N Darfur: 2 Rwandan peacekeepers killed, 4 wounded

Armed group kills two African Union peacekeepers In Darfur Easy bourse reported today (via Dowjones BN) :

Two African Union peacekeepers were killed and three wounded when their convoy was ambushed in Darfur Saturday, the AU said in a statement.

A group of unidentified armed men attacked an AU fuel convoy traveling to the AU's HQ of El Fasher in North Darfur, the statement said.

From News.com.au:

The attack targeted a convoy carrying fuel in the Kuma area around 80 km northeast of Darfur's main town of el-Fasher. The area is under the control of rebels who did not sign the May peace deal, but the AU said it was not clear who the attackers were.

One AU source said the soldiers who were attacked were from Rwanda. Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa supply the majority of the soldiers in the AU force.

From AFP via News24:

Two Rwandan peacekeepers were killed and four wounded when unidentified gunmen ambushed their convoy in North Darfur on Saturday.

The six peacekeepers had been escorting a fuel convoy from El-Nahud to El-Fasher, said African Union Mission in Sudan spokesperson Mousa Hamani.

He said the attack was "a clear breach" of truce agreements in the war-ravaged western region.

"Two soldiers were killed and four others were injured," said Hamani.

"Two of them sustained serious injuries and were flown to Khartoum for medical treatment, while the other two are now being treated at a medical centre in El-Fasher. All of the six were from the Rwandese contingent."

The AU said three of its soldiers were killed by Sudan Liberation Army rebels in October. An AU peacekeeper was killed in an ambush in Darfur on May 29.

Pronk: Enforce implementation of DPA and start DDD

"The solution of this crisis should be found, first, by enforcing the implementation of what has been agreed, rather than allowing the Government and the Minawi faction to disregard their commitments," writes UN SRSG Jan Pronk in his latest blog entry Aug 18, 2006. He goes on to say:

"Second, by getting all parties on board (instead of alienating dissenters and attacking non-signatories) and inviting them to participate in all inclusive Darfurian institutions, whether they have signed the agreement or not (yet).

Third, by starting an all inclusive Darfur-Darfur dialogue as soon as possible and by linking this dialogue with reconstruction, return and reconciliation programmes, irrespective of the political stance of the groups concerned.

Last but not least, by establishing a robust international peace force, capable to deter and contain old and new assailants, Janjaweed as well as NRF, bandits as well as warlords. The DPA is more than a security arrangement. However, without an improving security situation all other elements of the DPA are bound to fail."

Sudan plans to send 10,500 troops to Darfur

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said it had obtained a copy of a proposal, drawn up by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, to send 10,500 new government troops to Darfur. Full report Reuters Aug 18, 2006 (via ST) - excerpt:

Bashir, quoted by the official Sudanese News Agency, told a gathering of the armed forces on Monday, "We are determined to defeat any forces entering the country just as Hizbollah has defeated the Israeli forces.

Photo: Soldiers man a Sudanese army checkpoint outside the abandoned village of Hashaba, south of Al-Fasher in Darfur, in June 2006. A UN-led force for Darfur would need up to 18,600 troops and intense international pressure has to be put on Sudan to accept the intervention, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said. (AFP Aug 1, 2006/Charles Onians)

Aug 18 2006 HRW report: U.N.: Reject Sudan's Darfur Plan - Khartoum tries to head off UN force to protect civilians (hat tip CFD)



Photo: A soldier with the Government of Sudan sits next to weapons and ammunition at an outpost in Sudan's northern Darfur town of Tawilla May 17, 2006.



Photo: Sudanese protestors from student and youth organisations rally in front of the parliament building in Khartoum, to protest against UN plans to deploy peacekeepers in Darfur in June 2006.

U.S. dismisses Sudan president's threat

The Bush administration on Friday dismissed a threat by Sudan's president to fire on any UN force sent to Darfur, AP's Barry Schweid reported Aug 18, 2006. Excerpt:

The African Union, which has peacekeeping troops in the western Sudanese region, would make up the majority of an expanded UN force that would benefit the Sudanese government as well as the people of Darfur, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.

"Ultimately, we believe that this is in the interest of all the participants in Sudan, including the government, and we expect that they will ultimately agree to let this go forward," he said.

A draft resolution by the United States and Britain was introduced at the United Nations on Thursday.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has warned that Sudan's army would fight any UN forces sent to Darfur, while Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry stressed that no UN force would be deployed in Darfur without the consent of the government.

Casey said the Sudanese government has said in the past it would welcome the UN forces to help monitor and enforce a peace agreement. "That's what we are trying to do here," the spokesman said.

"And, ultimately, we believe that is not only what should happen but that is what will happen," Casey said.

With violence escalating in Darfur, Jones Parry said he hopes the resolution can be adopted by the end of August.

In New York, the deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, Mark Malloch Brown, said, "We are extremely worried about the deterioration of the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur, and the absence of a clear political path to the deployment of the U.N. force."

"It is very important that we all pay lots of attention to Darfur," he said. "Something very ugly is brewing there."

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US THREATENS SUDAN AFTER UN RESISTANCE

Aug 19 2006 Sapa-AFP report by P Parameswaran (via IOL) US threatens Sudan after UN resistance:

A senior US State Department official warned Friday about "the reality" facing Sudan if it "confronted with a unified international community" and a UN resolution that was "the will of the international community."

Referring to Beshir's threat, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, asked: "Do they want to defy that, and if they do, then what are the potential consequences for them?"

"Don't forget there is a process in The Hague going on in terms of investigations of potential war crimes," the official said, referring to demands by the international community that Darfur war crimes suspects be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

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THEY'RE WASTING PRECIOUS TIME ARGUING

Commentary by Drima: The Sudanese Thinker re U.S. Dismisses Sudan President's Threat:

"The debate on UN troops hasn't ended yet and it doesn't seem like it will end any time soon. I'm tired. They're wasting precious time arguing.

As I've stated previously, AU being in command is the best option we have. Bashir's regime doesn't trust the UN troops coming into Darfur under chapter 7. The UN should just accept it. They should also take Al-Qaeda's threats seriously.

Darfur will turn into a war zone if the UN troops come into it without the Sudanese dictatorship's consent. That ought to make things real "humanitarian" for the people there."

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DISPLACED WOMEN WAITING ... FOR WHAT? MORE WAR?



Feb 19 2005 photo: Displaced Sudanese women from Darfur. Violence in refugee camps sheltering 2.5 million people in Darfur has rocketed since a peace deal was signed in May and threatens to jeopardise the world's largest aid operation, a joint statement by four major aid agencies said on Tuesday. (Stringer/Reuters Aug 8, 2006)



May 2006 photo: Displaced Darfuris are seen in the town of Gereida, southern Darfur, May 2006. The US and Britain presented a draft resolution to the UN outlining the deployment of 17,000 peacekeepers to Darfur, despite opposition by the Sudanese government. (AFP Aug 17, 2006/Jonah Fisher)



Photo: A woman stands in front of her shelter at a camp for Internally Displaced Persons in North Darfur, June 13 2006. (Reuters Aug 17, 2006/Zohra Bensemra)

UPDATE: US EXPECTS SUDANESE ACCEPTANCE OF UN FORCE

Coaliton for Darfur points to VOA report US Expects Sudanese Acceptance of UN Force. Report excerpt:

Sudan has strongly opposed the proposed upgrade of the international peacekeeping presence in Darfur, with President Omar al-Bashir even threatening to forcibly resist the introduction of U.N. troops.

However, officials here say they think the Khartoum government will eventually relent, and they make clear that the introduction of Thursday's U.N. resolution is aimed at building international pressure on the Sudanese leadership to reconsider.

At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey noted that Sudanese officials initially signaled acceptance of the force upgrade when a Darfur peace agreement was forged between the government and rebel groups last May in Nigeria.

He suggested that once the global community, through the Security Council, has spoken forcefully about the need for the Darfur force, the Sudanese government will reconsider.

"Once the international community has spoken to this issue, then let's see what the reaction of the Sudanese government is," said Mr. Casey. "Again, I think if you look historically at what's occurred here, the government of Sudan has, when appropriately presented with facts on the ground, responded to them. I think at this point what we need to do is not worry about where they are today, but worry about where they are once we get a resolution passed that authorizes this force."

Casey noted that there already is a United Nations force in Sudan working to implement the country's north-south peace accord, and that the envisaged 17,000-member Darfur peacekeeping mission would be built on the existing African Union presence.

Veto-wielding Security Council members Russia and China have expressed reservations about the U.S.-British draft but spokesman Casey said the Bush administration is optimistic about chances for its early adoption.

