New US envoy for Sudan Robert Zoellick lays out priorities for Sudan's crisis

America's new Deputy Defence Secretary, Robert Zoellick, makes a refreshing change from all the other politicians who seem programmed to give nothing away. He has just completed a trip to Iraq and Sudan where he packed in a whole load of tours, meetings and press interviews.

He is the first senior US official to travel to Khartoum since Congress was told last September that a long US inquiry had determined the Sudanese government and allied janjaweed militia were responsible for genocide in the western region.

Upon landing in a noisy propeller plane at Rumbek in south Sudan, Mr. Zoellick was treated like royalty and greeted by several hundred people and a military brass band that had practised for days. With two billion dollars at stake, the band played slightly-off key (smile). You can imagine it was all very friendly. Sudanese people, like most Africans, have a reputation for having gentle, kind and friendly dispositions.

Mr. Zoellick seems right for his job. See why in a New York Times article April 17 by Joel Brinkley, who may have been one of several reporters that accompanied Mr. Zoellick on his trip. Here is an excerpt:

Mr. Zoellick does not seem to trust fully the cables, briefings and diplomatic discussions on which most diplomats base their thinking.

"I like to see people face to face," he said, even if it means traveling halfway around the world. "You can read, you can study, but to see people and circumstances, it's a motivator."

To get ready for meetings here, or in Khartoum or other stops on his journeys, he reads and thinks - alone, his aides said. Most senior diplomats rely most heavily on briefings from State Department experts. Mr. Zoellick relies largely on his own research. He makes copious handwritten notes, then prepares three-by-five file cards he carries in his shirt pocket.

On the way home on Friday, he created a three-column, fine-print list of follow-up calls and other actions for next week and seemed pleased to show the list to reporters - though not in a way that they could read what he had written.

Aides seem both admiring and amused by Mr. Zoellick's style. He seems unconcerned.

As he put it, "I don't spend a lot of time comparing myself to others."
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Zoellick lays out priorities for Sudans crisis

During his two-day visit to Khartoum, Condoleezza Rice's top deputy laid out priorities for addressing Sudan's crisis. Here follows a snapshot and snippets from various press reports.


Photo (AFP/Salah Omar) US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick (L) met Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha (R) 14 April 2005 in Khartoum.

Mr Zoellick said Sudan may not have total control over militias behind atrocities in Darfur but must do more to stop the violence.

He expressed his intent to keep pushing the expansion of the African Union force now serving as monitors in Darfur from roughly 2,000 to 7,000 or 8,000, and to persuade NATO or various NATO members to provide logistical support for the AU mission.

He has pressed for the African Union to double its troops in Darfur, and asked leaders of the government and the rebels to halt raids on villages and relief caravans.

He also pushed for an inclusive process to address underlying conflicts between African tribes, the mostly Arab government, its allied militias and non-Arab rebels.

"The fundamental issue has to be trying to deal with the larger policy," Zoellick said.

"I think that there's a possibility of again strengthening the security conditions in Darfur, but I'm focused very heavily now on meeting the near-term humanitarian needs as we approach the rainy season," Zoellick said after talks with government and other officials on Thursday.

The United States has pledged US $1.7 billion for Sudan's recovery, with much of the aid slated to ease the humanitarian crisis and begin reconstruction of the south. Congress has approved about half that amount.
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Zoellick looks to Sudan's south for blueprint to end Darfur's conflict

Mr Zoellick pressed the Sudanese government Thursday to take specific steps that would demonstrate it is cooperating to halt the violence in Darfur, including allowing NATO or the U.S. military to assist in a rapid expansion of an African-led monitoring force.

He has said that the $2 billion in promised U.S. aid to help implement the North-South peace accord could be imperiled if Khartoum did not address the separate crisis in Darfur, which is located in western Sudan. The threat was also designed to persuade John Garang, the southern rebel leader to get involved in Darfur -- or risk losing the money as well.

Zoellick said he suggested that Sudan demonstrate its sincerity by focusing on specific steps, such as quickly issuing visas to aid workers, facilitating the expansion of the monitoring force established by the African Union (AU) and quickly investigating violent incidents.

Currently, nearly 2,300 AU forces patrol an area the size of France, and later this year the union is expected to approve an increase to 7,700.

Zoellick said he told officials that if Sudan could not adequately police Darfur, the government should welcome the introduction of forces to maintain law and order.

"It's Sudan's country," Zoellick told a news conference. "Countries are held responsible for actions in their territory."

Sudan's first vice president, Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha, told reporters before meeting Zoellick, "We are working diligently to stop the violence" and "get Darfur back to normalcy." And during a lengthy session with Zoellick, Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail also handed him a hand-written action plan for resolving Darfur and returning people to their lands. But Taha has made similar remarks before -- and, during Powell's visit 10 months ago, Ismail announced that Sudan and the U.S. had agreed on an action plan on Darfur.

Mr. Zoellick is exploring whether a small force of NATO, European or U.S. forces could provide logistical support, such as C-130 cargo flights, to help expand the AU force. The Sudanese government has resented the presence of the troops, which although they have a weak official mandate, have helped calm areas where they are deployed.
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Zoellick meets Garang

Mr. Zoellick met the leader of Sudan's former southern rebels on the second day of a diplomatic mission to press for peace efforts in Sudan and an end to the crisis in Darfur.

The U.S. may soon begin to help southern Sudan's former rebels with military modernization as efforts to implement a peace deal gather steam, he said on Friday.

See more in "Zoellick looks to Sudan's south for blueprint to end Darfur's conflict" April 16 2005 FT.com report by Guy Dinmore in Rumbek and El Fasher, Sudan.
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Zoellick says Sudan may not have total control over militias

April 15 report by Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent Reuters Rumbek, Sudan. Excerpt:

Zoellick aims to press Garang for quick moves to implement the peace deal -- as he had when he met government officials on Thursday.

Under January's North-South agreement, Khartoum and the SPLM will set up a coalition government, decentralise power, share oil revenues and form joint military units.

Zoellick said Sudan may not have total control over militias behind the atrocities in Darfur but must do more to stop the violence. He urged support for an expanded African Union (AU) monitoring force in the troubled region.

"Where the government doesn't feel it can act, then we need to be able to support the AU to be able to act," he added.
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Zoellick visits Darfur

On the second day of his trip, after flying from Khartoum to Darfur, Mr. Zoellick toured Abu Shouk camp near El Fasher after briefings by aid organisations.

"The near-term need is to try to ensure these people get food and water and basic supplies. Then you also have to provide the security for them," said Mr. Zoellick, after his visit to the camp.

The final step, he said, would be to "work on a political solution for the overall conflict and allow people to go back so they can return to their traditional lives in their villages."

Mr. Zoellick requested that the Khartoum-based government ease visa restrictions for foreign aid workers trying to get food to relief camps before planting season. There was a pressing need to get more food into the camps and Sudanese officials had agreed to speed up visas for aid workers trying to cope with the crisis.
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Zoellick signals that violence in Darfur is not genocide

On Thursday Mr. Zoellick put pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the violence in Darfur but backed away from the Bush administration's assertion that the mass killings and village burning amounted to genocide.

"I don't want to get into a debate over terminology," he said when asked [at a press conference after meeting Vice-President Taha] if the U.S. believed genocide was still being committed in Darfur against mostly African villagers by Arab militia and their government backers.

He said it was Colin Powell, the former secretary of state, who had "made the point" in his testimony to Congress.

Nonetheless, Mr Zoellick did speak of "crimes against humanity", in line with the findings of a UN commission of inquiry. He said he had emphasised to the Sudanese government the need for accountability through sanctions and legal processes, referring to the UN resolution that sent the issue of Darfur to the International Criminal Court.

Mr Zoellick, also proposed to the government that it start using its own courts and make the process transparent. Read full story by Guy Dinmore, The Financial Times, Khartoum, Apr 15, 2005.

Note, estimates of the numbers of dead from the conflict vary hugely. The Bush administration says 60,000-160,000 people have died from fighting, disease and famine. Aid organisations say that the death toll is closer to 300,000.
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Zoellick fears support for Darfur could ebb

Mr. Zoellick expressed concern on Friday that support for Darfur could ebb before refugees packed into teeming camps to escape violence could return home.

Darfuri civic leaders who met Zoellick in Khartoum on Thursday described a dire situation in their home province.

"All Darfur is a (prison) camp because there is insecurity, starvation," said Mahmoud Mustafa el-Mekki, a senior tribal official.

