PEACE WATCH ACEH - Public International Law & Policy Group

Contents:
PEACE WATCH
September 9, 2002
Aceh Government-GAM peace talks hanging in the balance
Indonesian troops kill three suspected rebels in restive Aceh
Congo Rwanda repatriates 1,300 DR Congo refugees
DRCongo rebels, Rwandan troops replacing departing Ugandan forces -
UN
Leaders of Uganda and Congo Sign an Accord to Bring Peace
DRCongo rebels welcome Kabila's move to reopen national talks
Kashmir Kashmiri separatists urge Pakistan to orchestrate talks
India says militants will not be able to disrupt Kashmir polls
Montenegro Montenegro's elections to be postponed
EU's Solana secures partial consent for reforming Yugoslavia
Somalia Somali peace talks scheduled for late September, mediator insists they will
take place
SRRC Leader Says No Government In Somalia, Talks Should Be Between
Factions
Sri Lanka Norway secures Muslim-Tamil deal ahead of Sri Lanka peace talks
US praises Sri Lanka's lifting of ban on Tamil Tigers
Tens of thousands rally in support of peace in Sri Lanka
Sudan Sudan peace talks in doubt as north pulls out in protest
Thousands march in Khartoum in support of government, foreign minister
rules out talks with rebels
Sudan says it will resume peace talks once rebels stop attacks
Others Sharon Offers Palestinians Peace Talks
ACEH
Government-GAM peace talks hanging in the balance
By Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta Post 09/05/02
The peace talks between the government and separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) slated to be held in
Geneva early this month are still hanging in the balance as no date has been set. Information officer for
Aceh Dialog for Peace Fahmi Yusuf said on Wednesday that the talks initially scheduled to begin on Sept.
5 had been delayed because the Indonesian government had failed to confirm the proposed date. "The
Henry Dunant Center has informed us that the dialog will be delayed until further notice," Fahmi said on
Wednesday as quoted by Antara. The Henry Dunant Center (HDC), which sponsored the talks, had planned
the dialog to run for three days, starting Sept. 5, he said.
Meanwhile, an official at the Henry Dunant Center told The Jakarta Post that the dialog was not postponed
as there was no date set yet. "We hoped to hold a dialog in a near future, but not on those dates. We always
avoid setting a date way in advance," the official said. He said that the process to facilitate dialog was
continuing and the two sides had expressed positive signs to start another round of peace talks.

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Separately, government officials said that the government had actually confirmed its participation in the
peace talks. Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono left
Indonesia for Europe on Tuesday, and planned to go to the HDC office. Indonesian chief negotiator for
Aceh Wiryono Sastrohandoyo was also in Europe, his relatives said on Wednesday.
Aceh Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) director Rufriadi said that Jakarta should immediately decide whether
or not to join the dialog because the three international wise men were only available up until Sept. 12 to
facilitate the dialog. He was referring to Gen. Anthony Zinni from the United States, Surin Vitsuan from
Thailand and Bonimir Lancar from Yugoslavia, who were present in the last dialog in May. "If there is no
signal from Jakarta of its intent to continue the dialog before Sept. 12, then there will be no follow up talks
at all," Rufriadi said.
The government has been vacillating regarding with this planned peace talks. Initially, it said it would
attend the dialog only if GAM accepted the special autonomy package. Then, later, the government
changed its mind and decided to attend the talk, saying that having another dialog with GAM could be
useful. In the recent interview with The Jakarta Post, Wiryono said the government aimed to reach another
agreement with GAM to cease hostilities, a precondition to hold the planned all-inclusive dialog for Aceh.
Indonesian troops kill three suspected rebels in restive Aceh
Agence France Presse 09/08/02
Indonesian troops shot dead three suspected separatist rebels in the latest violence to hit the restive
province of Aceh, the military said on Sunday. Troops shot dead two men, suspected to be rebels from the
separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) during an armed clash in Teunom, in the West Aceh district on
Saturday, Aceh Military Spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin said. Two hand guns were seized from the
victims, he added.
Indonesian soldiers also shot dead another man in Cot Tunong, in the district of Bireun on Saturday,
Muttaqin said. "The victim had been arrested but tried to escape so that he was finally shot," Muttaqin said,
adding that the victim was suspected to be a rebel as a hand gun and bullets where found on him when he
was arrested.
GAM rebels also attacked a base of the elite army Kopassus unit in Jeunib, also in Bireun district on
Saturday but there were no casualty on both sides, the base commander, First Lieutenant Andi said. The
local GAM commander, Darwis Djeunieb, claimed responsibility over the attack and said that several
soldiers had been killed or injured in the attack.
The GAM has been fighting since 1976 for independence in the resource-rich province at the tip of Sumatra
island. More than 10,000 people are estimated to have been killed since GAM began its fight. The
government and the rebels have said they would this month attend peace talks in Geneva organised by
mediators from the Henry Dunant Centre. A legal aid agency said Thursday that almost 1,000 civilians died
in the conflict between GAM and government forces in the first eight months of this year.