He said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, though nominally on vacation, has been conducting telephone diplomacy on behalf of the resolution and spoke about it this week with, among others, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

"Something very ugly is brewing there," Mark Malloch Brown - UN troops cannot be sent without agreement from Khartoum

UN troops cannot be sent without agreement from Khartoum, Reuters report reminds us Aug 18 2006 (via ST).

Also, the report reveals that Mark Malloch Brown, the deputy UN secretary-general, has told reporters:

"Something very ugly is brewing there. We are extraordinarily concerned. We are extremely worried about the deterioration of the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur, and the absence of a clear path to the deployment of a UN force."

Photo: The United States warned Sudan of potential consequences if it continued to resist UN peacekeepers in Darfur, hinting of stepped up moves for an international probe on alleged war crimes in the region. Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, seen here in June 2006, has warned that his country would confront any UN-sponsored forces sent to Darfur (AFP/Aug 18, 2006/Issouf Sanogo)

Note, the above Reuter's report states that in Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said "the Sudanese government has both a need and an obligation to accept this force as part of the peace deal that they, themselves, agreed to." From what I can gather, the Sudanese government has never accepted a UN force as part of the peace deal. Unlike the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) for southern Sudan, the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) does not include a peacekeeping force.

UN troops would reinforce AU presence already in Darfur

The British officials who drew up the latest draft resolution on Darfur say they hope it can be adopted by the Security Council within a month, to enable troops to be deployed in January, BBC news reported Aug 19, 2006.

The BBC report tells us Russia and China have some reservations. And that new troops would reinforce an African Union presence already there in Darfur.



Photo: An African Union armoured personnel carrier patrols the Sudanese village of Gos Beina, south of the town of al-Fasher in Darfur. (AFP Aug 1, 2006/Charles Onians)

Note, earlier news reports filed here at Sudan Watch, suggest there's talk of using peacekeepers from the UN mission in southern Sudan (UNMIS).



Photo: An African Union soldier stands guard in the village of Gos Beina during an AU patrol south of the town of al-Fasher in Darfur, June 2006. (AFP Jul 29,2006/Charles Onians)

Sudan removes squatters' slum housing nr Khartoum

Khartoum is surrounded by miles of slum housing where millions of Sudanese from the war-torn south and west of the country have sought shelter over the past two decades from conflict, disease and famine.

But land prices have soared and the government wants the land the build houses or sell to investors. Full report Sudan Tribune Aug 18, 2006.
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Aug 17 2006 BBC report - UN call to stop Sudan demolitions - Heavily armed policemen and tanks had surrounded the squatter camp at Dar es Salaam, some 40km from the capital, before moving in at 0800 local time, the UN said in a statement on Thursday. United Nations officials in the area were barred from entering the area, but heard gunshots. There are reports of deaths, including a child.
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THOSE FILTHY CRIMINALS

In the comments at Drima's Sudanese Thinker blog, a reader called Tse asks:

How come land prices skyrocketed for land near Karthoum? Does the government provide alternative housing? What's gonna happen to these unfortunate people now?

Drima replied:

"Land prices are skyrocketing in Khartoum because of the massive number of foreigners and companies moving into Khartoum's best districts. Demand is increasing quickly and as a consequence so are the prices. Higher prices mean more profit for businessmen with conncetions to the government or in the government. Since normal business in Sudan is risky because of corruption and a screwed up economy, many people over the years have turned to investing in real estate because it's much less riskier. There are so many foreigners in Khartoum now and it's slowly getting crowded. Investors want to develop massive areas of land surrounding Khartoum to accomodate the growing demand. They clear the land. They use it and they make more money. The rich gets richer and the poor get poorer.

Alternative housing??! LOL. Welcome to Sudan where there is no such thing. Here in Malaysia, the government by the law must provide decent alternative housing before removing illegal squaters. Sudan? Nada, zip, nothing! These people have to go and squater somewhere else now. They'll be forced to move to worse places with no proper access to water or electricity. Getting some water will require a longer walk.

It's one sad disgusting reality that I can't stand Tse. Sudan now is like Europe during the dark ages.

JEM calls upon Sudan to release Slovene envoy

Aug 17 2006 Darfur outlaws JEM (Khartoum declared them terrorists) appeal to Sudan's president for release of Slovenian envoy, Tomo Kriznar.

See Tomo Kriznar - official website where one can read the first chapter of Tomo Kriznar's book NUBA, Pure People. [hat tip POTP]

Sudan rejects US-UK proposal of UN troops in Darfur

Aug 18 2006 The New York Sun (Benny Avni) - excerpt:

An American-British proposal to deploy 17,000 troops in Darfur was immediately rejected yesterday by Khartoum. President Bashir threatened that if the UN-led force reaches his country, it will be "defeated" like Israel by Hezbollah.

"We are determined to defeat any forces entering the country, just as Hezbollah has defeated the Israeli forces," [Sudanese president] Mr Bashir said yesterday.

"Legally speaking, the African Union" does not have "the right to transfer" the mandate in Darfur to a UN-led force, Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations, Omar Bashir Manis, said. "The Sudan government is opposed to the sending of troops, and I cannot see how anyone can envisage sending troops to a country which is not welcoming those troops."

Earlier this year the African Union's Peace and Security Commission met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where it decided "in principal" to pass the mandate of its force to the United Nations.

Sudan gov't consent not required in the resolution

Excerpt from commentary by Tim Fernholz at New Republic Aug 17, 2006:

"Transcript of a press gaggle with Ambassador Jackie Sanders, the alternative representative for special political affairs to the United Nations:

Reporter: Ambassador, on that last point, [Sudanese] President [Omar Al] Bashir said as recently as yesterday that not only will he not welcome a U.N. force, he would attack it. What do you plan to do about that?

Ambassador Sanders: Well, there are a number of high level dialogues going on including from the United States. The UK is sending an envoy to the region to speak with him, and I think--as was discussed in the Council today--all the countries of the Council and any country that has any influence with this government is welcome and encouraged to use its influence to get the president to get on board with this... .

Reporter: Is the consent of the government of Sudan required by this resolution as far as you see it?

Ambassador Sanders: I would say it is not required. The fact of the matter is it's in our job description to get this thing adopted, then it's in the job description of the government of Sudan to consent to it and to move forward. And that's what we are expecting and that's what we're going to work toward.

Reporter: Sorry, you just said not required?

Ambassador Sanders: The consent is not required in the resolution.

Reporter: But it's required for the force?

Ambassador Sanders: Well practically speaking, it's going to be useful to have the government on board to get this accomplished."

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Deteriorating situation calls for action, US diplomat says

From US Department of State 17 Aug 2006 re US, UK submit resolution on UN peacekeepers for Darfur:

"After a private meeting with the Security Council to present the resolution, U.S. Ambassador Jackie Sanders said, "Hopefully, we'll get a resolution adopted quickly and unanimously."

"We hope the government of Sudan will do its part," said Sanders, the deputy U.S. envoy to the United Nations."

Unanimously? Everyone on UN Security Council, including China and Russia? She can't be serious.

NATO's helping AU forces headed to Darfur

US Department of Defence News Briefing with Gen. Jones from the Pentagon Aug 17, 2006 - excerpt:

"We have a small mission in support of the African Union in Ethiopia, in which we bring some capacity building to the African forces that are headed to Darfur and also some strategic lift in and out of Darfur for the nations that are committing those battalions." - Commander, U.S. European Command, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, General James L. Jones.

Sudan may be gearing up for major offensive in Darfur, UN peacekeeping official warns

Aug 17 2006 UN News Centre report says Sudan may be gearing up for major offensive in Darfur, UN peacekeeping official warns:

The Sudanese Government seems to be determined to pursue a major military offensive in strife-torn Darfur, building up its armed forces in the region as the situation there deteriorates, the Security Council heard today.

In a closed-door briefing, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi also warned the Council that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has reiterated his opposition to a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur and vowed that the Sudanese armed forces would fight any UN force dispatched to the region.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that Mr Annabi urged the Council to consider re-engaging Khartoum directly for a final discussion on the question of whether it would agree to a UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur.

The President of the Security Council, Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng, told reporters following the meeting that a draft resolution had been introduced on Sudan. "We are looking at the possibility of bringing all the major players to a meeting here, the League of Arab States, the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference), the African Union and a representative of the Sudanese Government," he said, adding that the first two had already accepted.

Draft resolution proposes extending UNMIS to cover Darfur; AU force would transfer to UN by end Sep

FT.com report Sudan under pressure to admit UN force by Jonathan Birchall at the UN and Andrew England in Nairobi Aug 17 2006. Excerpt:

Diplomatic efforts to persuade Sudan to admit United Nations peacekeepers to Darfur intensified on Thursday, as Britain introduced a draft Security Council resolution that could lead to the deployment of up to 20,000 UN troops and police in the troubled region.

