White House to shift strategy on Sudan

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday will debut the Obama administration's new "incentives and pressure" strategy for Sudan.

The new approach -- which will emphasize cooperation with the state's embattled government, not isolation -- would see the White House take an active role in a long-standing conflict it has for the most part adjudicated from the sidelines. It would also represent a clear break from the tougher strategy Obama consistently proposed on the campaign trail.

“To advance peace and security in Sudan, we must engage with allies and with those with whom we disagree,” said the policy statement, which The New York Times obtained and first reported.

Under the new strategy, the United States would enforce the seminal peace agreement Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir signed with local rebels in 2004. That accord calls for an end to violence, a partnership between the warring north and south over oil wealth and a power-sharing government that better reflects the country's serious political divides.

Obama has always sought to enforce those goals, and he has frequently issued tough rebukes to Khartoum for failing to meet them. The president has also consistently urged al-Bashir to take some responsibility for the accusations of genocide or ethnic cleansing plaguing his country.

But Obama has also long suggested he would rather correct those crises with the help of a more amenable Sudanese government -- not necessarily through cooperation with al-Bashir, against whom the International Criminal Court last year issued a warrant for arrest.

Consequently, the president's new strategy could prove exceptionally tough for both the United States and Sudan, given al-Bashir's growing unpopularity. Critics in both political camps are likely to accuse him of doing too little or embroiling the United States further in another international conflict.

The president has long suggested, however, he does not want to commit troops to the region.