is one of the areas we will surmount, and reach the top".
The SPLA rebels took up arms in 1983 to win greater autonomy and to defeat the Islamic hardliners in power in Khartoum.
The long years of fighting saw atrocities on all sides, but particularly by government forces. Aircraft lobbed crude petrol-drum bombs onto southern villages, killing entire families. Fanatical horseback militias carried women and children into slavery.
The rebels were no angels either. They recruited child soldiers, executed opponents and stole western aid to feed their troops. Internal critics accuse Mr Garang of dictatorial behaviour and of fostering tribal divisions.
In recent years the heaviest combat took place in the oil fields, where government troops ruthlessly cleared entire villages to make way for exploration. Exports soared from almost nothing a few years ago to an estimated 250,000 barrels a day now.
But ultimately, both sides realised military victory was impossible. Since September 11th the government was also spurred by a desire to improve frosty relations with the US, which considers it a sponsor of international terrorism.
Mr Powell has dangled the carrot of lifting economic sanctions against Khartoum, which should trigger substantial international aid, in return for a peace deal.
The talks are expected to pause next Saturday for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. That leaves about one more month for the former enemies to deliver on their promise of peace.
But the widespread optimism is tempered by the scale of the task ahead. And those outside the negotiations southern tribal warlords and a new rebel group in the west could try to scupper any settlement.
"I'm still hesitant," said Mr John Ashworth of advocacy group Sudan Focal Point. "A quick deal could mean a flawed deal especially if all Sudanese are not included."