The draft resolution came as the Security Council met to discuss the continuing violence in Darfur, despite a peace agreement signed in May by the government and one of the three main rebel groups.

The draft resolution would require the consent of President Bashir for the force to be deployed to Darfur, but is seen as a way of increasing the pressure on him to do so. It proposes extending the existing UN mission in Sudan - Unmis - to cover Darfur as well, and giving its military commander the ability to move troops between the two regions as required.

Under the draft resolution, the African Union force would be transferred to the UN's authority by the end of September, with UN members providing additional logistical and transport support that would increase its ability to move across a region the size of France.

Meanwhile, the rebels have split into numerous factions and the fighting often turns into banditry, creating an environment that would pose enormous challenges for any peacekeeping force.

U.S. and Britain want UN to authorise troops for Darfur

Britain and the United States on Thursday introduced a UN Security Council resolution to send some 17,000 UN peacekeepers to the Darfur region of Sudan, despite opposition from the Khartoum government, Reuters (Matthew Verrinder)/Scotsman reported Aug 17 2006. Excerpt:

The resolution can be adopted without any consent from Sudan, US Deputy Ambassador Jackie Sanders said. But in practice troops cannot be deployed until Khartoum agrees.

"I hope that when we negotiate this text, there will be clarity from the government of Sudan that such an operation, favoured by the African Union and favoured by the Security Council should take place," Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters.

The draft resolution asks UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to work out a plan and timetable with the African Union for a transition and for sending in reinforcements no later than October 1.

The number of troops to be authorised in the resolution suggests 17,300. But this figure is not settled yet, and Jones Parry said he expected the number to be closer to 15,000.

HUMANITARIAN WORKERS ENDANGERED

Parts of the resolution are under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows troops a greater use of force. Sudan objects to this provision, viewing it as tantamount to an invasion or occupation.

"I understand Khartoum and the perception they have with Chapter 7," Jones Parry said. "Those perceptions are not soundly based."

He said the resolution was meant only to support a peace agreement in Darfur and help endangered humanitarian workers who have been under attack in recent weeks. Eight aid workers died in July, more than in the previous two years.

Some diplomats questioned whether Russia and China, who have veto power in the 15-nation Security Council, would support any measure disapproved by Khartoum.

Arab nations, who prefer the African Union stay in Darfur, are also allies of Khartoum and have rarely criticised its policies in Darfur.

Should U.N. troops go to Darfur, Jones Parry said UN peacekeepers in the field would number more than 100,000, the highest number ever in 18 missions.

The United Nations already has close to 10,000 troops in southern Sudan to monitor a peace agreement between Khartoum and the former southern rebels.

The draft resolution follows a letter on August 10 to the council by Annan on escalating violence in Darfur.

"While the government maintains its firm opposition (to U.N. troops), the situation on the ground is deteriorating, and the AU mission's ability to function for the remainder of 2006 is being jeopardised by a funding crisis," Annan wrote.

[Note, the report quotes Sir Emyr Jones Parry as saying that should UN troops go to Darfur, UN peacekeepers in the field would number more than 100,000, the highest number ever in 18 missions]

Darfur holdout rebels accuse AU of ending truce - Sudan gov't declares Darfur rebel holdouts "terrorists"

The African Union said it took the decision to evict holdout rebels from its HQ after the Sudanese government declared the non-signing groups "terrorists" and told the AU it could not guarantee the safety of the representatives in AU camps. - Reuters' Opheera McDoom/Scotsman report 17 Aug 2006 - excerpt:

Darfur rebels accused the African Union on Thursday of supporting what it said was government aggression against them by evicting them from homeless camps in Sudan's remote western region.

Only one of three rebel negotiating factions signed an AU-brokered peace deal for the region in May and on Wednesday the AU evicted officials from factions which did not join up.

Prior to May's deal, the pan-African body employed representatives of all three groups to help investigate violations of a shaky truce agreed in 2004.

The AU said it took the decision after the government of Sudan declared the non-signing groups "terrorists" and told the AU it could not guarantee the safety of the representatives in AU camps.

"Given the far-reaching implications of that decision, and the fact that (The AU) did not want to expose the personnel of these movements to any personal risks, it had no other option than to suspend their participation," the AU said in a statement.

But Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which did not sign the May deal, said the AU decision was "legitimising this aggression from the government side against us".

"By doing so the AU is terminating the ceasefire agreement of April 2004," Ibrahim told Reuters from Paris.

The move could hinder investigations of truce violations as AU troops may not be able to travel safely in areas controlled by the two factions that did not sign the peace deal.

The humanitarian truce in April 2004 was agreed by all rebel groups and the government to allow aid agencies to access those in need. UN officials called Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

JEM and some other non-signatories formed a new alliance called the National Redemption Front which attacked the town of Hamrat al-Sheikh in Kordofan neighbouring Darfur in June.

The government reacted by attacking their positions in Darfur, the NRF and the AU said.

JEM's Ibrahim said the truce was legally binding in Darfur alone and not in any other parts of Sudan, so they were not violating the truce with the attack on Hamrat al-Sheikh.

[Note, the report tells us that JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim is now in Paris, France. How does he afford his lifestyle, does anybody know?]

GIF's "Scorecard" grades Congress efforts to end Darfur war

Click here to read about GIF's Darfur Scorecard, grading US Congress on its efforts to end the war in Darfur, Sudan. - via US Newswire/Ivan Boothe Genocide Intervention Network (GIF):

The scorecard measures whether each member of Congress supported and voted in favor of significant Darfur legislation introduced in the 109th Congress. The scorecard also recognizes extraordinary actions, such as sponsoring key legislation and congressional visits to the Darfur region.

The scorecard also gives constituents the tools to contact their members of Congress about their records and potential future actions on Darfur.

Nomads live with constant fear of being attacked by rebels mistaking them for Janjaweed - Kabkabiya town in N Darfur is marked "empty"

According to an IRIN report here below, an assessment report jointly published in April 2005 by relief agencies working in Sudan, said "African communities" constituted the majority of people living in the three states of North Darfur, South Darfur and West Darfur. The nomads, it added, made up about 20 percent of the population living in the three states.

IRIN's report quotes a nomad as saying the SLM/A rebels have guns and cars and are well organised. I still wonder how Sudanese rebels get guns, cars, satellite phones, petrol and money to pay for years of war. Can't help thinking it is all somehow connected to oil exploration and land rights.

Also, IRIN's report quotes the religious leader of a semi-nomadic clan as saying his clan was not in a camp for internally displaced persons, as is the case with most communities in Darfur, as they were afraid of losing their culture and customs. He said many nomads felt the need to protect themselves after the Darfur conflict started and some joined the Janjaweed voluntarily. The Janjaweed is a looting group, they are not real Arabs, they are made up of thieves from different tribes, he told IRIN.

See IRIN's report July 28 2005 on The forgotten nomads of Darfur.



Photo: A nomadic man from the Maharia-Riziegat community pictured near Kabkabiya. (IRIN)



Photo: The nomads in North Darfur moving during rainy season. (IRIN)



Photo: A nomad from the Mahami-Rizieget community in south Kabkabiya town, North Darfur. (IRIN)

5m IDPs in Sudan, including 1.8m from Darfur

I wonder how many of these were nomads:

More than one year after the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended 21 years of civil war between the central government and the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army, there are still an estimated five million internally displaced people in Sudan, including 1.8 million from the separate conflict in the western Darfur region

Source: Internal Displacement Centre - Sudan: Slow IDP return to south while Darfur crisis continues unabated 17 Aug 2006. (via ReliefWeb)

Reporters Without Borders calls for release of Slovenian envoy Tomo Kriznar jailed for 2 years by Darfurian court

Aug 17 2006 Reporters sans fronti�res report excerpt:

Reporters Without Borders called today for the release of Slovenian writer and activist Tomo Kriznar after he was sentenced on 14 August by a court in Al Fashir, the capital of the western state of North Darfur, to two years in prison on charges of spying and publishing false information. Kriznar, who was acting as a special envoy of his country's president, was arrested in Darfur on 19 July.

"We condemn this outrageous manoeuvre by the Sudanese government, which is clearly aimed at discouraging journalists and humanitarian activists from investigating the large-scale massacres that have been taking place in Darfur for the past three years," Reporters Without Borders said.

"Kriznar used his position as a writer, photographer and human rights activist to denounce this major humanitarian crisis," the organisation added. "The government cannot negotiate with rebel groups under Slovenia's aegis and at the same time jail a Slovenian representative under an absurd pretext."

