CAIRO Ñ Egypt has expressed concern over what officials term as U.S.
plans to divide Sudan.
Egyptian officials said President Hosni Mubarak was disappointed with an
agreement by Sudan to launch a Western-sponsored peace process that would
grant southern Sudan self-determination. Officials said Mubarak felt the
Bush administration had snubbed his efforts to end the 19-year civil war.
Egyptian state-owned newspapers have accused the United States of
seeking to divide Sudan in a move that would escalate instability in the
Horn of Africa. The newspapers warned that any division of Sudan would harm
Egypt and threaten its water supply from the Nile River, which stems from
the south.
"Egypt's role cannot be marginalized," Al Ahram, the leading Egyptian
newspaper said. "All parties know it is indispensable. It is impossible to
establish a state in the south. Separation in Sudan will never be attained."
Libya, Egypt's partner in the aborted Sudanese peace effort, has been
even more vocal. Libyan African Unity Minister Abdul Salam Turaiki said the
Sudanese agreement signed last month was part of Washington's plan to
partition several Arab countries. In an interview with the Tunisian daily Al
Shuruk, Turaiki cited all North African countries, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and
Syria and said the partition of Sudan would threaten all of Africa.
"No Arab is safe from the dangers of the U.S. plans, which aim at
'balkanizing' the Arab region to serve the Zionists' interests," the Libyan
minister said.
For its part, the United States has sought to assuage Egypt that it does
not intend to divide Sudan. U.S. envoy John Danforth spent five days in
Cairo, discussing Washington's vision of a Sudanese peace accord with
Egyptian leaders.
Later, Danforth said Egypt and the United States agreed on the need to
proceed with the July 20 peace agreement between the Khartoum regime and the
Sudanese People's Liberation Army. The accord led to the start of
negotiations last week outside Nairobi, Kenya to discuss a six-year
transitional period for southern Sudan, followed by a referendum on the
future of the region.
Over the weekend, a U.S. delegation held talks with Sudanese leaders on
a counter-insurgency cooperation. The delegation was said to have included
CIA
and FBI officials.
