Why Sudan has become a Bush priority

Prodded by the Bush team, Sudan's government and southern Christian rebels have been inching toward a comprehensive peace deal for about two years. The war broke out in 1983 after the south took up arms against Khartoum. Insurgents are looking for more equitable treatment of southerners and a share of the country's oil wealth. Negotiators are currently meeting in Kenya to work out details on peacekeeping and demobilization of troops. Another round of talks is set for later this year.

Such a deal would end Africa's longest-running civil war. It would also be a trophy the White House could hand to its Christian-conservative base, which became outraged over northern Arabs kidnapping and enslaving southern Christians during the war. And it would enable the US to proceed with lifting sanctions against Sudan and restoring formal diplomatic ties, which the US did on Monday with Libya, another Muslim country with past ties to terrorism.

At one point in January, a north-south deal was so close that Sudanese leaders from both sides began applying for visas to go to the White House for a signing ceremony. But recently, southern rebels have said they won't join with Sudan's government if it's involved in genocide in Darfur.

Human rights and other liberal-leaning groups have begun exerting pressure on the US to deal with growing abuses in Darfur. Amid 10th-anniversary commemorations of the Rwanda genocide in April, the chorus became stronger.

Politically, the Darfur issue is "easy for Bush, since he wins from the left and the right," says Robert Rotberg, an Africa scholar at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.

But finding a real solution may be harder. Despite growing desire in the administration and Congress for action on Darfur, there's little willingness to put US boots on the ground to stop the killing or keep the peace. Republican Senators like Mike DeWine of Ohio and John McCain of Arizona have advocated paying for other nations' troops - perhaps via a UN peacekeeping mission. But there's reluctance in the UN Security Council - reportedly among nations like China, Pakistan, and Algeria - to get too involved in Darfur.

UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan is also in Sudan this week to assess the situation. He's expected to meet up with Powell.

Also, there appears to be deep Sudanese suspicion about Powell's visit - a fear that's tied to US actions in Iraq. "The fear is that there is a premeditated plan to destabilize Sudan," says Abdul-Rahim Ali Mohamed Ibrahim, head of the Khartoum International Institute of Arabic Language. "We don't see what's happening in Iraq as all that different from what's happening in Sudan."

But the pressure does appear to be having some effect. Sudan's president recently ordered his military to disarm the Janjaweed militias, although it's not clear the order has been followed.

• Material from the wire services was used in this report.

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