Madibbo Adam Madibbo, foreign affairs secretary of the Umma Party, Sudan's largest opposition party, said the government could rein in militias blamed for atrocities in Darfur "but are not willing".



Photo: Internal displaced Sudanese sit on a vehicle with their belongings as they travel inside Abou Shouk camp in Darfur April 16, 2005 where the starvation and armed conflict threaten the lives of millions of people in the arid western Sudanese region. Picture taken April 16, 2005 Reuters/Beatrice Mategwa.

Sudan: UN warns 3 million may need food by end of the year

Re US Deputy Defence Secretary Robert Zoellick's visit to Abu Shouk camp in Darfur, an AU spokesman in the main AU base for Darfur in El Fasher pointed out that the mission - which has a mandate to observe and not police or fight - only had about 280 vehicles and some 3,000 men to patrol a land the size of France. When Mr. Zoellick visited he found nearly 50 of those vehicles were inside the AU compound.

When former secretary of State, Colin Powell visited the same camp last June, the Sudanese government assured him it would act to halt the violence, which it blamed on others.

Since then, Abu Shouk has more than doubled in size to 80,000 residents [FT.com says 100,000]. In the last three months or so, foreign observers say government forces have been better behaved. But they continue to arm and train the Arab Janjaweed militia who are settling old scores and plundering scarce resources in a conflict exacerbated by famine, land rights and tribal rivalries.


Picture taken April 15, 2005: African Union Force Commander Major General Festus Okonkwo from Nigeria and Deputy Force Brigadier General John Bosco Kazura from Rwanda laugh in El-Fasher, Darfur, April 15, 2005.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick expressed concern on Friday that support for Darfur could ebb before refugees packed into teeming camps to escape violence return home. (Reuters/Beatrice Mategwa)

FT.com says the UN, which fed some 1.4m people in Darfur last month, warns that it will probably have to feed 3m by the end of the year. But a descent into anarchy and banditry is hindering deliveries that need to be stepped up before the onset of the rainy season next month.

Mr Zoellick said his heart went out to these people. The government could do a lot more to stop the violence and banditry, while tribal reconciliation was needed, he added. The overall conflict needed a political solution, he went on, noting that the latest chapter of the north-south conflict took over 20 years to settle.

Read more at FT.com April 16 2005 report by Guy Dinmore in Rumbek and El Fasher, Sudan.


Photo: Hungry Sudanese scramble for food left behind at a food distribution center on August 9, 2004. (Alessandro Abbonizio/AFP-Getty Images)
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The UN in Sudan: Peacekeeping, Peace Enforcement, Peace Creation

StrategyPage ran an update on the Sudan peacekeeping mission. Here is an excerpt [note there is no mention of U.S. troops]

The peacekeeping force data (from StrategyPage):

On March 24 the UN Security Council voted to send peacekeeping troops to help enforce the south Sudan peace agreement. UN Security Council Resolution 1590 authorized the 10,000 military peacekeepers recommended in February. The peacekeeping operation will be called The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). It is conceivable that the south Sudan peacekeeping force could "assist" African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, although some UN officials are talking openly of UN peacekeepers getting involved in Darfur. But UNMIS' first mission is to monitor and verify the southern ceasefire agreement. It will also help demobilize "ex-combatants" (presumably SPLA guerrillas). The Security Council's peacekeeping mandate relies on Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which is more "aggressive" than Chapter 6. Most peacekeeping ops are run under Chapter 6, but after the continuing troubles in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Security Council may have decided to give the Sudan mission more immediate authority to use force.

There will also be a sizeable civilian police contingent (of up to 715 policemen). Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Turkey, Sri Lanka and Sweden will supply police officers in the Sudan effort.

How long will it take to put the 10,000 troops and 715 police in the field? The UN said "several months." That's fair - if several means six or more. The UN report acknowledged logistical difficulties. However, the logistics net in south Sudan can supply the 10,000 troop contingent - there are roads and airfields that can be improved. Darfur is another matter.

The UN said the 10,000 peacekeeping troops will be provided by Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Cambodia (about a company), Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Rumania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Uruguay, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

[via David Aitken with thanks]
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Watching Darfur Die by Kofi Annan

Note an opinion piece titled "Billions of Promises to Keep" by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, New York Times, April 13 2005.

[via Coalition for Darfur with thanks]
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Bush holds talks with Rwandan leader at White House

April 16 VOA - President Bush met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the White House to discuss efforts to bring peace to Central Africa's troubled Great Lakes region. They also discussed a host of other regional issues from peacekeeping in southern Sudan and violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo to helping bring elections to Burundi.

The Rwandan leader says Mr. Bush vowed to continue his engagement in African affairs. "We requested the president to use his powers to help Africa in different ways, in socioeconomic development, in assuring there is peace and security not only in our region but also in the whole continent. And the president was very supportive of that," he said.

Sudan says oil discovered in impoverished Darfur

Here is no surprise. But, if true, it is the first time a Sudanese official has confirmed it: an oil field has been discovered in southern Darfur.

Note, southern Darfur is the region where a savage attack on Khor Abeche [which was controlled by the SLM, the main rebel group in Darfur] by 200 militia and a group of 150 people hailing from Niteaga took place April 7, 2005.

By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

Published April 16, 2005

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- Sudan said Saturday initial oil drilling operations in the troubled Darfur region indicate there is abundant oil in the area.

Sudan Energy Minister Awad al-Jaz told reporters in Khartoum an oil field was found in southern Darfur and it is expected to produce 500,000 barrels of oil per day by August.

Most of the country's oil production comes from oil fields in southern Sudan, where a peace treaty was recently signed between the government and rebels.

According to the accord, 50 percent of oil revenues from the south will go to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement [the former rebel group of south Sudan], while the other half to Khartoum.

The country started exporting oil in August 1999.


Photo: Sudan Energy Minister Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz (Sudan Tribune)
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Further reading

July 6, 2004 Zaman online report 'Oil Underlies Darfur Tragedy'

July 11, 2004 post - Arab sources say oil discovered in Darfur - Sudan and India sign new pipeline deal.

July 12, 2004 post by Jim Moore re Oil and Darfur.

Dec 4, 2004 post on Oil and Darfur - India signs new pipeline deal - France interested in Uranium and has drilling rights.

Apr 3, 2005 post - Oil found in South Darfur - Oil issues threaten to derail Sudan hopes for peace.

Apr 10, 2005 post - India to send peacekeeping force next month to police southern Darfur, Sudan
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China National Petroleum Corp owns most of a field in southern Darfur

Here are some excerpts from a Washington Post report by Peter S. Goodman, December 23, 2004:

A report by the U.S.-funded Civilian Protection Monitoring Team, which investigates attacks in southern Sudan, asserted that government troops have "sought to clear the way for oil exploration and to create a cordon sanitaire around the oil fields."

China National Petroleum Corp., still owned by the Communist Party government, bought into the Sudan consortium in 1996. It joined with Sudan's Energy Ministry to build the country's largest refinery, then last year invested in a $300 million expansion that nearly doubled production, according to a report in the Shenzhen Business Post.

The consortium's Heglig and Unity oil fields now produce 350,000 barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Separately, CNPC owns most of a field in southern Darfur, which began trial production this year, and 41 percent of a field in the Melut Basin, which is expected to produce as much as 300,000 barrels per day by the end of 2006. Another Chinese firm, Sinopec Corp., is erecting a pipeline from that complex to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where China's Petroleum Engineering Construction Group is building a tanker terminal.
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OIL AND GAS CONCESSION HOLDERS

See oil concession map in sidebar on right. The following information is from USAID:

BLOCKS
1 (Unity) Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company
2 (Heglig) Talisman Energy Inc. (Canada)
4 (Kailkang) Petronas Carigali (Malaysia), Sudapet (Sudan) and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)
3 (Adar) Gulf Petroleum Corporation (Qatar),
7 (Mellut) Sudapet (Sudan) and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)
5a Lundin Oil AB International Petroleum Corporation (IPC) (Sweden) Petronas Carili (Malaysia) OMV Sudan Exploration GmbH (Austria) and Sudapet (Sudan)
5 (Central) TotalElFina (France)
6 China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)

[Oil Concession information from rightsmap.com]
SUDAN
DARFUR

UK renews mediation efforts to end east Sudan problems

The British government has renewed its initiative to end the crisis in east Sudan, the Sudanese Al Ray Al-Amm said.

Full Story at Sudan Tribune, April 12, 2005.



