The Road To Peace, 1969–72

Abstract

The start of the peace process and the subsequent negotiations between the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) and the military government of Major General Jaafar Mohammed Numayri that resulted in the signing of the Addis Ababa Agreement in February 1972 have been discussed already by Cecil Eprile, Edgar O’ Ballance, Dunstan M. Wai, Abel Alier, and Douglas H. Johnson.¹ My intent is not to repeat what these scholars have presented, but rather to present a new analysis and interpretation of the peace agreement from a Southern Sudanese perspective, using information elicited primarily from interviews with leading Southerners who participated directly or indirectly in the peace process and subsequent settlement of the seventeen-year conflict in Sudan. It is my hope that this new and rare information will shed light on many unanswered questions pertaining to the peace agreement.