See Aug 16 2006 - Jailed Slovene envoy Tomo Kriznar to appeal against verdict



Photo: Tomo Kriznar (Yahoo News)

Sudan's Darfur: Where's Mama Mongella and the voices of the AU born Pan-African Parliament (PAP) to mobilise the Arab world, Egypt and Saudi Arabia?

Note to self. Here is a copy of April 6 2005 report (via 2005 Sudan Watch archive - AU report says Sudan's Darfur force should be 7,000 by August):

Pan-African Parliament wants AU soldiers to protect civilians in Darfur



Photo [AFP April 2005]: A Rwandan soldier operating under the African Union mandate plays with children outside the AU base in Kab Kabiya, north west of El-Fasher, Sudan.

AFP report April 5 [2005] says the Pan-African Parliament Tuesday urged the African Union to extend the mandate of its soldiers to include the protection of civilians in Darfur, a spokesman said. Excerpt:

"The mandate of the protectors in the ceasefire commission must be enhanced to go beyond protection of military observers," said PAP spokesman Khuitse Diseko.

This plea forms part of the recommendations of a PAP report on a fact-finding mission presented before the parliament at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Johannesburg. The report said the mandate of the AU soldiers should include the protection of the population in the Darfur region.

"All the necessary institutions and resources should be mobilised to ensure that ceasefire agreements are observed," said Diseko.

"The PAP delegates appealed for ceasefire agreements to be observed, as there was still a low scale war going on in the region," said Diseko.

"This problem is not only depressing but continues to hold us back as a continent geared on making the 21st century an African century. We want to build roads and telecommunication lines to develop Africa," said Diseko.

PAP sent its fact-finding mission to Sudan last November with a mandate to examine what was happening on the ground in Darfur. The PAP recommendations follow an internal AU report calling on the 53-member bloc to double the size of its military force in Darfur over the next four months.

The AU has some 2,200 troops in Darfur protecting AU observers monitoring a shaky ceasefire between Khartoum, its proxy militia and two rebel groups who have been fighting the government for two years. By the end of May, the AU plans to have boosted that number to 3,200 soldiers.

Established in March by the African Union, the PAP has no powers to pass laws and has no budget for this year although the 265-seat assembly plans to evolve into a law-making body around 2009.

Mar 26 2005 - PAP urges Sudanese to disarm Janjaweed - Gertrude Mongella, President of PAP

Oct 24 2005 - Calling Mama Mongella: The stability of Sudan is fundamental to the whole of the African continent:

EU Press Office Mary Brazier wrote: "We need the good will of everyone and we need to mobilise the Arab world, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Finally, and above all, we must support the African Union, which is doing a great deal of work on the ground and is seeking to secure a lasting settlement of the crisis in Darfur. That is why the cooperation under way in Darfur between the European Union and the African Union, which I regard as exemplary, is so important and why it sets a good precedent for our relations in the future in other African theatres."

Photo: PAP President Gertrude Ibengwa Mongella: an astute diplomat, at an official function at the US Embassy in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. At present, Mongella is a member of CCM's top decision-making organ, the National Executive Committee. She is also Tanzania's Goodwill Ambassador to the World Health Organisation, a member of the Council of The Future at Unesco and the President of NGO Advocacy in Africa. (via Sudan Watch archive Oct 24 2005)

Mar 3 2006 Sudan might pull out of AU - Sudan restructures armed forces - A Sudanese minister says his country might pull out of the African Union if the AU's Peace and Security Council approves replacement of the AU force in Darfur with a UN force.

Mar 20 2006 NATO - NATO ready to help UN in Darfur - What happened to NATO supporting African Union Mission in Darfur?

Apr 10 2006 UN SRSG Jan Pronk on Why a more robust force in Darfur needs to be a UN force

Jun 10 2006 What Sudan really fears is UN troops may be used to arrest officials and militia likely to be indicted by the ICC investigating war crimes in Darfur

Darfur factional fighting and banditry keeps WFP food trucks away

Sapa-AFP report 17 Aug 2006 says Darfur violence keeps WFP food trucks away and more than 500,000 people in Darfur are in need of food, but aid workers are unable to reach them because of factional fighting and banditry, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday.

"It would be a disaster for the people of Darfur if security deteriorated to the point where we were unable to deliver more widely," the UN agency's Sudan representative, Kenro Oshidari, told a Khartoum press conference.

What do people expect will happen if a UN force without a Chapter 6 or 7 mandate (such a mandate would never be approved by the Chinese and Russians sitting on the UN Security Council) marched into Darfur? My understanding is the AU's Peace and Security Council are free to change the mandate of its troops in Darfur at any time without requiring permission from Khartoum.

UN: Half a million Darfurians cut off from aid

IRIN report 17 Aug 2006 excerpt:

"We are looking at the lowest level of access since the beginning of the conflict - we are very concerned," Imogen Wall, public information officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Khartoum, said. "Nearly half a million people can't get food during the height of the hunger season. That is half a million too many."

UN Security Council may authorise communications and command and control equipment to be transferred to AMIS

From the UK's Independent by Diplomatic Editor Anne Penketh, 17 August 2006 (via POTP):

The Security Council is also expected to consider how to help the African Union mission - it may also authorise communications and command and control equipment to be transferred to the mission. But the aftermath of the Lebanese conflict will weigh heavily on the discussions. "It's true, there is heavy demand because of Lebanon," said one council diplomat.

See Aug 17 UN Security Council Consultations on Sudan/Darfur.

UN Security Council Consultations on Sudan/Darfur

Coalition for Darfur points out UN Security Council Consultations on Sudan/Darfur to be held 17 August 2006, and the Council's Update Report No. 2 Sudan/Darfur 16 August 2006:

Members are expected to discuss the recent report of the Secretary-General containing options for transition and for assistance from the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) to the AU Mission in the Sudan (AMIS), as well as his 10 August update on Darfur. Khartoum's recent plan for increasing security in Darfur is also expected to be discussed.

JEM outlaws regard AU's decision "as a declaration of war"

The JEM rebel faction that refused to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement was ordered to leave the African Union HQ in Darfur, the AU said Wednesday, as delegates for JEM warned the move could push it to resume full fledged fighting. - AP report Aug 16 2006 (via Sudan.Net/POTP) - excerpt:

"Members of JEM have been advised to leave the AU headquarters because they are not supporting the peace implementation," Sam Ibok, the AU's chief negotiator in Sudan, said in a telephone interview.

Ibok said the group did not participate in the various ceasefire commissions and that the SLM led by main rebel chief Minni Minnawi -- who signed the peace deal -- refused to sit with them.

"There is no alternative but to ask them to leave," Ibok said. "It doesn't mean we have lost hope that JEM will eventually join the peace process, but it reflects that we can't fund and host people who are doing nothing."

JEM delegate Mohammed Abbasher Ahmed said the AU's decision could lead it to resume open warfare in Darfur. "We regard this as a declaration of war, a return to the fighting square," Ahmed was quoted as saying by the Akhbar Al Youm newspaper.

JEM delegates were stationed at the AU headquarters in the North Darfur town of El Fasher as part of an effort to bring peace to a region. Though JEM isn't deemed the largest rebel force in Darfur, authorities suspect its militants were involved in several small-scale raids that have recently plagued the region.

Also - excerpt from Dow Jones version of AP report (via Easy bourse/POTP):

John Bolton, US ambassador to the UN, said earlier this week he hoped the push for an international peacekeeping force in Darfur would make progress in the coming days.

"The question, as always, is whether the Security Council can overcome the political objection from several significant member governments, including two permanent members and the government of Sudan," Bolton said, in an apparent reference to China and Russia.

JEM delegate Mohammed Abbasher Ahmed was quoted as telling Sudan's Akhbar Al Youm newspaper his group regarded the AU's decision "as a declaration of war."

Sudanese minister advises to not read internet news

I quite understand why a Sudanese minister would advise southern Sudanese in Nairobi not to get information about Sudan from the internet. The regional minister said these news are disseminated by enemies of peace, SRS/ST reported today:

"Education minister for Central Equatoria state, Dr Lokulenge Lole, says most information published is opinion and lacks objectivity, the Sudan Radio Service (SRS) reported.

The minister told southern Sudanese students at a Nairobi hotel last week that most information about Sudan on the internet is aimed at attacking individual personalities and the government.

"When you read the internet these days and you read the attacks on government, on individual politicians in southern Sudan I feel very sorry. Sorry in the sense that somebody sits on his computer in New York doing nothing, he has not even seen southern Sudan and he becomes an expert of analysis of the situation in southern Sudan", the minister explained.