Photo: Rebels from Sudan's Eastern Front parade during a conference held by the Front north of Kassala town, near the Eritrean border. (AFP)
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UK Shadow ministers sign parliamentary statement on Darfur

On April 12, UK campaigners "Protect Darfur" issued a Press Release calling for the UK to push for a UN Chapter VII peace enforcement mandate for operations in Darfur, to be led by the African Union with support from wealthy nations.

Note, it's all very well calling for an expanded mandate and more troops for Darfur but what the African Union and nearly all politicians and journalists fail to mention or explain is that nobody else wants to go. Perhaps this explains what's happened to the long overdue 1,000 soldiers:

"There have been these persistent reports that the logistics was not ready for the [AU] troops, but that hasn't been the case for several months. Nobody that wants to be on the ground is not on the ground," says Charles Snyder, the leading U.S. negotiator for Sudan, in an AllAfrica interview April 11, 2005.

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French Ambassador in Washington responds to Washington Post

Well done to the French Ambassador in Washington for his neat response to the quirky Washington Post whose reports are so misleading half the time with emotive inaccuracies, you have to wonder who is in charge of quality control over there. Sometimes though, despite being heavily US centric which leaves readers blinkered, their reports are quite good. But there's no consistency which gives one the impression they are out to manipulate readers for political purposes.

Here is a copy of the French Ambassador's response in the Washington Post, April 16, titled "France's Role in Darfur" [let's not forget that France was the first to respond last year with 200 troops who were instrumental in air-lifting life saving emergency aid into Darfur - they may still be stationed on the Chad-Sudan border]:

Regarding the April 11 editorial "Doing Better by Darfur"

The African Union has indicated that it wishes for the Darfur crisis to be resolved by Africans. In this context, France and the European Union, as well as the United States, have provided major assistance to the deployment of the African Union's mission in Darfur.

France, bilaterally and within the European Union, has supported the African Union mission financially and logistically through its troops stationed in Chad. France also has provided humanitarian aid to displaced people. France has contributed some $86 million to Darfur, and it and the European Union intend to pursue their efforts there.

The scope of the E.U. efforts -- in conjunction with those of other contributors, including the United States -- was such that to date, NATO has not been asked to provide assistance for Darfur. Allegations that France opposed NATO intervention are therefore unfounded.

Should the African Union's Peace and Security Council meeting next Friday decide to increase the African Union's troop strength, France and the E.U. will support an expanded African Union mission in Darfur.

The U.N. Security Council recently adopted two resolutions on Darfur: one imposing sanctions and the other making it possible to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court. This is a positive development in which France played a role. The horror of the Darfur situation should spur us to increased cooperation and joint initiatives, rather than engaging in blame games.

JEAN-DAVID LEVITTE

Ambassador

Embassy of France

Washington
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Josef Scarantino's Sudan trip to help set up Internet cafes

After hearing southern Sudanese Silvestro Akara Bakhiet speak on the southern Sudan peace agreement at University of California at Davis at the beginning of March, Josef Scarantino of SEPNet (Sudan Emancipation & Preservation Network) met Silvestro and agreed to become the web developer for their newly-named organization New Sudan Generation (formerly Pageri Organization). Josef says he knew little of the organization and their work in Sudan, but wanted to be a part of their work in any way that I could after hearing Silvestro's passionate plea for help.

Next month, Josef will be making a trip to Sudan on behalf of New Sudan Generation. He will visit Eastern Equatoria, Southern Sudan; Kampala, Uganda; and possibly Nairobi, Kenya. The trip will last 2 months, May through June, 2005.

NSG Executive Director and Silvestro will accompany him for three weeks in Uganda and southern Sudan working with refugees, internally displaced persons (IDP's), and the various schools that NSG helps fund. After three weeks, Silvestro will return home and Josef will remain in Sudan to work on a current NSG project.

Besides working with Silvestro on NSG's projects, he will help set up seven Internet cafes in southern Sudan and help train the people on using the Internet and the computers that NSG has donated. The Internet cafes will provide a basic income for those who operate them and will help in educating and connecting the Sudanese people to the rest of the world.

Josef is also arranging for partnerships with a few other organisations that will include well-drilling and training for water needs, a shipment of 25,000 books for educational needs in the few schools that exist in southern Sudan, and a possible Micro-Enterprise project founded on beekeeping and the export and sale of honey. Full Story

UN and AU condemn 'premeditated' militia attack in Darfur - Commentary on Charles Snyder's interview - Why Nuba feel betrayed

An AFP report April 14 via Reuters says Khor Abeche, which was controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement, the main rebel group in Darfur, was reportedly attacked because the rebels refused to turn over the bodies of two assailants killed during an earlier militia raid on the village on March 9.

The attack that was launched on April 7 by some 200 militiamen on horseback led by Nasir al Tijani, backed up by a group of 150 people hailing from Niteaga, a joint statement by AU and UN envoys.

"We expect that Government authorities will also take appropriate action against Al Tijaniwho had in their very presence, repeatedly threatened the destruction of Khor Abeche until he finally did so on April 7," the two envoys said.

"The AU had prepared to deploy its troops in Niteaga and Khor Abeche since April 3, to deter precisely this kind of attack, but was prevented from acting by what can only be inferred as deliberate official procrastination over the allocation of land for the troop's accommodation," they added.

Note, the Darfur rebel group SLA agreed Monday to resume stalled peace negotiations with the government, retracting earlier conditions it had set for returning to the peace table. But it might not mean very much because the UN's situation report posted here recently says there are splits within JEM, the other main Darfur rebel group. Notice how the rebels split whenever they are pressed in a corner to negotiate? Scroll down here today to see what may be bubbling over in the Nuba Mountains in southern Sudan.
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African Union protects women from attacks in North Darfur camp

Here is some good news. April 14 Reuters report says African Union (AU) personnel in North Darfur have started providing armed escorts for displaced women and girls to protect them from attacks, an AU official told IRIN on Wednesday.

"The women from Abu Shouk IDP [internally displaced person] camp in North Darfur are escorted by AU soldiers once a week, when they venture outside the camp to collect firewood," said Justin Thundu, AU's public information officer at El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

Thundu said the AU considered these escorts an integral part of its protection mandate in Darfur. "Beside our daily patrols, it is one of the activities we carry out to promote confidence-building among the IDPs."

"We haven't heard of any harassment cases around Abu Shouk over the past weeks," Thundu added. "It has been a very successful exercise. We are doing it in a few other camps as well"
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Commentary on Charles Snyder's important interview

On April 11, 2005, I posted here a copy of AllAfrica's important interview with Charles Snyder, the leading U.S. negotiator for Sudan.

Here is a copy of a comment I bashed out and left at Eugene's post on the interview with Charles Snyder. I planned to write a post on the interview but since my comment covers most of what I would have written, it will act as the post for here:

Hello Eugene, I can't recall when I last read such an open in-depth interview with a politician currently involved with Sudan. You have to wonder about the reason for this interview. As you well know, they're usually not so forthcoming with details. Who knows, maybe it's for the benefit of the rebels - for them to accept Bashir's Nuba mountain type deal as a way to stop the fighting and spend the next year or two negotiating a peace deal. Jan Pronk recently said after the ICC resolution, the rebels have no need to fight anymore - that it's over.

See what Charles Snyder said about the delay in getting the AU troops there? He says it's not to do with lack of resources, but that everyone who wants to be there is there right now -- meaning: nobody else until May/June/July is willing to go (seems difficult to believe).

Perhaps the UN/AU strategy is to complete north-south deal, wait for Garang et al to be situated in Khartoum, get funding in place + 10,000 UN peacekeepers before offering again the 10,000 SPLM/A troops that Garang suggested for Darfur last year (to be matched with 10,000 Sudanese troops and 10,000 from the UN). Interesting too - and I haven't seen it reported elsewhere - the Nuba type deal that Bashir put on the table (why didn't he offer to corral the Janjaweed in the peace zones? No doubt the peace zones he offered to the rebels are not in the areas of Darfur where the oil and minerals lay).

Garang's team should have arrived in Khartoum within 2 weeks of the Jan 9 peace deal - they only arrived this weekend which means they are two months behind schedule. Why nobody has demanded a proper explanation for the delay in the long awaiting 1,000 AU troops is beyond me. I can never shake the feeling that there is a lot more going on than meets the eye - and we know only a fraction of what is happening behind the scenes. The media does so little investigative reporting.