Rwanda repatriates 1,300 DR Congo refugees
Agence France Presse 09/03/02
CONGO
Rwandan authorities have repatriated at least 1,300 refugees to Nord-Kivu Province in the neighbouring
Democratic Republic of Congo over the last three days, officials said Tuesday. In coming weeks, an
Organising Committee for the Repatriation of Congolese Refugees in Rwanda plans to help 31,500 people
return to their homes, the committee announced.

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Almost all the refugees are ethnic Tutsis who come from the Masisi region of Nord-Kivu Province, across
the border from Rwanda, which has a minority Tutsi population. They fled in 1994 and 1995 to escape
persecution at the hands of extremist militias and former government troops from Rwanda's Hutu majority,
held responsible for the 1994 genocide of some 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. The
refugees have been living since 1995 in camps at Byumba in northern Rwanda and Kibuye in the west, the
committee stated.
The Hutu militias fled across the border into the then Zaire after the mainly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front
(RPF) put an end to three months of genocide in July 1994 and seized power in Kigali.
DRCongo rebels, Rwandan troops replacing departing Ugandan forces – UN
BBC Monitoring Africa – Political 09/06/02
Text of report by UN regional information network IRIN on 5 September
Kinshasa, 5 September: The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRCongo has expressed concern over recent
advances made by rebel troops and the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) into territory recently vacated by
the Ugandan army. Addressing a news conference in the DRCongo capital Kinshasa on Wednesday 4
September , UN special envoy Amos Namanga Ngongi, said he had asked Roger Lumbala, leader of the
rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy-National (RCD-N) to order his troops to halt their advance towards
Beni and Bunia.
Both these northeastern cities were previously occupied by the Ugandan-backed Congolese Rally for
Democracy-Kisangani-Liberation Movement (RCD-K-ML). Uganda, which also supports the RCD-N,
recently withdrew nearly 2,000 of its soldiers from locations in the DRCongo, including Beni. The
withdrawal comes in the wake of an agreement reached between DRCongo and Uganda on 15 August in
Luanda, Angola. However, two Ugandan battalions are to remain in Bunia to safeguard civilian security
following violent clashes there last month. According to the UN mission in the DRCongo, known as
Monuc, advances by RCD-N have the objective of recovering territory lost to RCD-K-ML in March and
April while the inter-Congolese dialogue was being held in Sun City, South Africa. Lumbala was the head
of the RCD-K-ML's department of internal affairs before forming his RCD-N breakaway faction. "It is very
disappointing to see people who have signed a peace agreement continue to wage war," said Ngongi.
Ngongi confirmed recent accusations made by DRCongo Defence Minister Irung Awan that about 1,000
Rwandan forces occupied the town of Kasuo, near the town of Lubero, 150 km north of Goma. "There have
been RPA troop movements toward Lubero, an area under control of the Ugandan-backed RCD-K-ML," he
said. "I hope that the Rwandan troops will not continue towards other locations in Ituri," he added.
Rwanda has reportedly told Monuc that its army is in the throes of a counter-offensive against forces of the
Interahamwe (Rwandan Hutu extremist militias) and the ex-FAR (Rwanda's former army), both heavily
implicated in the 1994 genocide.
Leaders of Uganda and Congo Sign an Accord to Bring Peace
New York Times 09/08/02
The leaders of Uganda and Congo have signed a peace accord, as four years of war wind down.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and his Congolese counterpart, Joseph Kabila, signed the accord
late on Friday in the presidential palace in Luanda, Angola's capital. The signatures were witnessed by the
Angolan president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Diplomats said the accord committed Uganda to withdrawing
its remaining troops from the central African country of Congo, where they have been fighting alongside
rebels opposed to the Kinshasa government. Congo, in turn, pledged to take action against rebels based in
the east of the huge, mineral-rich country who are hostile to the Ugandan government in Kampala.

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Mr. Museveni, who shook hands with Mr. Kabila after signing the deal, said Uganda had begun to honor its
commitments. "Uganda had already withdrawn most of its troops from the Congo, once the conditions
which had created that problem had been resolved," he said. "Only a few battalions remained, and even
those battalions are being withdrawn right now."
Mr. Kabila thanked Mr. dos Santos for the military backing of Angola, which has been a mainstay of
support for the Kinshasa government since the beginning of the Congolese war in 1998. Namibia and
Zimbabwe have also helped Mr. Kabila. Angola has withdrawn most of its troops from Congo, and over the
last year Mr. dos Santos has made diplomatic efforts toward ending the war.
But Rwanda -- which has backed rebel groups fighting the Congo government -- says its soldiers are still in
Congo to safeguard Rwandan security interests. President Paul Kagame and Mr. Kabila signed a pact in
South Africa in July. Rwanda pledged to withdraw its forces provided that Mr. Kabila's administration
helped disarm and send back militant Hutu militia blamed for the mass killings in Rwanda in 1994.