Dr Lokulenge said that people he considers "the enemies of peace" are using all possible avenues to derail the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

He said the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, has on many occasions been attacked on the internet over alleged corruption "without any basis or proof." He warned all southern Sudanese not to succumb to-what he called-"wild allegations" made on the internet "unless they want to remain permanent slaves."

Welcome to the world Sudan! The Internet can work for the benefit of good and bad. Key is to enlighten readers and voters without resorting to propaganda.

AMIS orders Darfur outlaws to leave its camps

Action. Reuters' Opheera McDoom report just in, 13:44 GMT - excerpt:

The African Union's peace monitoring force in Darfur has ordered all representatives of rebel groups who did not sign a May peace deal to leave its camps, officials said on Wednesday.

"The AU have ordered us to leave their camps within 24 hours from this morning," Hamad Hassan Hamad of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) told Reuters.

"This includes all those who did not sign the peace deal, the JEM and the Abdel Wahed faction," said Hamad, who was a JEM representative at the AU base in el-Geneina town in West Darfur state.

One AU official confirmed the decision, which had been requested by the government in Khartoum, but did not give further details. The government says those who did not sign the agreement in May are outlaws.

Non-signatories, including the JEM, formed a new alliance called the National Redemption Front (NRF) and renewed hostilities with the government, which calls them "terrorists."

They say they now control large areas of North Darfur, although this has not been independently verified.

Eleven aid workers have been killed since the deal was signed, more than during the entire three-year conflict.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday that they could not distribute food to 470,000 people in need in Darfur in July, a big increase from the previous month. It added that high malnutrition rates have been reported in recent months.

"The safety of staff is crucial and we take great precautions to avoid dangerous situations," Kenro Oshidari, the head of WFP in Sudan, told reporters in Khartoum. "It would be a disaster for the people of Darfur if security deteriorated to the point where we were unable to deliver more widely."

Jailed Slovene envoy Tomo Kriznar to appeal against verdict

Photo: Tomo Kriznar, humanitarian worker (L) and special envoy of Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek (R) for Darfur, speaks during a news conference in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana in this January 12, 2006 file photo. Sudan sentenced Kriznar to two years in prison in Darfur for espionage, publishing false information and violating immigration laws, the state news agency said on August 14, 2006. (Reuters/Srdjan Zivulovic)

The defence lawyer of Tomo Kriznar, Mohammed Madjub, intends to appeal on Wednesday against the verdict, Sudan Tribune reported Aug 15/16, 2006 - excerpt:

Speaking for TV Slovenija by telephone, Madjub said that the prison sentence was too high given that the Sudanese prosecution had no evidence of Kriznar spying.

The lawyer, who said Kriznar feels fine after a court of first instance in the capital of North Darfur Al-Fasher pronounced its verdict on Monday, believes that there are good chances the Sudanese authorities would expel Kriznar from the country.

See some previous news reports re Slovene 'spy' Tomo Kriznar jailed in Sudan.

Sudanese blogger Fluent-Sudani on "Lost Identity"

The author of Fluent-Sudani blog was born and bred in Sudan and now lives in New York. Excerpt from blog entry Aug 13, 2006:

Photo: Northern Sudan kid

"Outsiders who do not have any background on Sudan history are always skeptical about our race, tend to randomly pick whatever they desire to call us; Arabs or Nubians. Sudan is a diverse land, I say. Having skittles-skin color folks. Asking any Sudan native, they answer you "we're Sudanese." without adding any other preferences to feed doubts.



Photo: Southern Sudan kid

Over history, spread of Islam throughout Africa, resulted in mingling between missionary men who brought books to enlighten us about the faith, living peacefuly among us, emanicipating slaves, built mosques. Also, spread of christianity beforehand coptics fled from Egypt settled in northern Sudan. Italian missionary men and women also built Catholic schools and churches mainly in the Southern Sudan and the capital, Khartoum. I find it appalling few blocks away from my old house, a mosque and a church seperated by one wall.



Photo: Eastern Sudan kid

No matter what classification others come up with, we are brothers and sister of the same blood. Afro-arab culture/food/values, understand ourselves instantly despite dialect differences. Embracing our historical heroes that kicked British colonization our of our land and gained us independence.

Photo: Western Sudan kid

[thanks to Drima, The Sudanese Thinker: It's Slowly Happening]

Blogging Amanda in South Sudan

Here's another reason why I support the African Union Mission in Darfur. Excerpt from Amanda Wadud's blog in South Sudan Aug 13 2006:

"I have been speaking with some people about some of my skirmishes with the local Dinkas and then last night I spoke with a sister from Khartoum about some experiences she has had (very scary) and she had to point out to me something that I had thought about before I arrived in Rumbek but dismissed too quickly. It seems that my issue is that I am being mistaken for a northern Arab. To me that is ridiculous, but virtually any Black person whose skin is more brown than ebony could be mistaken for someone from the North.

Firstly let me help you to expand your definition of an Arab. In the United States at least, and I believe the same is true for much of Europe we think an Arab is a light skinned/olive skinned individual with curly to kinky hair who, speaks Arabic. Like African Americans, Arabs come in all shades of skin color. I used to look at all Sudanese as being Black, after all As-Sudan literally means the Land of the Blacks in Arabic. I was initially shocked and offended some years ago to learn that the northern Sudanese consider themselves Arabs and not Black, after all they look like they would fit in at one of my family reunions. But being here has helped me understand why they consider themselves Arab. So an Arab is defined by language and culture and not skin color. I had previously written about how as a Black person in Africa I am often put into a local ethnic group, well that can be a good thing because it makes me less conspicuous, but it can also be dangerous depending on socio-political and historical factors."

[via Drima of The Sudanese Thinker: It's Slowly Happening - with thanks]

A proud Muslim, Sudanese, Arab, African & Human in UAE blogs "Why Science Fails to Explain God"

From Hipster in UAE: "Why Science Fails to Explain God".

[Thanks to Drima of The Sudanese Thinker: It's Slowly Happening]

Juba Blog: BBC in Juba on FM 88.2

From Juba Blog Aug 14, 2006:

"Juba citizens welcomed the official launching of the BBC relay transmitter on FM 88.2 today.

Welcome to Juba, BBC. You have been part of our struggle."

[hat tip The Sudanese Thinker: It's Slowly Happening]

Readers' comments - Disingenuous Eric Reeves is more than annoying

Eric Reeves is disingenuous. In his latest rant entitled The "Perfect Storm" of Human Destruction Reaches its Crescendo, he calls for a UN peacekeeping force to deploy without delay but, once again, omits to mention the International Criminal Court and UN list of 51 suspected Darfur war criminals.

I challenge anyone pushing for UN troops in Darfur to please address the issue of Khartoum's fears, the UN list, the ICC and all of the Sudanese officials, locals and so-called "janjaweed" who are against foreign intervention. US President GW Bush has made clear that no American citizen will ever be tried by a foreign body. How would Americans feel if foreign troops forced themselves into the USA, armed with weaponary and a mandate to haul in top US officials, including the president, for questioning by the ICC?

How can Khartoum agree to UN troops coming face to face with anyone on the list? What are UN troops to do when faced with Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal, haul him off for questioning and shoot/kill janjaweed when they attack in retaliation? And then what about risks to aid workers and humanitarian access and international personnel being dismissed from the country?

Eric Reeves fails to mention these issues because doing so would make his arguments fall apart. Knowingly, he misleads his readers by spinning fairy tales. Kristof et al do the same. Shame on them for failing to properly inform readers.

DISINGENUOUS ERIC REEVES IS MORE THAN ANNOYING

A few days ago, here at Sudan Watch, British blogger Daniel Davies of dsquared blog posted the following comment:

"God Reeves is annoying. I don't recall him ever having had a bad word to say about Minawi until he signed a peace agreement. And this is really quite disingenuous:

"Recent reports from the ground make clear that Minawi's rebel faction is actively coordinating with Khartoum's regular military forces in attacks on civilians and other rebel forces that have not signed the DPA."

Well, if you are enforcing a peace agreement, what do you do to people who break it? Any peacekeeping force (including the UN/NATO Khartoum decapitation operation of Reeves' dreams) would have to attack "other rebel forces" because people like SLA/Wahid are part of the problem. I am not aware of any more hard evidence for the accusation that the Khartoum military are attacking civilians than there was for the Chad invasion story that I see he is no longer pushing.

Thanks for that Daniel. Glad to know I'm not the only one saying such things. I find Eric Reeves more than annoying. He tells the rebels what they want to hear: Americans onside (read money) pushing for international troops. Why should holdout rebels sign peace deals and abide by ceasefires when they're encouraged to hold out for a better deal? Never mind the millions of Sudanese women and children imprisoned in refugee camps for years on end, waiting to return home.