It's interesting to see Charles Snyder giving Khartoum more than an A grade on the terrorism front - wonder what he meant by that - and who he meant by "the others" working alongside the Janjaweed. South Darfur seems like real trouble, ie the area where the latest big raid took place. You have to wonder what is the attraction of that particular area - the UN and AU say Sudanese officials have been delaying AU troops getting accommodation there (why the AU needs permission is amazing).

It was surprising and disappointing to see Egypt's Darfur summit cancelled for April 20 - there is a large meeting a few days before - I wonder how much involvement the Libyan leader has and what is behind the hold up on the opening up the route through Libya that he offered last year for aid trucks to get through into Darfur. Rainy season will be falling again soon. Note President Bush is meeting at the White House with Rwandan President April 15 re peacekeeping for Sudan and the Great Lakes region. Bye for now. Kind regards. Keep up the great blog. Ingrid | Homepage | 04.11.05 - 4:22 pm

Eugene's reply to the comment:

Your point about the inability to get AU troops to Darfur is a good one. As we all know, they are far short of their mandated strength right now and seem unable to get more troops into the region.

This raises an interesting point about calls to increase the size of the AU mission to Darfur to somewhere around 25,000 - 50,000 (at least that seems to be the necessary number, according to the few military people willing to talk about it.) If the AU can't even get 3,000 troops to the region after all this time, how are they going to get 50,000 there?

Talk of an expanded AU mission is all well and good, but if nobody wants to actually send troops, it is just a lot of empty talk.

Also, the issue of terrorism is one that seems important, but ignored. Eric Reeves' two latest anlysis pieces both hinted at the presence of Islamic terrorists in the region or some sort of tie between them and the Janjaweed. It is all rather vague thus far, but if Reeves is hearing about it from his sources on the ground it must mean something and it makes you wonder about Snyder's willingness to give Khartoum "a better than an 'A' grade." Eugene Oregon | Homepage | 04.11.05 - 5:08 pm

Note: Eugene has since posted some follow ups -- see April 13 post titled Lacking the Political Will and April 13 post on The Destruction of Khor Abeche.

Also, in an April 8 post highlighting a few key points from Eric Reeves' latest update, Eugene selected this excerpt:

[O]ne nongovernmental organization (NGO) that has had an especially important reporting presence in Darfur indicates confidentially that it received explicit threats from the Janjaweed and Khartoum officials in February 2005 to the effect that if there were an ICC referral from the UN, "there would be an explosion of violence against NGO and UN workers"; "Musa Hilal [the most notorious of the Janjaweed commanders] will join Osama bin Laden; the Janjaweed will become a branch of al-Qaeda --- these were the types of threats we heard."

A Darfuri in exile, with exceptionally good contacts on the ground in Darfur, also reports that in the wake of the UN's referral of Darfur war crimes to the ICC, there is a "feeling among the NGO and humanitarian aid community that the Janjaweed would escalate their attacks on foreigners." This source also refers to Khartoum's opening of "camps for training foreign Janjaweed and Arab mujahadeen from other countries to fight [foreigners]. These people may now target the foreign [humanitarian aid] community in Darfur."

[edit]

"Sudanese officials greet the ICC recommendation [by the UN Commission of Inquiry] with a combination of annoyance and arrogance. Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail recently threatened the 800 to 1,000 international humanitarian workers in Darfur by warning that referrals to a criminal court could lead to 'a direct threat to the foreign presence... Darfur may become another Iraq in terms of arrests and abductions.' A [paramilitary Popular Defense Force] official told Refugees International that 'if the wanted on the list are penalized, it will not solve the problem. It will start war again.' His colleague added, 'There will be an explosion.'"

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After 21 years of fighting, the Nuba feel betrayed

Following on from the post above re Charles Snyder's interview, Mr Snyder spoke of a Nuba Mountain type deal the Sudanese President recently put on the table for the Darfur rebels to consider. The following report "Politics-Sudan After 21 Years of Fighting, the Nuba Feel Betrayed," authored by Darren Taylor in Nairobi, was published online April 6, 2005 [apologies for mislaid web link to original report]. Here is a copy, in full:

As nations from around the world scramble to secure lucrative contracts to develop southern Sudan following the signing of a peace deal in January, one of the war-torn country's minority groups is preparing for a fresh battle.

During the 21-year conflict between the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), the Nuba people were anomalies: Muslim camel keepers who fought side by side with the black, largely Christian, cattle herders of southern Sudan against the repressive Islamic rulers in Khartoum.

Their homeland, the Nuba Mountains, is an isolated, arid wasteland in northern Sudan, on the border with the south, where only hardy brush, scorpions and tough nomads survive. The government branded the Nuba "traitors to Islam" for allying themselves with the SPLM/A. Yet the Nuba consistently refused to abandon the darker skinned peoples of the south.

For their 'betrayal', Sudanese government Antonov aircraft and helicopter gunships showered the Nuba with bombs and bullets. Schools were razed; water supplies destroyed. "Many, many killed in explosions; many died of hunger and thirst," said Saeed Anwar, an SPLM/A official in the Nuba Mountains.

The graves of Nuba people killed in government attacks line the region's hillsides. Perhaps rumours of vast oil and diamond deposits under the desert sands were responsible for both the southern forces and the northern government claiming the area as theirs. In any event, the deadlock over who would rule the Nuba Mountains in peacetime had for years prevented agreement being reached, and war persisted. But, under immense pressure from the United States especially, SPLM/A leader John Garang signed the deal Jan. 9 and, say analysts, effectively betrayed his erstwhile allies, the Nuba.

The praise singers point out that the peace agreement has won important concessions for the southern Sudanese: provision for wealth from resources such as oil to be shared by the previously opposing forces; the withdrawal of government troops from the south, and the right for southerners to vote, following a six-year interim period, for unity with, or secession from, the north. But the document is also clear that the Nuba Mountains will form part of the north and its people will continue to be subject to the government and its harsh Islamic sharia law.

Daudi Mohamed, 46, a former SPLA guerilla living in exile in Kenya, lamented: "Our women will still be taken like animals to Khartoum to be stoned (for alleged adultery) and to work as slaves in Arab homes. Our men are still going to be forced to join the northern armies. Any one of us accused of stealing, our hands will be chopped (off). I, like my people, am crying! "What have we fought for?" he shouted, his words cutting through the noise of a nearby metal grinder.

Mohamed was born, raised and taught how to launch rocket grenades in the Nuba Mountains. Instead of going to school, he went to war. "We have fought for nothing. Garang has sold us out," he scoffed, slouching in the doorway of his sparse, oil stained auto spares shop on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi.

Under the agreement, the Nuba, who fought alongside the SPLM/A for decades for self-determination and religious and economic freedom, will be denied the opportunity to vote for secession as the peace deal unequivocally defines them as 'northerners'.

And although president Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his government have committed themselves to what the agreement terms 'popular consultation' in the area, this would probably prove "meaningless because local government will be dominated by government delegates," said John Ashworth, a respected human rights monitor who has worked in Sudan since the war erupted in 1983.

According to the deal, only a few token seats in the Nuba legislature will be reserved for SPLM/A officials leaving them with little political power. "This is a very bad agreement for the Nuba Mountains; they've really got very, very little out of it. When I challenged some senior SPLM people there about what they would do about the situation, they said: 'well, then we'll go back to war'," Ashworth stated.

The SPLM/A governor of the Nuba Mountains, Abdul Aziz Hilu, was not available for comment, but one of his officials told IPS: "Our leaders were sidelined in the peace talks. But the feeling in the end was: let's sign the peace and see what happens. We can always rebel later. Let's have an imperfect peace rather than no peace at all. If we continue to be oppressed we will rise up and continue to fight."

But Ashworth feels that should the Nuba return to arms, "they'll be wiped out", because they can no longer count on Garang's guerillas, and sympathy from the world at large for this tiny ethnic minority - who are estimated to number around 1.4 million - will also be "thin" as they will be seen as "rebelling against peace".

For a diplomat who has watched the peace process unfold for the past three years, the sidelining of the Nuba came as no surprise. "Garang has always acted primarily in the interests of his Dinka people (the largest ethnic group in Sudan). He has therefore sacrificed his minority allies in order to secure peace for the majority," he reasoned.

Observers say the lesser ethnic groups of Sudan - most notably the Nuer, Shilluk and Beja - tolerated Garang for his ability as a fiery warmonger but are less likely to accept him as their political leader when he is confirmed soon as al-Bashir's Vice-President.

