Sudan: Qatar Charity starts Darfur relief mission

Qatar Charity has announced the start of its relief mission in South Darfur, to alleviate the suffering of some 45,000 people living in the war-ravaged zone.

"QC's executive manager told reporters on Thursday that the relief operation, which ends in December 2006, will give priority to the immediate needs of the inhabitants."

Report at Sudan Tribune Aug 28, 2005. See more on Qatar.



Photo: Medina Khalil Arbab who has temporarily returned to Borta village, 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of El-Geneina in West Darfur, Sudan in order to cultivate her crops sits with her unidentified son Friday, Aug. 26, 2005. Medina said the janjaweed militia had destroyed her crops twice and had threatened to steal her possessions and beat her if she complained, and she now lives with tens of thousands of others in camps for internally displaced people. (AP Photo/Tanalee Smith/Yahoo)
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Chad: Growing crackdown on independent journalists

IFEX says four reporters in Chad have been jailed in the past two months.

One was fined and jailed for a year for publishing an interview with fellow journalist Djarma in which he accused Arab janjaweed members of the Chadian government of conspiring to silence him because of his coverage of the conflict between Arabs and black Africans in Darfur.

The jailings have prompted Journaliste en danger (JED), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres, RSF) to demand the journalists' immediate release and express concerns about press freedom in the country.
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Egypt, US to hold joint war games in September

The US military is to take part in the "Bright Star" joint military exercises in Egypt in September.

Thirteen countries are due to take part, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy, according to Rose al-Yussef newspaper, with Jordan and Pakistan participating for the first time.

Security forces hunt militants in Sinai

The Battle for Sinai: Army sappers joined a 5,000-strong security force Sunday in a sweep through the Sinai, as authorities stepped up their search for militants behind recent bombings of tourist centers on the rugged peninsula.

Apparently, they are currently hunting down suspected Islamist terrorists in the Mount Halal area of North Sinai.

[via Miss Mabrouk of Egypt: Hunt for Islamists Hiding in Caves]
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Eritrean foreign minister dies of heart attack

Eritrea's Foreign Minister Ali Said Abdella died of a heart attack on Sunday morning, the government said. Full story at Sudan Tribune Aug 28, 2005.
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Ideology in arms: The emergence of Darfur's Janjaweed

Julie Flint and Alex de Waal are authors of "Darfur: A Short History of a Long War," from which commentary is excerpted for THE DAILY STAR. The book is published by Zed Books, and will be available in October 2005.

Click here to read their commentary in Lebanon's Daily Star, August 30, 2005.

Tags: Darfur Sudan aid worker aid Qatar relief Egypt bandits Eritrea Bright Star Arabs Africans Janjaweed Chad