Photo: President Bush shakes hands with SLA rebel group leader Minni Minnawi, in the Oval Office, 25 July 2006 (AFP) Jul 26 2006 Washington Post: Bush Meets Rebel Leader To Discuss Darfur Accord:

Bush met for about 40 minutes in the Oval Office with Sudanese Liberation Army leader Minni Minnawi. He was the lone rebel leader to agree in May to a U.S.-brokered peace accord to end what the United States calls genocide in western Sudan. The president asked Minnawi to support a U.S.-backed plan to bring African Union peacekeepers in Darfur under the blue flag and helmets of the United Nations, said Frederick Jones, a National Security Council spokesman. (From News Services)

Photo: The leader of Darfur's Sudan Liberation Army, Minni Minawi, left, who signed Darfur Peace Agreement, shakes hands with Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir, right, Monday, Aug 7, 2006, in Khartoum, Sudan, after being appointed senior presidential Assistant and Head of the provisional authority in Darfur state. (AP Photo/Abd Raouf)

AU TROOPS IN DARFUR CAN'T DELIVER BECAUSE THEY LACK TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT?

The fledgling African Union Mission in Darfur (AMIS) can't deliver because it lacks training and equipment? Is this true? Sudan Watch archives contain many reports praising AU professionalism and diplomacy - and details of training and logistical support given to AMIS that's ongoing by NATO, UK, Canada, to name a few.

Here is a copy of a reader's comment 13 Aug 2006.

RA Soenke Franzen said ...

"Actually SPLA troops are not the answer to Darfur's problems, just as only South Africa might have the african troops needed.

From a military point of view the situation in the vast savannahs and semi-arid lands of Darfur need quick reaction forces, not truckmobile at best footsloggers.

Actually the ideal force mix would contain aero cavalry plus attack choppers, reconnaissance flights, some of the light and mechanized infantry the African Union has in place, plus at least one heavy armoured unit that could take on everything that might be met in Sudan.

Light armour like what Canada delivered to upgun the AU force can't suffice, because there are still some Milan missiles in Chad from the Toyota Wars.

If one wants to stop atrocities against civilians, one needs either a lot of troops or preferably a nimble and agile force. And unfortunately this can neither be delivered by the SPLA, nor the AU.

That is why a UN force with a robust mandate and preferably spearheaded by NATO troops would be so helpful. Not because the AU troops can't be trusted, but because they can't deliver, because they lack training and equipment."

Thanks Soenke. Enjoyed reading your comment. Sorry it fails to take into account (a) a UN Resolution (b) a UN peacekeeping mandate: Khartoum totally reject a UN force, especially one with a Chapter 6 or 7 mandate; (c) UN list of 51 names (d) ICC (e) Sudanese officials and locals against foreign intervention.



Photo: See full report June 26 2006 Thousands of protestors gathered in Khartoum to protest against UN and its proposed peacekeepers.



Photo: President Bush shakes hands with the First Vice President of the Government of National Unity of Sudan Salva Kiir, a former rebel who is also President of Southern Sudan, in the Oval Office, July 20, 2006 REUTERS/Jason Reed

For crying out loud - last month Darfur's worst-ever for violence towards aid workers - please don't waste any more time: back the African Union Mission in Darfur and provide the support they need. They deserve medals.

Like Drima says:

To the UN: For the Kazillionth time, REINFORCE THE AU TROOPS! That's all you need to do!:

Darfur previously = Disaster
Darfur now = Worsening disaster?
Darfur + UN troops = Bigger disaster
Darfur + UN troops + Al Qaeda = One big ass GIGANTIC Disaster !!!
Darfur + AU troops reinforced by UN & NATO = HUGE improvements.

AU Darfur force asked for more equipment - has no funds beyond mid October

Ethiopian Herald report Aug 15, 2006 - excerpt:

According to a report filed by Reuters from Khartoum AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni said that a donor pledging conference in July provided some 181 million USD for the mission.

"This money will suffice only until mid-October so far," he said, adding he hoped donors would come through.

The AU mission costs just under 40 million USD a month to run, but in order to do the job properly the AU also asked for more equipment like attack helicopters.

UN officials said without additional funding, almost 3.6 million Darfuris could see a period where troops were withdrawn or unable to work to deter rape, murder and pillage in Sudan's remote west.

The top U.N. envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, said many people including Western nations thought the AU force could stay in Darfur until the end of the year.

"That is a misconception and that's extremely risky," he told reporters in Khartoum.

"If the African Union have to leave because they cannot pay their soldiers anymore and the United Nations is not being allowed to come ... then you have a void in between," he added.

Bashir: UN force would risk Hezbollah-like resistance

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Sudan has taken inspiration from Hezbollah and would battle a proposed international peacekeeping force in Darfur, the state news agency reported today. - AP report (via Easy bourse/Dowjones) Aug 15, 2006 - excerpt:

"We are determined to defeat any forces entering the country just as Hezbollah has defeated the Israeli forces," the official Sudanese News Agency quoted al-Bashir as telling an armed forces gathering Monday.

Last week, the US repeated its demand for deployment of a strong and mobile UN peacekeeping force in Darfur by Oct 1. The top UN humanitarian official, Jan Egelund, said the situation is "going from real bad to catastrophic" after attempts to enforce a peace deal unleashed more fighting.

"We are opposed to the deployment (in Darfur) of American, British or other forces imposed by the Security Council," al-Bashir said.

[When is Jan Egeland going to get the message and back the AU?]

Coat of Arms of Sudan

Sometimes when I scroll through the visitor stats of this site (I have no way of identifying individuals, only ISP region) I notice someone has searched for information on Sudan that I know cannot be found in this blog. If a query takes my interest, I google for further information and blog something on the subject. For instance, today someone put in a search for Coat of Arms of Sudan. Now the image appears in Sudan Watch sidebar. Click on image for details.

HRW urges UN to impose sanctions on Sudan's president�

Human Rights Watch wastes its breath calling for sanctions on top Sudanese officials. News reports tell us the US gets intelligence material from Sudan, China buys oil from Sudan, Russia sells MiGs to Sudan (none would approve sanctions) and that travel bans could be reciprocated, affecting international personnel visiting Sudan. So why call for sanctions? Are HRW just hot air or what, making a noise to self publcise and sound as though it is doing something?

I'd like to see them all pushing together to bolster the African Union Mission in Darfur. I wish everyone would simply pull together to fund and train the best available protection for all concerned in Darfur. Arguing for a UN force that might take a year to become a reality seems such a waste of time when millions of displaced people are sitting around waiting to go home.

Here's a thought: What if their "home" was on or near an unexplored oil area, will they still be able to return home?

Reuters report Aug 15, 2006 - excerpt:

"The Council should impose personal, targeted sanctions on top Sudanese officials responsible for preventing UN troops from being sent to Darfur," he said. A Human Rights Watch spokeswoman said this included al-Bashir.

The UN Security Council approved a resolution in 2005 calling for a freeze on assets overseas and a travel ban on individuals who defy peace efforts, violate rights or conduct military flights over Darfur.

But it has only been used once -- in April -- to impose sanctions a Sudanese air force commander, a pro-government militia leader and two rebel commanders.

A longer list of people have been recommended for UN sanctions by Britain and other nations, but other council members including the United States have opposed sanctions on other high-ranking Sudanese officials.

UN Sudan Situation Report 14 Aug 2006

UN Sudan Situation Report by the UN Country Team in Sudan 14 Aug 2006 (via ReliefWeb) excerpt:

On 13 August, President Bashir addressed the closing session of the NCP Leadership Council in Khartoum. According to local press, President Bashir reiterated his opposition to UN forces in Darfur, whether under Chapter VI or VII.

On 13 August, in Khartoum, Deputy Chairman of SLM-Minawi Dr Al Rayeh Mahmoud announced plans to change the movement s constitution to transform it into a political party.

On 13 August, Commissioner of the Northern Sudan DDR Commission (NDDRC), Dr Sulafaddeen Saleh announced the start of the Commission s preliminary DDR work in Darfur, including the formation of an Advisory Council comprising all Darfur s tribes to advise the Commission. Dr Saleh confirmed that the SAF, Police, and SLA-Minawi will conduct the disarmament, and welcomed support from the UN and AU for the DDR programs.

On 13 August, leader of the JEM-Wing for Peace, Abdelrahim Abu-Risha, arrived in Khartoum from Nyala. In a statement at Khartoum airport, Abu-Risha emphasized the importance of the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultations for the Darfur peace process. Meanwhile, local press reported intense negotiations between SLM-Free Will and JEM Wing for Peace over allocation of positions provided in the power-sharing arrangements of the DPA.

