Eastern Front (Sudan)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement
)

Eastern Front
Active regionsEastern Sudan
  • Red Sea
  • Kassala
Allies Eritrea
Opponents Sudan
Battles and warsSecond Sudanese Civil War

The Eastern Front (

Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) was the primary member of the Eastern Front, the SPLA was obliged to leave by the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. Their place was taken in February 2004 after the merger of the larger Beja Congress with the smaller Rashaida Free Lions, two tribal based groups of the Beja and Rashaida people, respectively.[1] The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a rebel group from Darfur
in the west, then joined.

Red Sea states (in red), all of which border Eritrea (in light blue). The Red Sea
is marked in blue

Demands

Both the Free Lions and the Beja Congress stated that government inequity in the distribution of oil profits was the cause of their rebellion. They demanded to have a greater say in the composition of the national government, which has been seen as a destabilizing influence on the agreement ending the conflict in

occupation and its restitution to Sudanese sovereignty, as was the case prior to the 1990s.

Sudanese government response

The Eastern Front had threatened to block the flow of

Darfur conflict
, against the Rashaida and Beja.

Peace talks and agreement

The Eritrean government in mid-2006 dramatically changed their position on the conflict. From being the main supporter of the Eastern Front they decided that bringing the Sudanese government around the negotiating table for a possible agreement with the rebels would be in their best interests. The International Crisis Group suggests this is because they want to avoid any conflict on their Sudanese border in case of war with Ethiopia.[2] They were successful in their attempts and on 19 June 2006, the two sides signed an agreement on declaration of principles.[3] This was the start of four months of Eritrean-mediated negotiations for a comprehensive peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Eastern Front, which culminated in signing of the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement on 14 October 2006, in Asmara.

The agreement covers security issues, power sharing at a federal and regional level, and wealth sharing in regard to the three Eastern states

Al Qadarif.[4][5] It also established an Eastern Sudan States Coordinating Council to enhance coordination and cooperation between the three states.[6]

On 8 January 2011 the Federal Alliance of Eastern Sudan (FAES), a splinter group of the former rebel Eastern Front, merged with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), reaffirming the need to step up resistance to overthrow Bashir's government.

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "UNMIS Media Monitoring Report, 4 January 2006 (By Public Information Office)," United Nations Mission in Sudan
  2. ^ "Sudan: Saving Peace in the East" Archived 16 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine, International Crisis Group, 5 January 2006
  3. ^ "Sudanese government and East Sudan Front sign document on action program regarding the signing of security and military agreement". Eritrean Ministry of Information. 3 July 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2006. Retrieved 15 October 2006.
  4. ^ "Sudanese Government of National Unity and East Sudan Front sign Historic Peace Agreement in Asmara". Eritrean Ministry of Information. 14 October 2006. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 15 October 2006.
  5. ^ "SUDAN: Gov't, eastern rebels sign peace agreement". IRIN. 16 October 2006. Archived from the original on 28 November 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2006.
  6. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links