Statement On President Mubarak's Visit To White House

Save Darfur Coalition, Enough and Genocide Intervention Network Call on the U.S. and Egypt to Work Toward Lasting Peace in Sudan

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WASHINGTON - President Obama's August 18 meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is an opportunity for these two leaders to find common ground on an issue of great mutual importance: how to achieve a comprehensive and durable peace in Sudan. The International Criminal Court’s indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and the arms race between the parties to Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) have caused significant alarm in Cairo, where the stakes in Sudan’s future are undeniably high. A poorly managed self-determination referendum for southern Sudan and a return to full-scale civil war would further upset an already volatile regional security situation and complicate Egypt’s drive to prevent any interruptions to the flow of the Nile River. President Obama and President Mubarak should commit to work together to forge a strong international coalition that will pursue a common strategy for lasting peace in Sudan. The essential elements of such a strategy are the following:

Revitalize the Darfur peace process: The U.S. and Egypt should work jointly to press the Darfuri people’s political representation – including both rebels and civil society representatives – to articulate shared negotiating demands. Egypt must also lend its considerable diplomatic weight to ensuring that credible negotiations between Darfuris and the Sudanese regime progress in a timely manner.

Create consequences for subverting peace in the South: The North-South peace deal is in serious trouble. The main reason is that there is no consequence for obstructing implementation. The U.S. and Egypt should come to an understanding about what pressures and incentives would be most effective in driving the parties to implement the deal and avoid a return to full scale warfare.