Church urges end to Sudan civil war

SUDANESE Church leader, Archbishop Gabriel Zubeir of Khartoum, has made a dramatic attack on his government for failing to end the civil war and eliminate injustice in the strifetorn country.
His intervention is seen as an attempt to break the impasse between the Government and southern rebels. The breakdown in talks resulted in a halt of relief supplies into the major towns of the south. Thousands are faced with imminent starvation.
See eyewitness report from Malakal, page two
The archbishop has portrayed Sudan as dominated by northern Moslem privilege, propped up by the recently elected goverment of President Sadiq el Mandi. The accusation is not new but has not been made before in such an explicit manner by a Catholic leader.
"To be a loyal citizen in this country", claims the archbishop, "one must think like the Northerners and act like one of them. Anyone acting or thinking differently is a rebel."
He claims, in an article printed in the August edition of the Sudanese church paper, Renewal,that neither side in the civil war wants to end the
conflict.
He argues that the Government and the SPLA are not committed to peace. "I am convinced that .the effort for peace must be the responsibility for the Government of Sudan".
Although, Archbishop Zubeir has Khartoum (in the north) as his see, he is a southerner. He wants to see an end to the war so that supplies can reach the capitals of the three southern provinces, Juba, Wau and Malakal.
These towns are held by government forces but surrounding countryside is 'controlled by the Southern, predominantly Christian SPLA.
Transport links in these provinces are precarious. No planes can fly into the area with supplies since the SPLA shot down an aircraft which it alleged to be aiding Government troops.
Archbishop Zubeir backs up his conclusion that peace is not sought by either side, claiming: "sections of the Northern Sudanese believe that a military victory can be won against the SPLA."
In a television interview this week, SPLA leader John Garang scotched hopes that relief work could be resumed by air when he said he was prepared to shoot down other planes.
The archbishop's appeal is essentially on behalf of the ordinary people of Sudan. "There seems to be nobody caring what happens to these people. At the same time traders and even unprincipled government officials take advantage of the miserable conditions of these people."