Tribal animosities have simmered under the SPLM/A's apparently united surface since the war began. The tension boiled over in 1991 when Garang's deputy, Riek Machar - a Nuer - and senior official Lam Akol - a Shilluk - rebelled against Garang. The insurrection resulted in a bloody war within a war that almost destroyed the liberation movement. But it is the Muslim minority groups of SPLM/A's northern allies, like the Nuba, who have been the biggest losers with the signing of the peace agreement.

"We are alone," Mohamed sighed. "We do not expect anyone to help us. It will be suicide to begin fighting again without the Commander's (Garang's) backing. We wanted to be part of the south; we wanted to feel the joy of voting for independence. But now we are back to being slaves."

And he returned to his spanners and drum of old oil.
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Closure of Libyan-Sudanese border devastates Darfur

"The currently limited prospects for migrant workers in Libya, combined with the threat of detention, the difficulties of return to Sudan, and the loss of contact with their families in Darfur and uncertainty about their fate, have created a sense of despair among many migrant Darfurians in Libya."

This was the conclusion of a report Darfur Livelihoods Under Siege, published by the Feinstein International Famine Center at Tufts University in Massachussetts. The report was the subject of a discussion meeting held in London April 15, 2005, under the auspices of the Overseas Development Institute. Full story at Mathaba.Net News April 15, 2005.



Photo: www.masters-of-photography.com

Tanzania tells Sudan to act on Darfur militia - Kadhafi, Obasanjo discuss Darfur

A BBC news report April 12 says the Government of Sudan is being blamed for taking its time in giving permission to the African Union's Security Council to deploy peacekeepers to the area of the recent Janjaweed raid in south Darfur, in spite of the African Union wanting to do so. But as usual, there is no explanation why the AU needs permission from Khartoum for existing peacekeepers to access certain areas of Darfur - their deployment was negotiated and agreed by all concerned several months ago.

Here is a copy of the news report in full - material provided by the BBC Monitoring Service - via Sudan Tribune [Please note, Khor Abeche is in the region of South Darfur]:

"Tanzanian government is shocked that Sudan has been unable to take action against militia who attacked Khor Abeche village, in western Darfur, killing several people and injuring many, the official Radio Tanzania reported today.

According to a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Tanzania is saddened that the Sudanese government has been unable to take any action against the 350 militiamen who attacked the village and killed innocent civilians.

The government of Sudan is also being blamed for taking its time in giving permission to the AU Peace and Security Council to deploy peacekeepers to the area, in spite of the AU wanting to do so.

The statement said Sudan has failed to implement the UN Security Council resolution which stipulates that those involved in killing people, breaking international humanitarian laws and impeding the peace process in Darfur be brought before the International Criminal Court to answers charges against them."

Photo: Sudanese army soldiers patrol on camels outside the Mornay camp in western Darfur, Sudan. (AFP).
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Kadhafi, Obasanjo discuss Darfur

A news report at Sudan Tribune April 12 says Libya'a leader talked about Darfur on the phone Tuesday to the African Union's President Obasanjo who is also president of Nigeria. But there is no more news about the reason for the long delay in the 1,000 AU troops promised for Darfur. Charles Snyder, U.S. negotiator for Sudan, said in a recent interview:

"There have been these persistent reports that the logistics was not ready for the troops, but that hasn't been the case for several months. Nobody that wants to be on the ground is not on the ground.

Also, there is still no news on what has happened to Libyan leader Col Kadhafi's offer last year of a route through Libya being opened for trucks to transport aid into Darfur. American academic and Sudan expert Eric Reeves, in his latest analysis The Destruction of Khor Abeche, South Darfur, April 7, 2005 writes:

"The total population in Chad in need of humanitarian assistance could reach to 500,000: 200,000 current Darfuri refugees; 150,000 local Chadians who have been overwhelmed by the presence of such a large refugee population in the impoverished border region; and another 150,000 Darfuris who may flee to Chad because of ongoing violence in Darfur, again of the sort witnessed in Khor Abeche.

This part of Chad is inaccessible from N'Djamena to the west during the rainy season, and the alternative supply route (overland from Libya) cannot possibly supply even the current refugee population. Extremely expensive airlifting of food will be the only alternative, and there is no such airlift capacity in the Darfur humanitarian theater. This is an extremely vulnerable refugee population."

Photo: Libyan leader Mouammar Kadhafi and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo during Darfur summit in Tripoli last year. (AP)
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Hundreds of Sudanese students protest France's backing of UN resolution

Hundreds of students staged a sit-in outside the French Embassy on Wednesday, protesting France's support for a U.N. resolution demanding international trials of war crime suspects in Sudan's Darfur conflict.

Full Story by Mohamed Osman (AP) April 13, 2005.


Photo: Sudanese riot police stand guard outside the French Embassy during a student's protest in Sudan's capital Khartoum, April 13, 2005. (Reuters).
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India announces aid for Sudan

On April 13 India announced a contribution of 10 million USD for phase one of Sudan's reconstruction besides concessional credit lines worth 100 million USD. This will be in addition to the bilateral assistance under the South-South Technical Assistance Programme.
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Interview with Caesar Mazzolari, bishop of Rumbek, south Sudan

A few weeks ago, after googling around to find out what the church and religious leaders in Sudan were doing, I started drafting a post on the Bishop of Khartoum, trying to make sense of what religious leaders - including the Muslim clerics - were saying about the situation in Sudan.

So yesterday morning, it was interesting to see, after billions of dollars were promised to Sudan, the Bishop of Rumbek, south Sudan, popping up in mainstream media.

Bishop Caesar Mazzolari of the diocese of Rumbek, south Sudan's designated capital, has been involved in pastoral and humanitarian work in the area for many years. In an interview in Gordhim, a town northwest of Rumbek, south Sudan, on 8 April, he told IRIN that the region was not yet ready to receive the returnees. He also said that southern Sudan needed as much help as [the western region of] Darfur, and appealed to Sudanese intellectuals to return from abroad.

Click here for excerpts of that interview and note the lack of dialogue between Sudan's leadership and the people. It seems there is a total lack of leadership from all sides [including the church]. What are the Muslim clerics saying? I've not found anything yet. But I have read some of what the Christian leaders in Sudan have been saying over the past five years. More later.


Photo (IRIN) Caesar Mazzolari, Bishop of Rumbek says:

"The infrastructure in southern Sudan does not exist. Miles and miles of roads have been abandoned all through the years, which is over 22 years. No wells have been dug, and those which existed were not maintained.

Education does not exist. Only 3 percent of women are literate in the south, and only 16 percent to 17 percent of men. The only real education structures that do exist are the ones provided by the church. There is not enough medicine.

The promotion of the peace project signed January 9, 2005, has not taken place. Plenty of pieces of paper on the situation abound but no structures or programmes for bringing the labour force to work in the field. This peace has to be accompanied by action sustained with both human and material resources to develop health centres, water sources [and] schools, but also to support those who will teach [and] those who will work in the hospitals.

South Sudan needs "the human resources of people who will come and say: 'We will stay for maybe six months or a year', to train our teachers, to help us develop the schools, to train our nurses. We need people who will come to train administrators for both health and education projects, so that our donors will know that we are accountable, because the moment we are not accountable the whole thing stops. We are just now scratching the surface, and our people are a bit disenchanted [and ask themselves] 'What are our leaders doing, and what are we to do?'

The other thing that militates against peace is the fact that disarmament is not taking place. Many commanders are still acting out of the power of the gun - they prevail over tribunals, they prevail over justice cases.

[There also a need for] the proclamation of a very clear law that governs civil society, and the training of a civil police force. We [should] put all the soldiers, all the commanders and all the military who are not supposed to be around away - which is in the plan but is not being done."

Darfur: U.N. Sudan Situation Reports 7-12 April 2005

The following is a copy in full of an email received today giving the latest situation reports by United Nations personnel on the ground in Sudan for 7, 10 and 12 April 2005:

7 April 2005 Key Developments:

Today in Khartoum, the UN Country team for the North and the South met jointly for the second time since the signing of the CPA. Discussions focused on common policies such as return and reintegration.

SRSG Pronk, PDSRSG Zerihoun, and FC Akbar met with an SPLM delegation that is part of the advance team that has arrived in Khartoum. The same team along with the Police Commissioner also met with a GoS inter-ministerial committee charged with evaluating Security Council resolutions (1590, 1591, 1593) and reporting to the Council of Ministers. In both meetings, discussions covered the UNMIS mandate and deployment issues, SOFA and model SOFA, freedom of movement and notifications, security in critical areas, and the return of IDPs.

