Daily Darfur: Feeding Khartoum's Diplomatic Arrogance

by Michelle

Published February 09, 2009 @ 04:49AM PT

An article in the Washington Post this morning highlights a critical failure of the international community's approach to Sudan: The over-empowerment of Khartoum through diplomatic engagement.

Now, I'm not at all opposed to the diplomatic engagement of the world's more nefarious leaders --- such as the campaign debate over Obama's plans to engage with Iran --- but such relationships should not be of a normal tone and tenor. As Colum Lynch writes, "Sudan's diplomatic standing has hardly been diminished" by the war crimes investigation into Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir; for example, Sudan was recently elected chair of the Group of 77.

The result? An already-haughty authoritarian regime has been elevated to new levels of diplomatic arrogance:

"They can never do without us," Sudanese Ambassador to the UN Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad said. "Our diplomatic standing is always on the rise. Whenever others unjustly try to corner us, we emerge victorious."

Is it just me, or is such language mildly reminiscent of a certain style of "cowboy diplomacy" that characterized a certain internationally-reviled ex-US president? And we all know how he felt about international cooperation.

I understand Susan Rice's comment on the need to engage with hostile countries to "serve a larger policy goal" ...but what goal is an excessively empowered Khartoum serving, exactly?

Peace & Justice

A conference at Yale University on Friday sparked heated debate over the role of the ICC in the Darfur peace process. In his keynote address, ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo argued:

"Peace and justice have to work hand in hand," he said. "Mr. Al-Bashir will face justice."

Not surprisingly, a representative from the Sudanese government had a different take:

Akec Achiew Khoc, the Sudanese Ambassador to the U.S., disagreed with Moreno-Ocampo's assertion that al-Bashir's indictment would lead to peace. Addressing the conference as a guest after the first panel discussion, Khoc argued the move would exacerbate conflict.

I have a hard time understanding how anyone can give credence to such a stance, when it comes from the primary perpetrators of the conflict. Khoc treats the violence as if it's a force somehow out of the hands of his government. It definitely, definitely is not.

Other items of note...

For the first time in over a year, Darfuri rebels are meeting Sudanese government officials in Qatar this week:

"It is not negotiations, but consultation to open the way to formal negotiations," JEM official Tahir el-Feki told AFP.

Talks to talk about talking, that is.

Lastly, In another show of authoritarian acumen, Khartoum expelled Canadian-Egyptian reporter Heba Aly, after she made enquiries about an arms manufacturer in Khartoum. Aly reported for Bloomberg, the Christian Science Monitor, and IRIN, the UN news service.

[Photo from AP: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, shakes hands with Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad upon his arrival in the north Darfur capital of El Fasher, Sudan Wednesday Sept. 5, 2007.]