News Article by THE INDEPENDENT posted on November 29, 2000 at 09:07:47: EST (-5 GMT)
Sudanese celebrate the return of their 'saviour'
THE INDEPENDENT
29 November 2000
By Caroline Hawley in Khartoum
"God is Great," chanted the crowds. "We give thanks to God." This week,
supporters of Sadeq el-Mahdi, the last democratically elected prime minister
of Sudan, have celebrated the return of the man they see as the saviour of
their vast troubled state in north-east Africa.
A sea of men in white robes and turbans waved traditional sticks and spears
as Mr el-Mahdi flew into the capital, Khartoum, last week, ending four years
of exile with a pledge to bring peace and democracy.
It was a welcome worthy of his great-grandfather, the Mahdi, the Islamic
leader who fought against Britain in the 19th century. Among those who
turned
out to greet Mr el-Mahdi was the man who overthrew him in a 1989
coup,
General Omar el-Bashir.
Sudan's Foreign Minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, is candid about
Sudanese-style "perestroika", of which Mr el-Mahdi's return is a part. He
says the government wants to exploit newly discovered oil fields but needs
outside help.
"We need to have good relations with the West and with those who have
technology," he says. "To have that you need to follow the international
tendency for more participation, democracy, human rights, openness, the rule
of law, and good governance."
It is a new language for a government which has committed widespread abuses
against northern and southern Sudanese over 11 years. In 1989, General
Bashir
backed by Hassan al-Turabi, the chief ideologue of his Islamist
government
with whom he split last year, overthrew Mr el-Mahdi, and held him
under house
arrest until he fled in 1996.
In exile, Mr el-Mahdi and his Umma party, the biggest in Sudan, joined the
NDA, an umbrella grouping of northern and southern rebels fighting to topple
the government. But last year, Mr el-Mahdi struck an agreement with
President
Omar al-Bashir, which paved the way for his homecoming.
Last Friday, thousands of his supporters turned out to hear their
Oxford-educated leader preach at the mosque of the Mahdi. Beneath posters of
the red-bearded, 21st-century Mahdi, black and white photographs were
circulated of his great-grandfather, whose supporters killed General Gordon
on the steps of what now serves as the presidential palace.
Many are cynical about Mr el-Mahdi's pledge to work for a solution to the
country's civil war. Southerners blame him for arming Arab tribes who
terrorise them in raids and abduct women and children. There is a widespread
belief that Mr el-Mahdi is using the split between President Bashir and his
former mentor, Hassan al-Turabi, in a bid to return to power.
But many northern Sudanese, weary of more than a decade of war and military
rule, want to believe his return can help create a "new Sudan" of peace and
political pluralism.
"It's the right time for all the opposition groups to come back to the
country and struggle against this dictatorship," said the human rights
activist, Ghazi Suleiman, who has been jailed 15 times, and tortured. "The
last battle against the government should not be in Asmara or Cairo or
Washington but in the heart of Khartoum."
Since the early days of the Islamist regime, the authorities have lost their
repressive zeal. In Khartoum, residents say the anti-alcohol public order
police, who also enforce modest dress, are less in evidence. Some women have
been seen on the streets without veils.
Whether democratic change will come, and stay, is the desperate hope of the
ordinary Sudanese.