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    April 13, 2012

Sudan To Dominate First-Ever African Security Forum

   Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa

   One hundred influential Africans, including several current and former
   heads of state, are gathering for a weekend retreat on the shores of
   Ethiopia's Lake Tana for informal discussions on vexing security
   issues. A hoped for sideline summit between the presidents of Sudan and
   South Sudan has been cancelled as the two countries edge closer to war.
   South Sudan's President Salva Kiir is expected to attend the Tana High
   Level Security Forum Saturday and Sunday in the Ethiopian town of Bahir
   Dar. But organizers say Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir abruptly
   cancelled his attendance after southern troops crossed the border this
   week and captured the strategic oil center of Heglig.
   The cancellation dashed hopes that the two leaders might meet to avert
   the conflict that is already breaking out along the border. Military
   analysts say hostilities appear to be spreading into Sudan's Southern
   Kordofan and Blue Nile states, where food shortages are threatening a
   humanitarian catastrophe.
   The Lake Tana security forum was organized before Khartoum broke off
   African Union-mediated peace talks with the south. The original
   two-point agenda did not include Sudan. But with President Kiir
   expected to be there, along with AU mediation panel chief Thabo Mbeki,
   Sudan is likely to dominate the discussions.
   Organizer Andreas Eshete says the format of the forum is flexible to
   allow talks on whatever topic is on people's minds. "There will be two
   set sessions, on weak states and on diversity, and if there is a desire
   to discuss the situation in Sudan there will be a third meeting," he
   said. "Whether there is such a meeting or not, there will be plenty of
   occasions to discuss Sudan because there will be enough participants
   from Sudan and South Sudan as well as from all neighboring countries."
   Andreas says the confirmed guest list includes heads of state and
   government from Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti, as well as former
   leaders from South Africa, Mozambique and Nigeria. Former Nigerian
   president Olusegun Obasanjo, a prime mover behind the creation of the
   Tana Forum, will preside over the conference.
   African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra will also
   be there.
   Andreas, a former president of Addis Ababa University, says one of the
   main topics at the forum will be managing the diversity that is at once
   one of Africa's strengths and a cause of so many conflicts.
   "Religious diversity, ethnic diversity. It's clear ethnic diversity has
   figured prominently in African conflicts. There are signs now that
   there is growing differences and in some cases confrontations over
   religious diversity as in Egypt, even in Syria over different followers
   of Islam or different sects of Islam. Nigeria of course, so that's
   another dimension. We're leaving it open about what kind of diversity
   people wish to talk about," Andreas stated.
   Andreas says the Tana High Level Forum is based on the annual Munich
   security conference, where policy makers gather annually for an
   informal conversation about security trends and challenges in Europe.
   Plans for an African forum began to take shape after Ethiopian Prime
   Minister Meles Zenawi attended the Munich conference last year.
   Andreas told VOA the idea caught on with other leaders immediately
   because, as he put it, 'Africa's peace and security situation has its
   ups and downs, as anyone who follows Somalia or Sudan knows."

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