Security Issues:

North Darfur: On 4 Apr, Jebel Si and Dali IDP camps near Tawilla reported heavy gunfire in their areas. Reportedly one child was killed and two people were wounded. As a result of the attack, the majority of residents of both camps have scattered. AMIS is investigating.

South Darfur: Armed tribesmen reportedly attacked several villages northeast and east of Thur since 31 March. On 4 Apr., several trucks with hundreds of Thur residents were seen arriving from Thur into Kass. No reports yet received on casualties.

An INGO reported that two of its vehicles, both clearly identified, were ambushed at Teiga, between Kindiger and Manawashi, on 6 Apr. at approximately 13:00. These vehicles were exiting SLA areas, moving back to Manawashi and Nyala. There were no casualties but one vehicle was hit. SLA and nomadic tribal militias had been engaged in fighting on this road the previous day (5 Apr.).

West Darfur: On 7 Apr., a pro-government demonstration took place in front of the OCHA compound in El Geneina, protesting the SC Resolution 1593. The demonstration was attended by 200 - 300 people with no incidents of aggression. A petition was delivered to the UN protesting the resolution.

Political/Civil Affairs:

On 5 Apr., UNMIS officials met with Emanwell Kur, the Church leader in El Fasher. The Church has 6000 members, and this year is the year of reconciliation and confidence building. The Church also has good relations with the Muslim Sufi community.

On 6 Apr., UNMIS officials held an introductory meeting in El Fahser with Muslim leaders from North Darfur, including the Director General of the Ministry of Social and Cultural Affairs. During the meeting, UNMIS explained its mandate in assisting civil society in reconciliation. All participants showed a willingness to cooperate, and scheduled further information sharing meetings for the near future.

Local Media: The local radio station in El Fasher announced that in a meeting with tribal leaders on 4 Apr., the Commissioner of El-Waha locality in El Fasher (a locality of nomadic tribes in North and part of South Darfur) rejected Security Council Resolution 1593, and proclaimed that El-Waha will be the Falluja of Sudan if any of its people are taken to the ICC.

Humanitarian Affairs:

Food/NFIs

North Darfur: FAO delivered a quantity of agricultural tools to villages around Shadad to allow them to prepare soils before the rains. This INGO COOPI is planning to deliver tools and seeds to 3000 households around Mallit and Malha. It also intends to carry out vaccinations and de-worming of animals, targeting 9000 households in Mallit, Sayeh and Malha.

Camp Planning

North Darfur: In Abu Shouk II, OCHA led a survey team composed of urban planning technicians on 6 Apr. for demarcation of land destined to host the extension of the Abu Shouk IDP camp. The Urban Planning Department has committed to endorse the use of the demarcated land in a written letter addressed to OCHA on 7 Apr. In addition, WES (with the support of UNICEF) has completed the drilling of two boreholes and the fixing of 2 hand pumps along Wadi belt. The four water sources will guarantee a sufficient amount of water for the new site.

Assessments

North Darfur: The team conducting the assessment on the Damrats in Kutum has successfully completed its assessment and met with the Al Waha (Commissioner for Nomads) on 5 April for a debriefing session.

General

South Sudan: The movement of people on the western side of the Nile River still continues. People coming from Yei on bicycles are now able to use the main road between Juba and Yei except for a small portion at 60 km where they have to go off-road to avoid land mines. However, it is difficult to identify whether these people have returned finally, or if they are visiting relatives or are business people.

In the sectoral meeting of water and sanitation this week, UNHCR pledged to fund the Swedish Free Mission to dig wells in Eastern Equatoria and other areas where there is guinea worm. However, there was a concern that the digging of bore wells in urban areas such as Juba does not provide a long-term solution given the growing population, fall in water levels and salty nature of the water.

A sectoral meeting on education took place on 5 Apr. and discussed problems facing returnee students. Among the problems were lack of classrooms and slow school registration due to change of policy. It has been reported that the President has declared free education in the Sudan. Some parents refused to pay the registration fees (SD 1,000) required by school administration. Schools are now planning to call for a meeting of parents. The representative of Ministry of Education in the meeting agreed to raise the issue of returnee and refugee students to the government.
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10 April 2005 Key Developments:

On 7 Apr., roughly 350 armed tribesmen attacked the village of Khor Abeche, northeast of Nyala in South Darfur. The African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) has confirmed that approximately 90 percent of the village was destroyed in the attack, but casualty figures are not yet known. Please see joint AMIS-UNMIS communique for more details.

SRSG Pronk and DSRSG da Silva departed for Oslo on 9 Apr., to attend the donors' conference on Sudan.

A peaceful demonstration against UN Security Council resolution 1593 (2005) took place on 7 Apr. in Geneina, West Darfur. The demonstrators were principally from nomadic tribes. The three petitions presented by the demonstrators will be sent to the UN Secretary General through the appropriate channels. Deployment of GoS forces guaranteed the peaceful nature of the demonstration, but the market remained closed until the demonstration ended.

Security Issues:

South Darfur: There is growing concern that the departure of the GoS Army from Marla will allow rebel groups and Arab militia to engage in fighting, which would increase insecurity in the area. AMIS is expected to deploy troops in the area. Prior to any further humanitarian action into the Marla area, it was agreed that UN officials would assess the area. Meetings between groups in the area and agencies engaged in provision of assistance would follow.

On 8 Apr., an INGO reported that one of their vehicles travelling from Mershing to Manawashi was fired upon. No impact or damage was caused.

Protection Issues:

North Darfur: Reportedly, 234 individuals (mostly women and children) arrived at the Galab IDP site over the last three days, following attacks in Khor Abeche. These IDPs informed that more people are expected to move from that area as a result of increased insecurity.

South Darfur: Due to the continued harassment of IDPs in Kass, it has been reported that there is a renewed movement from Kass to Kalma camp, where five newly arrived families were registered on 9 Apr.

West Darfur: An INGO reported that 555 people (106 families) have moved to camps in Zalingei during Mar. from villages in Jebel Marra. Reportedly, many left due to insecurity and lack of food.

Political/Civil Affairs:

On 7 Apr., UNMIS met in El Fasher with the Women's Development Associations Network, which covers 21 women's associations from El Fasher and Kebkabiya localities, and has 5,000 members. Among some of its activities, the network provided meals and clothes to pregnant and lactating women and children, and trained 794 women in manufacturing and using improved cooking stoves in Abu Shouk IDP Camp. However, due to the security situation in the area, and the displacement of some of its members, the network was unable to implement its development projects.

Humanitarian Affairs:

General

North Darfur: On 8 Apr., an assessment of the Hamra area (the area surrounding the nomadic semi-permanent villages most recently assessed) commenced. The assessment is focused on the food situation in this area.

The situation and whereabouts of the IDPs from Tawilla following recent incidents in the area is still unclear. OCHA is due to conduct a field assessment on 10 Apr. to confirm the facts of the situation.

The demarcation for Abu Shouk II has been completed and the GoS Ministry of Planning issued confirmation that the land in question had been reserved and ready to use as an IDP camp. A task force meeting to plan concrete steps for assistance in the new site will be held 10 Apr.

West Darfur: The Interagency Assessment mission to Tendelti on 4 Apr. confirmed a population of approximately 1500 IDPs (225HHs), mainly displaced from Juruf village. The IDPs fled Tendelti approximately over a month ago as a result of heightened insecurity. There were also reports of population return from Chad. The IDPs' main needs are shelter, food and water assistance.

Food/NFIs

South Darfur: Agencies are gearing-up to measure and respond to the drought. A number of INGOs are in the process of establishing rain gauge stations for rainfall data collection with technical support from FAO.

Education

North Darfur: The Humanitarian Air Service intervened to deliver the Grade 8 examination papers to a number of examination centres in North Darfur. HAC expressed GoS deep appreciation for the assistance.

Returns

In Juba, the movement of people on the western side of river Nile is growing. This was reflected in the HAC registration of 90 students between 4 and 6 April. The registration shows that some families have returned to put their children in schools. According to HAC, non-students returnees are not registered because the movement is voluntary and there is nothing to offer to them. It is also difficult to identify where they live or whether they are visiting relatives, or business people.
231 returnees were registered passing through Kosti on 7 and 9 Apr.
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12 April 2005 Key Developments:

Reports indicate that a riot broke out on the campus of Dilling University in Nuba Mountains on 11 Apr. JMC confirms that at least one student was killed and 23 wounded, 3 of whom were flown to El Obeid for treatment. The cause of the riot was apparently disagreement over results of elections to the student council.

The Government of Chad has suspended its role as mediator in the Darfur peace process because of its allegations that the Government of Sudan is supporting Chadian rebel groups in Darfur.