DRCongo rebels welcome Kabila's move to reopen national talks
Agence France Presse 09/09/02
The main rebel group in the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday welcomed
President Joseph Kabila's proposal to re-open national talks that broke up in April. "It is a significant step
forward. We are now waiting for this proposal to turn into action," Joseph Mudumbi, an official of the
Rwanda-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), told AFP.
On Saturday, Kabila told parliament that the so-called Inter-Congolese Dialogue would resume in the
second half of September so as to reach an "inclusive accord." Five weeks of such talks ended in Sun City,
South Africa, in April with a power-sharing deal between Kabila, former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba
and other political actors.
The RCD, which had been offered some government posts under the arrangement, rejected the accord,
whose inclusivity is widely seen as an essential condition of lasting peace in the DRC. "With this offer,
Kabila is burying the Sun City deal, which the RCD always condidered to be non-existent. There is now a
means to negotiate a comprehensive political agreement said Mudumbi, who spoke to AFP from the rebel
movement's headquarters in Goma, eastern DRC. "If there are signs that Kinshasa is stopping its support
for the negative forces, a comprehensive deal will not be long in coming," he said, alluding to Rwandan
Hutu extremists whose presence in eastern DRC prompted Kigali to send forces there and back the RCD in
1998.
KASHMIR
Kashmiri separatists urge Pakistan to orchestrate talks
By PRATAP CHAKRAVARTY Agence France Press 09/09/02
Indian Kashmir's top separatist leaders Monday urged Pakistan to arrange a meeting between mediators of
the two countries to speed up a dialogue aimed at restoring peace in the troubled Himalayan region.
Leaders from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) met New Delhi-based diplomats from Pakistan
to arrange the crucial meet, Abdul Gani Bhat, chairman of the umbrella forum of separatist groups of
Indian-administered Kashmir, told AFP. "We went there and spoke to them and their response was very,
very encouraging and we hope after the dust of elections in Kashmir settles down in the two countries than
such a meeting can happen," Bhat said in New Delhi. Indian Kashmir is set to go to the polls in four phases
beginning September 16.
The APHC and an India-backed committee of mediators Saturday forged an agreement to meet a similar
panel in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir to pursue talks over the region, where a Muslim separatist campaign

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has left more than 36,500 people dead since 1989. India's Kashmir Committee, headed by former Law
Minister Ram Jethmalani, said it would take the proposal to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's
government for approval. But Vajpayee earlier Monday said his government was not considering the
APHC's demand to visit Pakistan. "There is no such proposal before us," Vajpayee told reporters shortly
before leaving for a week-long visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly session.
Bhat said New Delhi, which in the past has refused permission to Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan, must
change its attitude if it wants to restore peace in Kashmir, the subject of two of the three India-Pakistan
wars since 1947. "Pakistani will cooperate with us and we have to rise above ordinary considerations and
move forward to purchase purposeful peace and this can happen only if we remove the bottlenecks of the
past," Bhat said. "And that would depend on the attitude the government of India adopts (on our proposal)."
Pakistan on Monday said it supported the Hurriyat's demand for permission to cross the borders to
Islamabad to help settle the long-running Kashmir dispute. "We certainly support the contention in the
declaration of that committee that a peaceful negotiated settlement of the Kashmir issue is desirable,"
Pakistani foreign office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said in Islamabad. "We have always asked for that,
we have always demanded that," he said.
Bhat said there was no alternative to talks to resolve the dispute between the two nuclear rivals over
Kashmir and added the Hurriyat and the Pakistani and Indian committees were committed to the goal of
peace. "We have to put in an effort which would be a collective effort of the two committees and the APHC
to usher in an era of peace and people-to-people contact with a view to resolving the dispute and also
establishing the peace in region," he said. "We consider the survival of the region now depends on the
restoration of peace in Kashmir."
India's committee has not been able to persuade any separatist group or leader to take part in the elections.
"Our efforts for the talks and the elections are separate issues," Bhat added. A section of separatists is
campaigning for total independence, while others call for a UN-supervised plebicite to determine the future
of Kashmiris.
Armed Islamic guerrilla organisations, who are seeking the accession of Indian Kashmir to Pakistan, have
threatened to disrupt next week's election.
India says militants will not be able to disrupt Kashmir polls
Agence France Presse 09/03/02
Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes Tuesday said any attempts by Islamic militants to disrupt the
upcoming Kashmir elections would be thwarted and added that voters were unlikely to heed the boycott
call by separatists. "Kashmiris are steeped in politics. They are aware of the significance of the current polls
and given such a situation, we expect a good turnout," Fernandes said at a ceremony at the prestigious
Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis. "All the protection security forces can provide will be there for
candidates, voters and officials and staff for the conduct of elections," he said. Fernandes said militants had
been unable to dissuade voters from participating in local council polls last year to elect village heads
despite violence.
