Excerpt from Jane Wells' first hand account of her trip to Darfur:
I try to disappear, sliding my hot and sticky body down the back seat of the SUV as it bounces along an unmarked dirt road. I realize for the first time since arriving in Sudan that I am actually terrified. Our cell phones have quit working, and now the VHF radio signal is gone. My companions, part of the relief group, the International Medical Corps (IMC), don't have to tell me that these could be signs of an impending Janjaweed attack...Read the rest of Jane's story at The Huffington Post and follow her five-part series, "Witness to Darfur," at The Huffington Post over the next four days.
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Darfur Sudan: New book "The Ambiguous Genocide" by Gerard Prunier
Coalition for Darfur blog features a post about a comment left by a reader pointing out a new book "The Ambiguous Genocide" by Gerard Prunier, author of "The Rwanda Crisis". Excerpt from the post:
Gerard Prunier sets out the ethnopolitical makeup of the Sudan and explains why the Darfur rebellion is regarded as a key threat to Arab power in the country - much more so than secessionism in the Christian South. This, he argues, accounts for the government's deployment of "exemplary violence" by the Janjaweed militias in order to intimidate other African Muslims into subservience. As the world watches; governments decide if, when, and how to intervene; and international organizations struggle to distribute aid, the knowledge in Prunier's book will provide crucial assistance.The book is due out in September. See Coalition for Darfur's post The Ambiguous Genocide for further details.
Tags: Darfur Coalition for Darfur Sudan Huffington Post Gerard Prunier Ambiguous Genocide Africa Janjaweed Jane Wells
Ingrid - totally off topic, but you might be interested in this post- quoting a chief from the Southern Sudan in 1950, warning of bloodshed.
ReplyDelete" ... there are many whose hearts are not so good, they call us "abid" (slaves) and despise our nakedness and our customs.' 'Do you not want to rule yourselves?' I asked. 'Yes, one day, but the time is not yet, the young men you have educated are conceited and dishonest and the old chiefs think only of their tribes. They are no match for the Northerners. The time is not yet - my father told me terrible things that happened before the Ingliz came.' 'We are soldiers not politicians,' I said. 'We must obey the orders we receive.' 'I know that, Janabuk, but I tell you this. On the day that the Ingliz leave us there will be bloodshed and more bloodshed. You will hear of it in Ingilterra and be sad, they will never govern us from Khartoum - never.' "
http://ukcommentators.blogspot.com/
2004_10_31_ukcommentators_archive.html
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PS - Mick Hartley has the best Sudan coverage of the UK bloggers.
Hello Laban, what a nice surprise to hear from you. Your blog has been in my newsfeed for the past few months. I see you are a shepherd in Dorset UK! I've read your profile over at Norms (I should have been number 69 over there but I haven't gotten around to answering Norms questionnaire yet - not sure that I ever will).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interesting comment. I wonder what you think of my latest post on the opinion piece by Lord Deedes.
Sorry for the delay in replying here but I have also spent some time catching up on your old blog - and that of Mick Hartley's who you say has the best Sudan coverage of the UK bloggers ... er ... um .... I am a UK blogger :-) Seriously, thanks for the link, I have put it in my sidebar, along with yours. Kind regards.