And if their accomplishment seems as remote and timeless as its setting a tawny plain studded with acacia shrubs and long-horned cows the lessons learned in Wunlit while the world was watching Kosovo may have applications in other parts of the world.Ĭombat in Sudan has little in common with the push-button wars waged by developed countries. Their efforts were designed not to end the wider war between north and south but the divisions that had pitted southerner against southerner. Prodded by a former Presbyterian missionary from Vienna, Va., two competing tribes chose to save themselves and their children by drawing on the very traditions that had been endangered by the impersonal, indifferent way that conflicts are decided in 1990s. It happened in the tiny, sun-baked mud-and-thatch village of Wunlit, across 10 unlikely days this spring. Until, all at once, the people decided to end it. The old familiar cycle ran from attack, to retaliation, to attack. Automatic weapons fire excited rivalries once held in check by deeply anchored traditions. When the southern rebel movement began to fragment early in this decade, the divisions fell, predictably, along tribal lines. The south has paid the heaviest price in the fighting, sparked by its rebellion against domination by the largely Arab north. The civil war in Sudan seldom attracts attention abroad, even though the country is physically the largest in Africa and its decades-old conflict between north and south has claimed an estimated 2 million lives.Īlso obscure is the devastating effect that the war has had on the mostly black population of southern Sudan, whose ancient cultures have been torn apart by the encroachment of modern warfare. Isaac, once returned safely to the ground, placed his hand over Madut's heart.Īs beginnings to peace conferences go, these trust-building talks in a dusty village called Thiet would be what international observers call "auspicious" if, in fact, any international observers were around. "Welcome!" Madut cried, planting his feet, locking his fingers and hefting Chief Isaac Magok Gatluak into the air. Fashioned from a fur of brilliant red, this hat featured not only earflaps turned down in 100-degree heat, but also a pair of fuzzy red balls that dangled from those earflaps and jounced cheerily as the airplane door opened and Chief Madut Aguer Adel rushed, laughing, into the arms of his enemy. WUNLIT, Sudan The airport delegation gathered behind an extremely tall, extremely thin man in an amazing hat. ![]() Madut Atien is a member of the SPLA, which provided security for the peace conference.
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