Soldier of Africa blogging from Darfur, western Sudan

Many thanks for these photos and captions posted to Soldier of Africa blog July-Aug 2006 by Werner, a young South African soldier in Darfur.

In my Tent



I took this picture last night to show how I spend most of my time in my tent. I am either busy with my laptop or reading or watching television.

Base



This is a view from the water tower in our base towards the airfield to give you an idea how close the airfield is to the base.

On Guard



One of the protection force in our base keeping a watchful eye on the surrounding countryside. The civilians are farming right up against the perimeter of our base in order to use every piece of available earth.

Local Activity



The locals are farming right up against our base in this rainy season. This boy is using his donkey to drag a branch somewhere for some reason. Me taking a photo of him was a big moment and after showing him his photo on my camera he soon had a lot of his friends there and I was photographing them too.

River



This is the river next to El Geneina. A few weeks ago it was bone dry.

Insects from Hell



The Nairobi Fly and the Blister Beetle are just two of the insects we have to contend with here. They have acid for blood and crush one on exposed skin at your own peril. There are a number of guys walking around in our base with 3rd degree acid burns to prove it.

Team B Patrol


Yesterday [Aug 8, 2006] Team B going on patrol.

Our Parcels are Here



It is a joyous occasion when this Boeing 707 (Saartjie) lands at El Fashier once a month to deliver our parcels and other needed items. Unfortunately I had to fly with it to Khartoum so I did not get the opportunity to get my parcels. I will get them on my way back.

Food Supplies



In the back of an Mi 8 helicopter these are food supplies. Usually the food is very poor quality. On many occasions the mutton is filled with bone splinters and you have to watch that you do not lose any teeth while chewing. No wonder I have lost so much weight and thank god I have brought with multi-vitamins when I came from South Africa.

Patrol in Ardamata



On yesterday's patrol we had to mark out the positions of the markers for the DMZ (Demilitarised Zones) around Ardamata IDP camps.

Food for Tomorrow



The locals at Ardamata were busy preparing the fields to plant food. This is a good sign and hopefully they are not scared away from this as a lack of food can be disastruous of course for the next season of drought.

Slovene 'spy' Tomo Kriznar jailed in Sudan

A Sudanese court has sentenced the Slovenian president's envoy to two years in jail for spying and entering the country illegally, BBC reported Aug 14:

Tomo Kriznar was involved in the peace process between Sudan's government and rebels in Darfur.

He was also jailed for publishing false information, the Sudanese official news agency, Suna, reports.

The envoy is a well known human rights activist in Slovenia and was arrested in July for not having a valid visa.

According to earlier reports by Suna, Sudanese investigators said Mr Kriznar was taking pictures and shooting video material of villages around Darfur.

Related reports

Aug 16 2006 Sudan Tribune: Jailed Slovene envoy Tomo Kriznar to appeal against verdict

Aug 15 2006 Aegis Trust via ST: Visit Kriznar - and go to Darfur - Aegis urges public to inundate Sudanese embassies with requests for visas to visit Slovenian envoy and human rights activist jailed in Darfur yesterday. Aegis advises that those unable to afford the time or money to travel to Sudan send their visa applications without the usual fee (£55 in the UK) - since the mere act of sending the application represents a protest in itself.)

Aug 15 2006 Sudan Tribune: Slovenia urges Sudan to pardon jailed envoy - Slovene President Janez Drnovsek has asked the Sudanese president to pardon his special envoy to Darfur, Tomo Kriznar, who is sentenced by a Sudanese court to two years in jail. According to the office of Slovenian President, Drnovsek addressed a special letter to Sudanese President Omar al Bashir today in which he asks for his envoy to be released from prison.

Aug 14 2006 Reuters: Sudan convicts Slovenian envoy of spying in Darfur - An African Union (AU) source in Darfur said the Slovenian envoy had entered through neighbouring Chad and had been travelling with Darfur rebel groups, taking video footage and photographs.

Aug 14 2006 Sudan Tribune: Sudan jails Slovene envoy to two years for "spying" -

The Sudanese minister of Justice, Mohamed Ali al-Mardhi, said that Al-Fashir Criminal Court Monday convicted the Slovenian Tomo Kriznar under Article 53 of the Criminal Law for 1991 (espionage) and Article 66 of the same law (publishing false news) and Article 10 of the Passports, Migration and Nationality Act for 1994 (entering Sudan without an entry visa).

The court sentenced the defendant to two years imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 dinars and confiscation of exhibits found with the defendant of photography equipment and films.

The court ruled that the defendant shall be expelled after serving his prison term.

Aug 3 2006 Sudan Tribune: Slovene envoy to stand trial in Sudan for espionage -

In Khartoum, the minister of justice, Mohamed Ali al-Maradi, has said that the 51-year-old Slovene presidential adviser, Tomo Kriznar, who is being prosecuted in Al-Fashir in Northern Darfur State, has recorded a statement confessing to the filming of over 5,000 photographs and sending false email messages abroad saying that genocide was taking place in Darfur.

Al-Maradi said the suspect had previously entered Sudan and worked in rebel camps in Nuba Mountains in 1998. Al-Maradi said the accused was transferred to Sudan through Chad by a German agricultural organization in Bayr Fandah area.

Jul 25 2006 Jerry Fowler blog entry at VOGP -

I met Tomo a few years ago, and his quixotic gentleness touched me. [ ] Tomo himself is no stranger to Sudan. A few years ago, he made a beautiful, poignant film about the Nuba peoples who live in the eponymous Nuba Mountains of central Sudan, Nuba: Pure People. The film documented his attempt to bicycle from Khartoum into the Nuba Mountains, which he had visited some two decades before. He eventually was held up by the Sudanese military.

Jun 5 2006 JEM leader still in Slovenia?

Jun 2 2006 Darfur's JEM rebel leader says "We're going to have our own country"

May 31 2006 Slovenia says JEM needs to stay in the Darfur peace process - JEM leadership will have to make a decision in Slovenia

Darfur rebel who's who - Reuters Newsblog

So who are the main rebel groups, and what do they want? Here's a quick overview from Reuters AlertNet Newsblog 9 Aug 2006:

SLA (Minnawi's faction): This is the only rebel group that has signed the peace accord, with Minnawi since being appointed as special assistant to the president. This makes him number four in the Khartoum hierarchy, and number one in Darfur - meaning he would head a provisional government planned for Darfur. His group has been accused by rights organisation Amnesty International of killing and raping civilians to try to force them to support the unpopular accord.

SLA (al-Nur's faction): This group rejected the deal, and there are reports that al-Nur may have been toppled by commanders in the field. This faction is popular in camps for the displaced as al-Nur is a Fur and thus belongs to Darfur's largest ethnic group.

Justice and Equality Movement (JEM): This group also rejected the deal. JEM is not particularly strong on the ground, and according to the head of the U.N.'s Sudan mission, Jan Pronk, during the talks it seemed to have had its eye more on gaining power in Khartoum than peace in Darfur.

National Redemption Front (NRF): The recently formed NRF is a coalition of rebels opposed to the peace deal, including JEM, former commanders from both SLA factions (al-Nur has disassociated himself from the group) and the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance.

The Sudan Tribune's website has a copy of NRF's founding declaration, including its objectives. It calls for "a just system of sharing wealth and power between the various regions of Sudan", "regional self rule" and "fair participation" in national politics.

The NRF now holds sway in much of north Darfur. It has reportedly been involved in offensive actions, such as an attack on a town in North Kordofan and a military base belonging to Minnawi's faction in Sayah. This week it said it had shot down a Sudanese government bomber, but the government denied the report.

G19: Originally formed by 19 SLA members and advisors present at the Abuja peace talks who split with the leadership. They have gained support among those who oppose the deal, and are based in the northwest of north Darfur. They have reportedly been attacked by Minnawi, and are said to be closing ranks with the National Redemption Front.

Thanks to Reuters Alert Newsblog for highlighting this blog, Sudan Watch, in the following excerpt taken from above report:

"While the exact situation on the ground in Darfur remains more than a little hazy due to the lack of access for journalists and aid workers in many parts, here are some good sources of information available on the internet:

The blog written by Jan Pronk, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Sudan, who lives in Khartoum. The United Nations should listen up, because his latest piece is pretty pessimistic about prospects for the peace deal.

Another blog called Sudan Watch compiles newspaper articles and other interesting blog pieces on Sudan on an almost daily basis.

Sudanese researcher Eric Reeves, who's also Professor of English Language and Literature at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, writes regularly about Darfur on his site sudanreevees.org."

