 After years of war and death, residents of this predominantly Christian southern city danced in the streets Sunday after rebel and government leaders signed a treaty to end Sudan's 21-year civil war. But caution mixed with joy among many war-scarred residents who worry about the future after the conflict that killed more than 2 million, mainly through war-induced famine and disease, and displaced 4 million more from their homes. "People keep asking me, `Father, is it true that peace has come, finally?'" said Rev. Santo Loku Pio, a local priest who also is secretary-general of the Juba archdiocese.
| It's possible, I suppose. But I'd trust Khartoum about as far as I could move it in a wheelbarrow. The idea of Bashir sharing power with Garang sound pretty far-fetched. There's way too much shariah in the water for that to happen... |
But the doubts and the hot, humid weather, could not dampen the festive atmosphere that descended on Juba after the peace treaty signing in Kenya by Sudan People's Liberation Army leader John Garang, who hails from this city of 160,000 people, and Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha. About 10,000 people, mainly ululating women wearing white gowns and red headscarves pinned with roses, marched through the city's wide, tree-lined streets in a procession to the city's main cathedral — for a ritual cleansing from the torture and pain that stained Juba's roads during the war. |