Word: bashir
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...Asli A. Bashir...
Votes were cast in Sudan's first multiparty elections since 1986, held in accordance with a 2005 peace agreement that ended the nation's 22-year civil war. The landmark occasion was tainted, however, by accusations of vote rigging by supporters of President (and accused war criminal) Omar al-Bashir, leading many opposition parties to drop out of the race...
...Sudan scholars like Alex de Waal, program director at the Social Science Research Council in New York City, and author of several books on Sudan, have argued the indictment was cathartic but counterproductive. It offered Bashir no chance to compromise, they said, while making him a champion of anti-Western defiance. Those views may have found traction inside the White House of Obama, who has favored mixing carrots with sticks and made a preference for engagement over confrontation a cornerstone of his foreign policy. On Oct. 19, Obama outlined a Sudan strategy that encapsulated this new U.S. approach to world...
...Cautious Optimism The CPA is achieving some good results. Bashir is not a popular leader and his need to raise his standing before April's vote persuaded him in February to agree to a cease-fire with the more Islamist of the Darfur rebels (and Chad, which supports them) in return for their support. The largest group, the Justice and Equality Movement, may even end up with Cabinet seats. In the south, the approaching referendum also seems to have convinced Bashir to accept the possibility that twice provoked the north to war. "If the result of the referendum is separation...
...doubts remain. For one thing, Bashir might not be sincere. "The NCP [the ruling National Congress Party] takes a long-term view," says John Ashworth, of the IKV Pax Christi aid group and a Sudan veteran of 27 years. "They are prepared to take setbacks and retreat. They're also prepared to lie and say anything." The International Crisis Group's Sudan specialist Fouad Hikmat concurs: "Some people in the NCP say, 'There will be no referendum - instead we will burn this house.' And they can do it." One reason for the north to plan secretly to stop the south...