Natural Resources and Violent Conflict - WaterWiki.net

336 john brayas increased malnutrition and mortality from infectious diseases (see,for example, Médécins sans Frontières 2002).The issues dividing north and south include religion, ethnicity, andthe distribution of resources. Both halves of the country are ethnicallydiverse, but the north is predominantly Muslim, with close culturallinks to North Africa and the Middle East. By contrast, most southernersare either Christian or animist and have closer cultural affinitieswith neighboring Sub-Saharan African countries to the south. Successivesouthern leaders have argued that their region has been marginalizedby northern rulers.The present Khartoum government came to power in 1989 as aresult of a military coup and, particularly in its early years, adopted astrongly Islamist political stance. However, it is now keen to developcloser relations with Western countries.The neighboring countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, andUganda are taking part in the Inter-Governmental Authority on Developmentpeace process under Kenya’s chairmanship. In July 2002 negotiationsbetween the Khartoum government and the southern-basedSudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) led to the signing of theMachakos protocol. The protocol outlined provisional agreement onthe south’s right to self-determination. After the formal peace treaty issigned, there will be a transitional period of six years during which thestates in the south will enjoy a degree of autonomy, followed by aninternationally supervised referendum on the status of the south. Thiswill include the option of independence. Sharia (Islamic law) will applyin the north, but not in the south. There have been further rounds of negotiationssince July, but at the time of writing (February 2003), nofinal agreement.The United States imposed commercial sanctions on Sudan in 1996because of the country’s reported links with international terrorists,and no U.S. companies operate in Sudan. However, in 2001 the U.S.government appointed former senator John C. Danforth to serve as aspecial envoy to promote the Sudan peace process. In October 2002U.S. President George Bush signed the Sudan Peace Act, which commitsthe U.S. government to support the Sudan peace process but alsoto impose sanctions on the government if it “has not engaged in goodfaith negotiations to achieve a permanent, just, and equitable peaceagreement or has unreasonably interfered with humanitarian efforts.”Potential sanctions include a U.S. veto on loans to Sudan by internationalfinancial institutions, the downgrading of diplomatic ties withSudan, and U.S. initiatives to seek a United Nations (UN) arms embargoagainst Sudan.