The four-phase elections to the 87-member Kashmir legislature are taking place between September 16 and
October 8. Militants have already started targeting pro-India political workers, in particular activists of the
ruling National Conference party. Hardline militant groups have called for a boycott of the polls which they
say would not help in bringing peace to the state, where an armed insurgency since 1989 has claimed
36,500 lives. Some Kashmiri militant groups are demanding the Muslim-majority state join neighbouring
Pakistan while others want an independent homeland. Kashmir's main separatist alliance, the All Parties
Hurriyat Conference (APHC), has decided to boycott the polls while Muslim rebels opposed to Indian rule
have threatened to kill those taking part.

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MONTENEGRO
Montenegro's elections to be postponed
By ALEN MLATISUMA; Associated Press 09/04/02
PODGORICA, Yugoslavia - Early parliamentary elections in Yugoslavia's junior republic of Montenegro,
originally scheduled for Oct. 6, will be postponed 15 days due to a dispute over electoral laws, officials said
Wednesday. Rival parties in Montenegro - which along with Serbia makes up Yugoslavia - will formally
announce the new date after their officials meet Thursday, said Miodrag Zivkovic, the leader of the proindependence
Liberal Alliance party.
The delay results from a failure among Montenegro's parties to agree on key electoral laws, including the
number of their representatives in electoral commissions and the number of minority ethnic Albanian
deputies in the 77-seat parliament. Opposition parties have also rejected a proposal by Montenegro's
President Milo Djukanovic to name Constitutional Court judges to rule on possible electoral disputes.
The opposition had threatened to boycott the Oct. 6 vote if new electoral laws were not passed in the
republic's parliament and if new judges were not named. The rival parties finally reached a compromise on
the issues earlier this week after U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia, William Montgomery, mediated between
the two sides. But the agreement came too late for parliament to pass the new laws by Oct. 6, said Predrag
Bulatovic, the leader of the pro-Serbian Socialist Peoples' Party.
Djukanovic called for early elections after his government collapsed in May. At that time, his former
coalition partners - lawmakers from the pro-independence Liberal Alliance - walked out in protest over a
Western-brokered deal to keep Serbia and Montenegro together in a reformed union. Fearing further
secessionist unrest in the Balkans, the European Union engineered an agreement that keeps the two
Yugoslav republics loosely together in a more decentralized federation to be named "Serbia and
Montenegro."
The new union's constitution has yet to be finalized and EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, is due in
Belgrade on Friday to urge opposing sides in Serbia and Montenegro to agree on the new country's charter.
Montenegro's 600,000 people remain bitterly split over whether to remain in a union with Serbia or seek
complete independence.
EU's Solana secures partial consent for reforming Yugoslavia
By MISHA SAVIC; Associated Press 09/06/02
With the mediation of a top European Union envoy, leaders of Serbia and Montenegro agreed Friday on all
but one point of a deal on shaping their troubled union into a looser federation. "We are close to finalizing
the agreement," said the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, after meeting officials of the two Yugoslav
republics.
The officials spent the day wrangling over how much central administration would exist in the future state
that is expected to replace Yugoslavia later this year. Under a tentative, EU-brokered agreement reached in
April, the two Yugoslav republics are to become virtually sovereign states, but with a common market and
joint defense and foreign policies. Lawmakers agreed earlier this year to rename the federation "Serbia and
Montenegro." "Yugoslavia" will cease to exist.
Talks Friday stalled over an issue which has held up final agreement on the constitution for months now:
whether deputies in the joint parliament will be drawn from the republic's own parliaments or be chosen
directly by voters. "It's a pity that they have not been able to agree today on that point," Solana said while
praising the officials for agreeing on a "whole set of future economic and political reforms." He also
warned that negotiations on Serbia and Montenegro's membership in several EU institutions cannot begin

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until all differences are resolved. Both republics hope to join various EU groups as a step toward eventual
EU membership.
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic indicated that lawmakers could change the constitution soon to
include those points already agreed upon and settle how deputies will be elected later. "After the
parliaments of Serbia and Montenegro, as well as the federal parliament, adopt the changes, new general
elections could be held within 60 days and during that period we could agree on how to elect deputies" to a
new federal assembly, Djindjic said. "What we must have is a modern state, compatible with the European
Union," he added.
Both Serbia and Montenegro are internally divided on whether their republics should stick together or go
their separate ways. Miolo Djukanovic leads the drive for independence in Montenegro, while profederation
Montenegrins demand strong ties with Serbia. And in Serbia, some government leaders have
said that their republic would be better off without tiny Montenegro. Under the EU-brokered deal, each
republic is allowed to hold a referendum on full independence in three years.
Yugoslavia started unraveling along ethnic lines in the early 1990s. Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina seceded, leaving only Serbia and Montenegro together. Their union began to crumble
in 1997, when Djukanovic distanced himself from former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. The
Montenegrin independence drive continued even after Milosevic's ouster in 2000.
SOMALIA
Somali peace talks scheduled for late September, mediator insists they will take place
By TOM MALITI; Associated Press 09/06/02
Regional mediators in the Somali peace process are confident that a proposed reconciliation conference
will take off this time, because they have assurances from all those concerned, a Kenyan government
official said Friday.
