Contact: Kevin Fahey, The Institute on Religion and Public Policy, 202-835-8760, Fahey@religionandpolicy.org
WASHINGTON, April 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- A delegation led by Institute on Religion and Public Policy Founder and President Joseph K. Grieboski recently returned from a mission to Sudan to survey the situation in Darfur and to assess the development of the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement by Khartoum and the Government of South Sudan.
"With the world's attention on Darfur, little notice has been paid to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement," commented Mr. Grieboski. "Darfur is sometimes mistakenly believed to be a separate issue, sharing no common ground, with the rest of the problems plaguing Sudan. Appropriate attention to and action on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement will facilitate the resolution of the situation in Darfur as well."
"Ongoing signals that the international community is interested in 'regime change', displaying a general mistrust towards the Bashir regime and not recognizing them as the only legitimate partner with the SPLM in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, is not conducive to finding a positive solution to the Darfur crisis, and will only exacerbate the still existent tension between the North and South," Mr. Grieboski continued. "Southern Sudanese leaders expressed their concern to us that a collapse of the current government in Khartoum leaves the South without a partner in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Their fears of a protracted civil war as a result of such a collapse were palpable."
"The Institute on Religion and Public Policy has yet to release an evaluation of the trip or its recommendations," Mr. Grieboski concluded. "However it is clear that a lesson must be learned from the success of the US involvement in the North-South peace process that balanced pressure on all parties. All rebel groups in the Darfur region, non signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement, and the Government in Khartoum must equally be pressured to find peaceful solutions to the complex issues in the Sudan."