The SRSG Pronk today attended the second and last day of the Oslo pledging conference for Sudan. On the margins of the conference today he met with EU representatives. The objective was to mobilize the EU countries to support the AU in its deployment in Darfur. The SRSG also met with Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick. They discussed the situation in Sudan and US support for AU deployment in Darfur.

Security Issues:

North Darfur: On 6 Apr., a truck hired by a WFP cooperating partner joined a WFP convoy travelling to Malha. The convoy was stopped at Cindi, between Mellit and Malha en route to Malha. All WFP marked vehicles were allowed to continue, however, the hired vehicle and driver were detained. The vehicle was loaded with 25 metric tonnes of consumables. Another convoy of 16 WFP and commercial trucks were also stopped by SLA in Mado area, between Malha and Mellit, on 11 Apr.

South Darfur: Following the cattle riding incident involving SLA and Fulani tribesmen, the SLA confirmed the presence of 75 Fulani tribesmen in Muhajarija as their guests, that SLA is 'looking for the stolen cattle' and that two "thieves" were arrested by the rebel movement. The rebels later informed the AU that 71 of the group and 17 cattle found went home, while four tribesmen decided to stay on in the rebel stronghold to look for their cattle.

West Darfur: The AU has reported that the situation in Um Shalaya, which has been tense due to a tribal conflict, is now calm. GoS authorities and police discussed the situation with the Amir of the Arab community. The group assured the AU and residents of Um Shalaya that no one would be attacked in retaliation for the incident between the police and the residents.

Protection Issues:

North Darfur: The fuel efficient stoves project in Kebkabiya has been positively received by the IDPs. So far, 2,000 women have been trained on the usage of the stoves. This has resulted in reduction of firewood consumption by 50% and has led to significant reduction of gender based violence cases reported in the area.

South Darfur: The HAC promised agencies to complete the preparatory works in the Hashaba site known as "Salam" for Kalma relocation by the end of the week. IOM is leading a Relocation Working Group to reassess the area and finalise the determination for appropriate and voluntary relocation. NGOs are planning to start their delivery of assistance as soon as possible.

Political/Civil Affairs:

Following the 7 Apr attack on Khor Abeche, South Darfur, GoS has announced that it will launch an investigation into the incidents in collaboration with the AU.

Accusations by the Chadian President, Idriss Deby that GoS was recruiting, training and arming Chadian rebels in order to destabilise his Government, has prompted GoS to announce it will investigate the allegations and send a delegation to Chad to hold talks with President Deby to clear the "misunderstanding." In the meantime, Chad has reportedly suspended its mediation efforts on Darfur.

Press reports suggest the JEM may split following a statement issued by 56 field commanders that they have relieved Chairman Khalil of his post.

SRSG Pronk is heading tonight for Paris for a two day working visit. He is expected to meet with senior French officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as senior officials from the Presidency, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Cooperation and Development. Mr. Pronk's visit is part of a series of visits he is undertaking to European capitals, in order to mobilize support for the AU Mission in Sudan, as well as to invite European countries to contribute military observers to UNMIS.

Humanitarian Affairs:

Assessments

During a visit in Tawila on 11 Apr., an OCHA delegation verified that the number of IDPs remaining in Dali and Jebel Si is negligible (between 30-40 individuals seen during the visit). IDPs sources indicate that the population may have fled to Sew Sewa, Gozbena, Tina west and into the mountains located to the south of Tawilla.

Food/NFIs

North Darfur: Following to the failure of the headcount process at Abu Shouk camp, a meeting between all the stakeholders, including IDPs representatives, was held on 9 Apr. It was agreed that the next registration exercise would be the last one, and IDP representatives agreed to cooperate to ensure that the next exercise is a success since future humanitarian assistance would be based on the figures obtained during the exercise.

Health

North Darfur: The State Ministry of Health conducted two phases of vector control campaigns for Abu Shouk and Zam Zam camps between 2 and 6 Apr. Following the spraying, the general health indicators have started to improve and levels of bloody diarrhoea, for example, have started to level off. An additional 48 new latrines and 30 showers have been constructed for the new arrivals at Abu Shouk camp.

South Darfur: The French NGO - Aide Medical International (AMI) has started providing mobile primary health care (PHC) services to IDPs and host communities in Umm Jana area in Edd Al Fursan locality. AMI has deployed vehicles with drugs, equipment and personnel for programme implementation. IDPs and the host community will be assisted twice a week. The possibility of expanding the programme within Umm Jana and other adjacent areas is being contemplated depending on gaps in needs in health care services.

One INGO announced its withdrawal from East Jebel Marra until the security situation improves. Another INGO left the area in early March, leaving no healthcare in SLA-controlled Jebel Marra. Other humanitarian organizations are seeking funds to take over activities.

Returns

Returnees from Sennar to western Kordofan have reported to the Nuba Mountains Organization in Rebec that they have been repeatedly asked to pay tax on some of their properties at different checkpoints between Sennar and Kosti.

240 returnees were registered passing through Kosti on 11 Apr. to various locations in south Sudan.

Returnees travelling to Bahr El Ghazal through Mayoum have expressed concern about the taxes they have to pay when crossing Mayoum's security checkpoint.

World leaders pledge $4.5 billion for Sudan while pressing for peace pact

Yesterday, Sudan was promised $US 4.5 billion. Seen any word of gratitude or thanks from Sudan? Me neither.

Sudan's vice president, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, told yesterday's donors conference that his government was committed to reaching a peace agreement with rebel groups in Darfur.

Former southern rebel leader John Garang, now a member of Sudan's new government, said everything, from roads to power, was needed in the south.

"Give me $10bn and I assure you, I will spend it," Garang said.

The $US 2.6 billion in Sudan's 2005-07 aid request was about a third of estimated initial needs of $US 7.9 billion. Most of the cash will come from Sudan's oil output of 320,000 barrels per day.

Warnings



U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick warned the Sudanese government but it took the warning simply as a message to work hard and move on Darfur. [Photo via Aljazeera.Net report 'Sudan pledges reach $4.5 billion']

Mr Zoellick said: "If the government of Sudan and all those in Darfur fail to act against the violence to help strengthen security and create a serious peace process, then my country and others will not be able to sustain the CPA fully."

Zoellick later clarified at a press conference that his country was interested at this stage in supporting Sudan's mostly Christian south and Darfur and that none of the pledged US funds would target northern areas where the current government is based.

"We want to try to support the north-south process but I've emphasised that it is difficult to work with the government in Khartoum," he also said. A national unity government including southern Sudan's former rebels is to be formed in the beginning of July.

Sudanese Vice President Ali Usman Taha played down Zoellick's warning while insisting that Khartoum needed to be encouraged rather than threatened with sanctions.

"I don't think the US statement this morning was meant as a strict condition, it was in my mind a message for us to work hard and move on Darfur," he said.

[He may be right. A report on the conference in the FT April 12 says: "The US has not expressly declared its pledges of aid conditional on resolution of the conflict in Sudan's western region of Darfur, which is separate to the north-south conflict. The US has accused the Sudanese government and allied Arab militia of committing genocide against mainly African villagers there.]



Photo: The US has tied its funds to improvements in Darfur [via Aljazeera report 'Sudan pledges reach $4.5 billion']

Note this excerpt from April 12 FT report:

John Garang, a southern rebel leader who is to become vice-president of a transitional government under the power-sharing agreement, said it would be a mistake to link implementation of the accord and "peace dividend" to resolution of the Darfur crisis.

US sanctions, which are unlikely to be lifted unless dramatic progress is made resolving the Darfur crisis, prevent American development funds being spent in the north, where there is also widespread under-development. The US made clear that its aid would go directly to southern Sudan and not through Khartoum even after formation of the central coalition government, which has fallen behind schedule.

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World leaders pledge $4.5 billion for Sudan while pressing for peace pact

Report by Joel Brinkley April 12, 2005, New York Times. Copied here in full incase the link breaks:

OSLO, April 12 - Leaders from more than 50 nations pledged more than $4.5 billion for Sudan in a donors' conference here today, but one official after another warned that continuing violence in Darfur would undermine the peace agreement they were here to support.

The Sudanese government and rebels in southern Sudan reached a peace agreement in January after more than 20 years of warfare. But the violence in Darfur's western province - that has already claimed 300,00 lives - broke out anew while those negotiations were under way.