Foreign Minister Marsden Madoka said that a loose alliance of faction leaders opposed to Somalia's
transitional government, led by President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan, will attend the talks, expected to be
held by Sept. 30 in Eldoret, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the capital Nairobi. The Ethiopianbacked
Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council did not attend talks that were set for April and then
postponed to August, putting Somalia's peace process on hold. "In the past we tended just to invite whom
we thought was involved. But we've (now) gone down to the ground to consult everybody who would be an
interested party," Madoka told journalists, before a meeting of regional foreign ministers and ambassadors
began to discuss the Somalia National Reconciliation Conference.
Somalia has not had a strong central authority since the ouster of President Mohamed Siad Barre in January
1991 by armed clan-based political factions. These factions have since fought with each other, turning the
Horn of Africa nation of 7 million into battling fiefdoms ruled by heavily armed militias. A transitional
government was elected at a peace conference in neighboring Djibouti in August 2000 but has little
influence outside of the capital Mogadishu.
The U.N. Secretary-general's representative to Somalia, Winston Tubman, said in a statement Friday:
"Somalis should not squander another opportunity to find peace, but should be seeking ways to reconcile
among themselves before the international interest in their country dissipates."
The 16-year old Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which is organizing the Somali peace talks,
is made up of seven East and Horn of Africa countries, including Somalia.

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SRRC Leader Says No Government In Somalia, Talks Should Be Between Factions
BBC Monitoring International Reports 09/09/02
Dr Hilowle Iman Omar, one of the SRRC Somali Reconciliation and Reconstruction Council executive
members, has rejected two points made by Kenyan foreign minister Marsden Madoka regarding the
forthcoming Somali peace talks scheduled to be held in Kenya. "It was a slip of the tongue and there is no
government in Somalia" said Mr Hilowle. He further said that the SRRC would attend the talks only if they
were conducted between the Arta faction interim government of Somalia and the SRRC.
Denying accusations, he said faction leaders were not to blame for the many postponements of the peace
talks in the past. "It is not wise to blame the Somali factions at this time when preparations for such peace
talks were under way," he said.
SRI LANKA
Norway secures Muslim-Tamil deal ahead of Sri Lanka peace talks
Agence France Presse 09/03/02
Peace broker Norway Tuesday secured a key agreement between Sri Lanka's two main minority groups
ahead of crucial talks aimed at ending decades of ethnic bloodshed in the island, diplomats said. Sri Lanka's
main Muslim leader Rauf Hakeem met with the Tamil rebel chief negotiator Anton Balasingham at the
residence of the Norwegian ambassador to London and sorted out their differences, diplomats said.
Hakeem left for London over the weekend to "clarify" his own position at the talks due to open in Thailand
on September 16 between the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan
government. Earlier, there had been reports that the Tigers were against the Muslim leader who represents
the second largest minority after Tamils entering talks as a representative of the Muslims.
However, after two hours of talks in London, the two sides agreed that Hakeem will initially be regarded a
government delegate while recognising his leadership of his Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) party. "It
was further agreed that Mr. Hakeem will participate in future rounds of talks as the leader of the Sri Lankan
Muslim Congress as well as the head of a Muslim delegation representing the Muslim community," the
Norwegian government said in a statement.
Sri Lanka's minority Muslim community is seen as crucial to the peace process aimed at ending three
decades of ethnic bloodshed that has claimed more than 60,000 lives. The role of the Muslims remained
crucial given the leverage the main SLMC has with the main political parties in the country, analysts said.
The government, with the support of the SLMC's 12 MPs, has a narrow two-seat majority in the 225member
parliament. Any pull out of Hakeem's SLMC from the government could rock the administration
and have serious implications for the peace process, officials said.
Muslims are considered a distinct ethnic community in Sri Lanka in addition to their religious identity and
form about seven percent of the 18.7 million population. Ethnic Tamils constitute 12.6 percent of the
population and are mainly Hindus. The majority Sinhalese are mostly Buddhists.
"The exact position of the Muslims at the Thai talks could be decisive for the success of the peace process
given the ethnic tensions between the Tamils and Muslims in the (embattled) eastern province," an Asian
diplomat said.
Muslims have complained of harassment at the hands of the Tigers in eastern Sri Lanka early this year. But
in April SLMC leader Hakeem entered into a pact with Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran to sort out
their problems. However, Muslims argue that they continue to be targeted by Tigers in the eastern province,
while police and security forces were reluctant to take action fearing it could be a breach of the Osloarranged
truce between the government and the LTTE in place since February 23. The Norwegian

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government said that the SLMC and the LTTE agreed to have a "broader meeting" after the first round of
peace talks in Thailand.