- - -

Note, Feb 21 2006 List of top wanted Janjaweed leaders - Who's who on Darfur (African Confidential)

S. Sudan's first trade fair shows up investor problems

Investors who braved a flooded camp to attend south Sudan's first trade fair found a boom in demand after years of war, but from such a low starting point that some asked if the region was yet ripe for business.

Full report Reuters/ST Aug 13, 2006.



Photo: University of Juba building where south Sudan's first trade fair was held this year. (USIP)

Libyan leader Gaddafi pledges to fund health projects in Sudan

Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi pledged to fund health projects in the Sudanese region affected by the war. He made this promise during the visit of the Sudanese minister of health, Dr Tabitha Butrus, to Libya last week. - Full story ST Aug 12, 2006.

Secretary-General voices concern about worsening situation in Sudan - What happened to proposed joint GOS/SPLA force of 10,000 troops to back up AU?

Aug 11 2006 UN News Centre report - excerpt:

Mr Annan noted there had been some progress in the implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) since its signing in May, though some deadlines for implementing its key aspects had been missed and several rebel groups were not yet parties to the agreement.

"Both DPA signatories have violated the ceasefire arrangements, while non-signatories have violated pre-existing ceasefire obligations," he said.

Against this backdrop, the prospects for international assistance operations were bleak, he said, noting that the African Union has indicated that it may not have enough money to keep its 7,000-strong Darfur operation going until its mandate expires at the end of September.

The possibility of having the UN take the place of the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) also remained in doubt, he said, since the Sudanese government continued to oppose a UN mission in Darfur.

"While the Government maintains its firm opposition to this plan, the situation on the ground is deteriorating," he said.

So what's Plan B? Mr Annan doesn't say. One can only guess he is counting on pressure to mount that will either cause Khartoum to agree UN troops in Darfur or donors to contribute enough funding for AMIS to continue. Or ... something that has not been mentioned for a while (that even John Garang had suggested for Darfur) ... a joint AU/GOS/SPLM force of 30,000 troops - 10,000 each. See June 22 2006 Khartoum's discussing sending joint GOS/SPLA force of 10,000 troops to back up AU and help disarm Arab militias.

Pronk: 1 year ago Garang died. Will his legacy survive?

Excerpt from UN SRSG Jan Pronk's blog entry Aug 10, 2006:

"Do not bring the people to the towns, but bring the towns to the people", was his [Garang's] favorite theme. He advocated economic and social development of existing small towns, well connected by rural roads, sustaining a broad domestic market characterized by a steady increase of purchasing power, evenly spread throughout the country.

So far, reality is different. The CPA has been signed, but its implementation is going slow. Reconstruction is hardly taking place, economic development has yet to take off and poverty is blatant and widely spread. Three days ago, traveling from Torit to Juba we spoke to a group of several hundreds of villagers. They complained:

"There is a no school, no water, no food and no hospital".

It was heart breaking. On the market in Torit itself, a small town which has been occupied several times by different armies, we saw only few products and a meager assortment of foodstuffs. The town of Nassir, which I visited a month earlier, is nothing more than a large village slump. In nearly every town scars of the war are visible. Nowhere demolished buildings or infrastructure are reconstructed. Rural development and food security are impeded by a lack of water points, lots of mines, too much cattle and multiple violence.

See Aug 12 2006 - US security firm DynCorp to turn south Sudan rebels into soldiers - DynCorp has almost $40 million in US State Department contracts to build barracks, provide telecoms and training to former rebel SPLA; donors say southern Sudan's government has funnelled the biggest chunk of its 2006/07 budget - some 40 percent - into defence.

US firm DynCorp to turn south Sudan rebels into soldiers

Sudan Tribune report today says US security firm DynCorp is to turn south Sudan rebels into soldiers - and it has almost $40 million in US State Department contracts to build barracks, provide telecommunications and training to the former rebel SPLA. Also note the report points out:

"The US government has decided that a stable military force will create a stable country," [DynCorp spokesperson] Rigney said.

He denied the contracts included any arms deal with southern Sudan's government, which donors say has funnelled the biggest chunk of its 2006/07 budget - some 40 percent - into defence.

Crikey. 40% of donor funds and/or oil revenues on defence? Someone's making a mint. Obviously, water pumps are not considered a priority.

It's no wonder most folk in south Sudan see no great improvement in basic services concerning food, water and education. It's been two years since peace was agreed with pledges of $4.5 billion from international donors for development. Thanks to a Sudan Watch reader Imnakoya of Grandiose Parlor blog for this comment:

"Well, a beggar has no choice! That the US would push $40 million of its aid money back to one of its conglomerates speaks volume to the meaning and politics behind many of the aid programs coming from the west."

Sudan SPLM denies contract with US firm to reshape SPLA

UPDATE: Aug 13, 2006 Sudan Tribune article [via POTP]: The Sudan People's Liberation Movement has denied that it would reshape its army (SPLA) into a professional army, with the help of a US firm, an official said.

South Sudan, Egypt agree to cooperate on water resources

The Ministry of Irrigation of South Sudan Government Wednesday signed a Memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources for rehabilitation of stations to measure rain-fall in south Sudan. - Full story Sudan Tribune Aug 9, 2006. Excerpt:

Responding to a question of journalist, Engineer said that the establishment of Hamdab Dam in Sudan was aimed for generation of electricity, but not to affect Egypt's share in the Nile water.

Reporting Darfur: Does new media make a difference?

Found while browsing some blogs today. Filing copy here (minus hyperlinks) for future reference:

July 27 2006 Africa Media blog entry Reporting Darfur: Does new media make a difference?

I'm getting ready to attend the annual conference for journalism profs (Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication) next week and I noticed three research papers examine media coverage of the Darfur genocide. (I've listed them below with title, author and abstract.)

A few years ago I analyzed coverage of the Rwanda genocide, and I wonder if the coverage of Sudan is any different. Pretty much most coverage of conflict in Africa can be predicted: Fighting is "tribal violence," economic and political contexts aren't considered. Coverage is sparse and generally driven by the US government's position (although it appeared in the 1990s that NGOs would begin playing a larger role in shaping the news.)

What's different this time around is there are lots of ordinary folks using the Internet and grass-roots organizing to provide a different message. Be a Witness urges people to contact the mainstream media and ask them to actually cover the genocide as opposed to run-away brides (check out their cool intro video plus the charts on amount of coverage). The Genocide Intervention Network also works to educate the public.

Blogs such as The Coalition for Darfur, The Darfur Blog (written by Toniyah Tonijah of Nigeria), Sudan Watch have sprung up around the issue. (My favorite is Sudan: The Passion of the Present, which has constantly updated information and a good list of links.)

MTVU sent three students over to report on the situation. Their site includes lots of info such as the student winners of a competition for Darfur activism and a video game created by a USC student called Darfur is Dying.

With all this alternative media information and education going on, has mainstream coverage changed? We constantly hear about how bloggers are influencing mainstream media agendas and coverage. Yet the research summarized below suggests it's the same old same old.

What does this say about mainstream media? About the impact of socially conscious bloggers (and other media creators)? Or are we not casting a broad enough net with our research?

Research papers on the crisis at AEJMC August 2006 San Francisco:

Darfur: International Neglect and News Media Silence in the Face of Genocide - Chinedu (Ocek) Eke, Elon University - This paper examines the conflict in Darfur described by many, including the President of the United States, as an ongoing genocide. To this end, I argue that the dearth of news media coverage, particularly of television news, on one of the most egregious human rights violations of our time has kept the public largely in the dark on the scope of the genocide while prolonging the plight of Darfurians.

Un-Covering Darfur Sudan 2003-2005: Which News Organization Offered the Most Comprehensive Coverage? - Bella Mody, University of Colorado - Media coverage of developing countries and U.S. domestic realities continues to be sensational, episodic and stereotypical, in spite of years of scholarship and political protest. The consequences of the lack of an internationally informed citizenry are politically troubling at this unipolar juncture in world political history with the U.S. as sole superpower on the one hand, and private investors looking for faster increases in rates of return from their investment in media firms on the other.

Reporting a Humanitarian Tragedy: A Framing Analysis of Chinese Newspaper Coverage of Darfur - Xun Liu and Seow Ting Lee, Michigan State University - This study examines the coverage of the Darfur crisis by the People's Daily and the China Daily over 26 months. Based on a content analysis and a textual analysis, the comparative framing analysis found similarities in the coverage, which is motivated by national interest. However, there are significant differences in the portrayal of major actors, and the assignment of blame and responsibility. The findings can be explained by the papers' ownership and China's media environment

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July 27, 2006 in Horn of Africa | Permalink