Analysis: US Expanding Involvement In Sudan

The United States is planning to deploy 15 monitors and support staff to the Nuba mountain region in central Sudan, to ensure the compliance of a recently signed cease-fire between the government and the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebel group. The deployment will include either active-duty or retired military personnel who will be armed for self-protection.

The move represents an important expansion of U.S. involvement in Sudan's 18-year civil conflict between successive Arab and Muslim governments and animist and Christian rebel groups. The cease-fire in the strategically located Nuba mountains is seen as a test case for further peace talks in the country. However, suspending the conflict in that area will in reality free up the government and rebels to focus greater attention on prosecuting the war in other conflict zones.

Since Sept. 11, Washington has tried to re-establish a working relationship with Khartoum in order to gather intelligence on Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, which once operated out of Sudan. U.S. special envoy and former senator John Danforth has traveled to the country to mediate peace talks, and the Nuba cease-fire is a direct result of these efforts.

The Nuba mountains bisect the country and are located in the southern half of the Kurdufan province. They are also halfway between the capital and the country's southern oil fields. The mountains are excellent fighting ground for lightly armed, mobile and small guerrilla groups, and rebels can outflank government forces by using them as a base of operations. For years the government and rebels have both relied on local proxies to carry out much of the fighting.

An initial observer force arrived in the mountains on March 7 to pave the way for the deployment of the monitoring commission. The group will establish a base of operations and contact representatives of the 500,000-member local population; assess humanitarian requirements; and evaluate developmental issues and rehabilitation projects such as the removal of landmines and the reopening of roads destroyed in the fighting, reports Agence France-Press.