US praises Sri Lanka's lifting of ban on Tamil Tigers
Agence France Presse 09/05/02
The United States on Thursday praised Sri Lanka's decision to lift a ban on Tamil Tiger rebels, which
cleared the way for the start of crucial peace talks in Thailand later this month. Assistant Secretary of State
for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca said the move on Wednesday was "another very welcome step" in
the Norwegian-brokered process aimed at ending the three-decades-long conflict which has claimed 60,000
lives. "Recent developments in Sri Lanka have been encouraging and give rise to cautious optimism,"
Rocca said at a forum sponsored by the US Institute of Peace. "The United States strongly supports the Sri
Lankan peace process," Rocca said, urging both sides in the bloody conflict to continue to take constructive
steps towards peace.
Sri Lanka's defence minister, Tilak Marapone, rescinded the ban on the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) at midnight (1800 GMT Wednesday) to clear the way to start Norwegian-sponsored peace
talks in Thailand on September 16.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in an appearance at the same Washington forum, reflected on
the terrible human waste of the Sri Lankan conflict that he witnessed in a visit to the country's Jaffna
peninsula last month. "I can honestly say that I've not seen such a blessedly sad landscape in a long time,
especially since my service in Vietnam," he said. "Sri Lanka is now looking forward to the best chance in a
generation to reach some kind of peace settlement. I spoke of the possibility of stepped up relations with
the United States. I also saw a clear reminder of just how difficult the war against terrorism can be."
Armitage's visit to Sri Lanka and signal of a closer relationship with the Colombo government was seen in
the region as a signal to the Tigers that they have no choice but to embrace an eventual peace settlement.
Tens of thousands rally in support of peace in Sri Lanka
By SHIMALI SENANAYAKE; Associated Press 09/09/02
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans converged on the streets of Colombo on Monday in support of the
government's efforts to end the island nation's 19-year ethnic conflict. "This is just the beginning of a long
and arduous journey toward peace. It's only if we stand together that we can put a permanent end to the
bloodshed," Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in an address. The rally was one of the biggest ever
in Sri Lanka. The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam have been fighting government forces since 1983 for an
independent homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million minority Tamils, arguing that they suffer discrimination
at the hands of the Sinhalese majority.
The conflict has killed more than 64,500 people, but the bloodshed stopped after both sides signed a
Norway-brokered cease-fire agreement in February. Direct peace talks are to be held in Thailand later this
month.
Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka had the backing of the international community for its peace efforts,
especially after the events of Sept. 11. "We are working toward the transition of a rebel group, who have
sustained themselves through fighting, to work within a democratic and political framework. This is not an
easy task," Wickremesinghe said.
Participants at the rally chanted slogans and carried placards calling for "peace and democracy." Tamils in
the gathering performed a traditional dance dressed in colorful wraparound saris. Others carried flags. "This
is the best chance we have had for peace in two decades, it is our duty to support it," said R. Rupasinghe, a
59-year-old trader who had closed his shop in the southern city of Hambantota to participate in the rally.

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About 5,000 policemen were deployed on the streets of Colombo to prevent any attempts to sabotage the
event, police spokesman Rienzie Perera said. But there was no violence. Schools in the city were advised to
close early as traffic was diverted to make way for the rally. "We are able to gather here together today
because of the peace process. ... It is only if there is peace that there will be economic recovery," said S.
Saraswathi, a Tamil who had traveled seven hours to reach Colombo to show her support.
Wickremesinghe assumed office after winning parliamentary elections in December and has since made
several confidence-building moves, including last week's decision to lift a four-year ban on the Tamil
Tigers. Monday's rally followed earlier protests by Marxists and the island's powerful Buddhist clergy, who
accuse the government of jeopardizing national security by giving too many concessions to the Tigers.
Also see the website: www.peaceinsrilanka.org, launched September 9 by the Sri Lankan government.
SUDAN
Sudan peace talks in doubt as north pulls out in protest
By JAMES DRUMMOND Financial Times 09/03/02
Negotiations aimed at ending the 19-year civil war in Sudan were thrown into question yesterday when the
government in the north said it was halting peace talks in protest at the capture of an important southern
town. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Sudanese foreign minister, said in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, that talks
being held in Kenya aimed at fleshing out a framework peace agreement signed in July, had been
suspended "because of the atmosphere created by recent military operations".
Mr Ismail was responding to news that the Sudan People's Liberation Army had captured the garrison town
of Torit, which controls the road to Juba, the capital of southern Sudan. The fall of Torit followed that of
the equally important town of Kapoeta in early June. However, it was unclear yesterday how long the
suspension would last. BBC monitoring reported Khartoum state radio as saying negotiation would only
resume when the SPLA ended its "hostilities". However, the peace strategy sponsored by the Inter-
Governmental Authority on Development, a regional conflict solving body, and by the US, has deliberately
promoted a political framework for a settlement in the south of Sudan ahead of a ceasefire.
Western diplomats in Cairo pointed out yesterday that talks in the Kenyan town of Machakos had
apparently been proceeding satisfactorily even as the fighting around Torit raged last week. The Machakos
protocol, signed, much to the surprise of most observers, on July 20, envisages a six-year period of
autonomy for the war-ravaged south of Sudan. At the end of the six-year period, inhabitants of the south,
most of them animists and Christians who have been fighting against perceived dominance by the Muslim
north since 1983, would be offered the option of secession in a referendum.
