Friday, August 04, 2006

Arab militia and Arab janjaweed: How to tell the difference between the two?

Note to self. When it comes to violent conflict in Sudan, the only side I am on is that of the millions of defenceless women, children and elderly suffering at the hands of fit young men causing untold misery and grief, pillaging, raping, maiming and killing to get what they want. I favour non-violent conflict resolution.

Here below is an excerpt from the latest blog entry by UN SRSG Jan Pronk. Note the last line. I am pondering on why he's made such a statement. He's intelligent and educated. He's worked in Sudan for a few years and talks to many people at all levels. I can't imagine he'd make such a statement without believing it to be true. Note too he appears to be describing two different groups (1) Arab militia and (2) Arab janjaweed. How to delineate between the two I wonder. How would one know who is militia and who is janjaweed when it comes to disarmament and implemention of the Darfur Peace Agreement? How can one tell the difference if the janjaweed is just a collective name for a gangs of bandits? How would anyone know how to disarm the janjaweed if they can't even be identified? Do Arab militias wear identifiable uniforms? Here is the excerpt:

" ....The fear of the Sudanese, often openly expressed, is that the UN has a second agenda. [cut] Many suspect that the objective of the West is to re-colonize Sudan. They simply cannot understand that the aim is to protect people against violence and that the Security Council is motivated by an international outrage about the massacre of tens of thousands of people. They disregard the fact that nearly all victims and all refugees and displaced persons, waiting protection, are Muslims. In their view Western countries use peace keeping as a pretext: their real objective is to wage a war against Islam. They close their eyes for the fact that most victims are Africans, pursued and killed by Arab militia and Arab Janjaweed and are enraged about what they perceive as a conspiracy against Arabs. ..."

Related reports

Aug 4 2006 Arab militia and Arab janjaweed: How to tell the difference between the two?

Aug 4 2006 Pronk says Sudan's response to UN takeover of AMIS could not be misunderstood: "We are against such a transition. This is our final answer"- Bashir

Aug 4 2006 Jan Pronk: Is there a Plan B?

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