Waging Peace in Sudan: The Inside Story of the Negotiations That Ended Africa's Longest Civil War

Providing a level of detail seldom achieved in works of contemporary African history and diplomacy, this account shows, from a unique, insider’s perspective, how the civil war in Sudan, which ultimately claimed 2 million deaths and twice as many displaced, was finally brought to an end. By the late 1990s the international community had largely judged the war insoluble and turned its attention elsewhere. Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, a peace process between the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/A) took hold. The talks were facilitated by IGAD under Kenyan leadership, and supported by a ‘Troika’ of the United States, the UK, and Norway, whose intense engagement in the negotiations was critical for reaching the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005. The agreement ended a 20-year-old civil war pitting the indigenous Sudanese population against successive Arab Muslim regimes in Khartoum. Although the cast of characters in this drama ranged from President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell to unnamed officials in east African hotels, two figures stood out: the SPLM/A Chairman, Dr. John Garang, and Ali Osman Taha, First Vice President of Sudan. Norwegian Minister of International Development Hilde F. Johnson’s personal relationships with these two leaders gave her unique access and provided the basis for her pivotal role in the negotiations. She was party to virtually all their deliberations throughout this crucial period of Sudanese and African history and chronicles them in this volume.