The government in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, yesterday accused the SPLA of trying to create facts
on the ground in the hope of redrawing the boundaries of southern Sudan, delineated by Britain, the former
colonial power. Mr Ismail said. "They (the SPLA) want to impose conditions on the ground via military
operations . . . We ask Egypt and Arab countries to stand with Sudan . . . because Arab and regional
security are tied to stability and peace in Sudan."
News of the suspension will come as a relief to the Egyptian government, which is opposed to the
splintering of Sudan, in terms of its area the largest country in Africa. Egypt views the unity of Sudan as
vital to guaranteeing supplies of water through the Nile river.
About 2m people are thought to have died in Africa's longest-running civil war. Among the most difficult
issues facing negotiators is agreement on a dividing line between north and south, given that most of
Sudan's oilfields lie in the south. For regional reports, www.ft.com/mideastafrica

Peace Watch 1
09/09/02
Thousands march in Khartoum in support of government, foreign minister rules out talks with
rebels
By MOHAMED OSMAN; Associated Press 09/05/02
Thousands of pro-government supporters calling for jihad marched through Khartoum Thursday, while the
foreign minister said peace talks with southern rebels were over and a new military offensive was just
beginning.
The southern town of Torit, recently captured by the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army, "will return to
the homeland virgin and will not be desecrated by the rebels," President Omar el-Bashir told the crowd
estimated at 50,000 after the march in Khartoum ended at the gates of army headquarters. Foreign Minister
Mustafa Osman Ismail, speaking to reporters in Cairo after meeting Arab counterparts and Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak, said his government will not resume talks with the Sudan People's Liberation
Army until it wins back areas recently seized by the rebels. "We will continue mobilization and military
confrontation until mediators manage to convince" the SPLA to change its military agenda, he told
reporters after meeting Mubarak. He did not elaborate.
Sudan on Monday indefinitely suspended peace talks hosted by neighboring Kenya and prepared an
offensive to win back Torit, situated some 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of the Nile River port of
Juba. Torit was the southernmost government stronghold until rebels captured it Sunday.
Only six weeks ago, the Kenyan talks yielded a preliminary deal to end the country's 19-year civil war.
Ismail said Monday the Sudanese delegation suspended the talks because the rebels had poisoned the
atmosphere with their assault on Torit. "War has now been imposed on us. We had wanted a peace of
dignity, not a humiliating surrender," read a sign over the gate of Sudan's army headquarters in Khartoum
Thursday.
El-Bashir, dressed in military fatigues, stood on a platform over the gate. Below him, the crowd, which
included members of the paramilitary Popular Defense Forces, chanted anti-rebel slogans and called for
jihad, or Muslim holy war, to restore Torit. The march was organized by the ruling National Congress. The
crowd included mothers of soldiers killed in the civil war. The women, known as the "mothers of the
martyrs," chanted the Muslim tenet: "There is no god but God."
Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo Thursday issued a final communique praising Sudan for its efforts
to realize peace, while reiterating their support for the unity of Sudan, and the "rejection of any attempts to
divide it." Sudan's northern neighbor, Egypt, has expressed concern about the July 20 preliminary deal
struck in the Kenyan town of Machakos, which superseded a joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative aimed at
securing peace in Africa's largest country. The Machakos agreement endorses the principle of selfdetermination
for the south - where Sudan's oil reserves are found. The deal also allows southerners to hold
a referendum and provides for the separation of religion and state in southern Sudan, where people follow
traditional beliefs or Christianity. Egypt worries that a possible southern secession would set a precedent in
conflict-ridden African countries. It also worries that a new country along its Nile water resources would
make demands on its share of the Nile water.
The foreign ministers meeting in Cairo called for an Arab ministerial committee to be formed to follow up
on the Sudanese peace process in coordination with Khartoum, and for establishing a fund for southern
Sudan's development. Sudanese hard-liners have criticized the Khartoum government's overtures to the
rebels during the Kenyan peace talks, saying they could lead to a dilution of the Islamic character of
Sudan's government. El-Bashir appeared to be addressing those concerns Thursday, declaring, "Khartoum
will remain the capital of Islam and it will be only a Muslim city and sharia (Islamic law) will be
implemented in Khartoum without any reservation."
Sudan says it will resume peace talks once rebels stop attacks
Agence France Presse 09/09/02

Peace Watch 1
09/09/02
Khartoum will only resume peace talks with southern rebels if they halt attacks and withdraw a demand to
renegotiate some issues settled in a provisional peace deal signed in July, government officials said in
remarks published Monday.
