Embassy Statement From the Republic of Sudan on Failed US Policy

[XXPANTHAXX]

The following statement
was issued by the Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan:

These past two weeks have witnessed a flurry of letters to the Obama
administration from outraged activists and groups who in essence demand
that the president change his policy of engagement and assume, like the
previous administrations, a hostile posture towards Sudan. Among the
latest of these missives is one that explicitly calls for the
resignation and replacement of the U.S. envoy, General Scott Gration,
whose diplomacy has brought us closer to a resolution than his
predecessors have managed in years.

Ironically, this campaign comes at the backdrop of monumental
initiatives that Sudan and the international community have or will
inaugurate. Last week's conference in Moscow was one such initiative in
which the tremendous progress made by Sudan on the salient issues was
unanimously affirmed. And while recognizing the challenges that remain,
the summit acknowledged and pledged support to Sudan's ongoing efforts
to see a swift conclusion to those pending issues. Moscow's conference
was preceded by a number of other initiatives that sought to build
consensus between the rebel groups. Among these were the meetings held
in Cairo, Tripoli and those convened in Addis Ababa where the unity of
certain groups was achieved. The upcoming Doha conference, foreseen to
produce a final and comprehensive peace agreement for Darfur, is also a
significant milestone that is the fruit of earnest diplomatic efforts
exerted by Sudan and the international community.

Sudan is reaching out and taking steps to mend fences with Chad so full
diplomatic relations are restored. This will undoubtedly have a positive
impact on Darfur. There is also the democratic transformation of the
country that the upcoming elections will instigate. The Sudanese are
diligently working to create the necessary mechanisms that will ensure
the smooth conduct of legitimate plebiscites. In a matter of months
after these elections, a referendum is scheduled to take place.
Preparations for that are already underway and the parties are now
diligently working on the referendum law as promulgated in the CPA.

All of these highlight Sudan's serious commitment to peace and proactive
pursuit of solutions to the problems, a fact that clearly negates the
picture painted by these activists. Their statements stand in stark
contrast to those made by far more knowledgeable and impartial
international authorities on the ground. It was only last month when the
Joint Representative of the UN-AU, Rodolphe Adada, and the hybrid force
commander, General Luther Agwai proclaimed that the war in Darfur has
ended, a fact reiterated by the AU summit held shortly afterwards. And
yet these activists want the world to believe their own cooked up
"facts" and disregard what such credible authorities report. And the
world found out how deceitful these groups really are when the
dissenting group of Darfuris who helped build the case for ICC recently
announced at a conference in Ethiopia that they falsified information
and were told what to say.

It is true that the influence of these groups, which has primarily been
achieved by placing pressure on the White House to adopt policies
suiting to their own end, has had a devastating impact on the situation.
Voices from Darfur have long spoken out against these groups precisely
because of this fact. Therefore it is paramount that we face the fact
that the daily bread and butter of these groups comes from the very
crises they profess to "end"; so that while the rest of the peace-loving
world cries out for solutions, they're vigorously seeking ways to
undermine positive efforts and gains made.

Lastly, its noteworthy that most of those groups criticizing General
Gration today were also staunch critics of the previous envoys whose
modus operandi was more in-line with what the activists are now calling
for. Yet the inescapable fact is that these ambassadors were unable to
deliver any solutions to the problems. It is baffling then why someone
who claims to genuinely be in pursuit of peace, would advocate for a
policy proven to be failed and in fact detrimental. As for those rebel
groups who are calling for the resignation of another country's envoy,
the energy would best be spent on uniting and galvanizing their own
people so that they solve their own problems.

Information Office

Embassy of Sudan