Talks that were broken off when rebels seized a government stronghold more than a week ago could not
resume as long as there was fighting and previous agreements were ignored, First Vice President Ali
Osman Taha told the official Al-Anbaa daily. "Negotiation is meaningless so long as the war is going on,"
Taha said. A peace blueprint reached in Machakos, Kenya in July had raised hopes that Sudan could finally
end a 19-year civil war between the Arab and Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian and
animist south. Under the deal, southern Sudan will enjoy six years of self-rule, free from the Islamic law
applied in Khartoum and elsewhere in the north, and will then decide in a referendum if it wishes to remain
part of Sudan or secede.
But the government withdrew from talks on September 2 that aimed to turn the plan into reality after the
rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) captured the garrison town of Torit in Eastern
Equatoria State. "A return to the negotiation table will be made only under a clear commitment to cessation
of hostilities and refraining from raising or retracting what was agreed upon in the first round of the
Machakos talks," Taha said. He was referring to SPLA demands to make Khartoum a secular city as well as
redefine the southern Sudanese boundaries to include the Nuba Mountains and southern Blue Nile,
considered areas rich with oil reserves.
Taha has appealed to the mediators to make of the negotiations "a genuine peace forum rather than an
amusing play ... There should either be serious negotiations or no negotiations at all." Taha wondered why
a ceasefire similar to one brokered by the United States in the south-central Nuba Mountains that went into
effect last January could not be agreed upon in southern Sudan. The government opts for peace but "has
declared a mobilisation because the rebel movement has opted for war," said Taha, adding the government
"is determined to retake Torit."
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail was quoted by the state-run SUNA news agency as saying
"the government will not reverse the policy line it has adopted in response to a pressure by anybody," in an
apparent reference to Washington.
Sudanese newspapers have published reports that the US Congress would impose sanctions on Sudan if a
peace agreement was not reached in six months. Sudanese Justice Minister Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin
also said Khartoum "does not succumb to pressures and has gone to the negotiations out of its desire for
peace."
OTHERS
SHARON OFFERS PALESTINIANS PEACE TALKS
By Phil Reeves The Independent 09/05/02
AFTER SPURNING all talk of political negotiations with the Palestinians until their leadership is reformed
- and having declared Yasser Arafat a terrorist, a murderer and an irrelevancy - Ariel Sharon appeared to
shift ground yesterday by saying he is now willing to talk with his adversaries.
The Israeli Prime Minister also said, in an interview with Israel's Channel Two television last night, that for
the first time he sees an "opportunity for a breakthrough in a diplomatic arrangement". He added that "the
Palestinians have arrived at the conclusion that nothing can be achieved using terror". His comments are
likely to be welcomed, albeit with much restraint and caution, in Washington which wants Israel to calm
the conflict, not least because the continuing violence has complicated the Americans' task of laying the
diplomatic ground for moving against Iraq.

Peace Watch 1
09/09/02
But they will arouse deep scepticism among most Palestinians, who believe Mr Sharon's long-term
intention is to consolidate Israel's presence indefinitely over the bulk of the West Bank. They insist the
hard-right premier has no intention of political moves which will take them closer to achieving their goal of
statehood. One Palestinian minister, Ghassan al-Khatib, dismissed Mr Sharon's remarks as "nonsense",
saying they were "only directed to deceive international public opinion".
Palestinian officials say Israel's massive publicity drive to blame them for the violence is at odds with the
activities of its armed forces in the occupied territories, which killed 11 Palestinians last weekend,
including two children, despite a sharp drop in attacks on Israelis. Critics of Mr Sharon noted that his latest
pronouncements on peace-making coincided with the expulsion yesterday from the West Bank to the Gaza
Strip of two Palestinian relatives of a Palestinian militant. But strategic manoeuvring is afoot. Mr Sharon
may meet a senior Palestinian official, following four weeks which, until dusk yesterday, had been without
suicide bombings. Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper yesterday quoted Mr Sharon saying he has agreed
to meet an official in the next few days.
Mr Sharon's critics suspect this may be a public relations ploy to counter recent moves by the Palestinians
to regain international credibility by making noises suggesting they were ready for a cease-fire, laying the
blame on Israel for continuing bloodshed. As Mr Arafat is still in office - and as there is no prospect that
Mr Sharon and he will talk directly - there is uncertainty on both sides over the status and significance of
talks Israel may hold with any other Palestinian leader.
The plus points Mr Sharon hoped for were undermined yesterday by international criticism, from the UN,
EU and even the US, over the expulsion of two Palestinians to Gaza ordered by Israel's supreme court.
Blindfolded and with only a change of clothes and the equivalent of pounds 165 the brother and sister were
yesterday dumped in the overcrowded, fenced-in and poverty- stricken strip, paying the price for being
related to a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Israel security forces maintains they helped him
stage attacks.
Kifah Ajouri, a 38-year-old painter and decorator, and Intisar Ajouri, a pharmacist, were allowed to say
farewell to relatives at a detention centre in the West Bank. They were taken by Israeli armoured vehicle 10
miles south of a gaggle of journalists who had gathered to watch their arrival through the northern entrance
to Gaza, and dropped off near a vineyard. Reports said they were found by journalists wandering across
farmland and taken to a Palestinian human rights organisation.