"This is time of choosing for Sudan," Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick said in an address to the conference this morning. "The leaders of Sudan must realize that the eyes of the world are on Sudan. The world knows what is happening in Darfur, and the government cannot escape the consequences of that knowledge."

German and Norwegian officials, among others, echoed that sentiment. The Norwegian prime minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, said, "There is no peace in Sudan until the situation in Darfur has been solved."

The United States pledged between $1 billion and $2 billion to support the north-south peace agreement. The monetary span results from uncertainty over how much Congress will approve of the administration's requests for Sudan.

A report by the United Nations and the World Bank found that Sudan needs $2.6 billion in outside aid to meet its $7.9 billion budget for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in the south over the next two years.

The European Commission promised about $760 million. Britain offered $545 million and Norway, $250 million. Several officials speaking at the conference praised the donor nations for their pledges while urging them to make the actual payments. Pledges made at conferences like these are often followed by failure to make all of the payments promised.

In remarks to reporters on Monday and in his speech today, Mr. Zoellick said the United States and other countries would have trouble meeting their funding commitments if the government in Khartoum does not quell the violence in Darfur.

Sudan, he said today, "could slip back into the depths."

Sudan's vice president, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, told the conference that his government was committed to reaching a peace agreement with rebel groups in Darfur. However, the government in Khartoum has made such promises many times in the past year.

As Mr. Zoellick put it after Mr. Taha made his statement: "We'll have to follow up on that."

IRC: Sudanese civil society and NGOs recommend steps toward lasting peace in Sudan

Today's news from the IRC April 12 on the Sudan Civil Society Forum held in Oslo, Norway 7-9 April 2005:

More than seventy representatives from Sudanese civil society and international non-governmental organisations, including the IRC, today expressed deep concern about the lack of democracy and rule of law in Sudan.

In a statement presented on the second day of a major donor conference on Sudan's post-conflict reconstruction, the organizations also called for an end to the ongoing suffering and violence throughout the country, particularly in the troubled Darfur region.

The organizations said that the political, social and economic atmosphere in Sudan is not conducive to the transformation of the country into a democratic society. Fundamental and basic rights of the Sudanese people are not observed or protected by the state.

Among other things, the group called for immediate reforms of the legal system, press freedom and a transformation from military to civilian rule. The organizations said that civil society must play an integral role in the peace and the constitutional processes.

The April 11-12 meeting in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, brought together around 60 donor nations.
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April 12 -- Donors' pledged $2.6bn in aid for Sudan during the next three years. Robert Zoellick, US deputy secretary of state, announced a US commitment of $1.7bn (1.3bn euros, 899m GBP) intended to develop southern Sudan, though US Congress must still approve $900m of the sum. [More in previous post here below]
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Italy to send 220 troops by May as part of UN Mission in Sudan

April 12 -- Italy will send 220 soldiers to Sudan as part of a UN peace keeping mission in the east African country, Italian defence ministry under-secretary Giuseppe Drago announced on Tuesday, April 12.

Most of the troops who will arrive in Sudan by May will be stationed in the capital city Khartoum to guard the UN contingent's headquarters, while others will be deployed some 20 kilometres from the city at a telecommunications centre.

Other duties include maintaining security at Khartoum's international airport, particularly protection against terrorist attacks, Drago told Italian MPs in Rome.

The mission, dubbed 'Operation Nile' will be funded by the UN and is part of a 10,000-strong peacekeeping force sent to Sudan to oversee the transition following the end of a two-decades-long civil war between Khartoum's Muslim government and Christian and animist rebels in the country's south.

The Italians soldiers will remain in Sudan for six months and then be replaced by a contingent of Rwandan troops. Full Story via AKI April 12, 2005.
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There's more to ancient Nile culture than the Pharoahs

April 12 -- Think of the Nile river and people invariably think of the great Egyptian culture of the Pharoahs.

A major new exhibition, 'Sudan: Ancient Treasures', which can be seen at The Bowes Museum, at Barnard Castle, County Durham, UK, offers a unique insight into the lives and cultural history other ancient kingdoms of the Nile.

The exhibition is on tour from the Sudan National Museum, Khartoum via the British Museum, where it is has been shown to great acclaim.

It brings together many recent discoveries from excavations in Sudan, highlighting the extremely rich and diverse cultures which flourished in the country, which made it not only Egypt's rival, but even at times its ruler. Many of these treasures will go on public display for the first time outside Sudan.

Sudan is the largest country in Africa covering over 2.5 million square kilometres. For millennia it has been the zone of contact between Central Africa and the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern worlds.

'Sudan: Ancient Treasures' includes objects produced during all phases of human settlement from the Palaeolithic through to the Islamic period (from 200,000 years ago to AD 1885).

'Sudan: Ancient Treasures' runs until Sunday October 30. Open daily 11am-5pm. Visit www.bowesmuseum.org.uk or call 01833 690606.


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Camel Jockeys in the Middle East

April 12 -- The human and civil rights activist Ansar Burney, Advocate returned home today after visiting Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirate.

Mr. Ansar Burney, Advocate, was the first man to introduce true human rights in Pakistan over 24 years ago and is continuing to fight for this just cause ever since. He was born in Karachi, Pakistan on 14th August, 1956. He did his graduation, Master's and Law from Karachi University. Later he received an honorary degree of PhD. in Philosophy from Sri Lanka.

During his visit of three Middle Eastern countries he visited Camel Race Tracks to find out miseries of underage children working as bonded labour in the form of Child Camel Jockeys and living in private jails.

He also met the member of International Bar Association (UK), American Bar Association (USA) and Karachi Bar Association (Pakistan), said that these children, living wretched lives are abused and tortured daily.

They live and sleep in hot, crowded huts made from corrugated irons sheets, without electricity in the high desert temperatures of above 52 degrees centigrade. Years of abuse has led these children to have their upper legs flesh rubbed away, their bones and body structures being damaged and their sexual organs destroyed.

He also met the officials to discuss with them the human rights issue and the miserable conditions of the children whose ages are from two and a half to seven years only and working from 17 to 18 hours on slave labour. Mr Burney said the camel jockeys are mostly from Asian countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Yemen and Sudan working in the most miserable circumstances in Arab countries. Extract from Ansar Burney's website:



It is easier for the oil rich gulf countries to continue, as they have done for hundreds of years, to buy children from the poorer countries across across the gulf in the Indian subcontinent and to force them to work as camel jockeys.

The children go outside to play and never return

They children are kidnapped by local gangs who will deal in any commodity that makes money. The children will then be taken by adults who when questioned may claim to be the children's parents. They will then travel, perhaps along the ancient slave routes to Karachi, and across the Gulf.

Winning at any cost

When the camel belong to a sheikh, a trainer will always choose to break the rules if it gives the camel a better chance of winning. The trainer receives a small prize if his camel wins. The camel jockey receives nothing.
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Quotation

"We all have a common task to protect life, ending the culture of impunity."

-- Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the International Criminal Court prosecutor who is investigating war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan gave the world court April 5 a list of 51 names of government officials, Arab militia and rebels suspected of slaughter, rape and pillaging.

[via National Catholic Reporter, April 15, 2005]

$2.6 billion aid goal for Sudan reached - Europe and U.S. say their pledges hinge on ending atrocities in Darfur

The UNs World Food Programme has warned that unless donations are rapidly forthcoming, nearly 200,000 refugees who have fled into Chad from Darfur risk going hungry in the months ahead. "We need food now," said WFP Chad Country Director Stefano Porretti.

"With the rains only a matter of two or three months away, it is absolutely imperative that we move food to the places where it will be needed later this year. This process has already begun but is far from complete."

"Once the rains begin, most of the camps become completely inaccessible by road. Getting supplies in place now will go a long way to avoid the necessity of expensive airlifts and air-drops further down the line. We need to get food here by road before it is too late," Porretti said.


Photo: Refugee camp in Sudan.

Note, there is still no news of what happened to the route Libya offered to open up to help aid trucks get through into Darfur. US Defence Secretary Dr Rice recently revealed 2-month long problems over this and said pressure was being put on Khartoum.
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Sudan spends $16.82 million on night vision equipment

Meanwhile, Business News Bangalore in India reports that Bharat Electronics Ltd., a leading defence company says they have bagged an export order valued at $16.82 million order for supply of communication and night vision equipment to Sudan.


Photo: Millions face starvation in Sudan over the coming weeks (via Swiss News/Keystone)
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Sudan donor conference reaches $2.6 bln aid goal

Today, donors promised at least $2.6 billion to help southern Sudan recover but the U.S. said their aid hinged on ending atrocities in Darfur.

"If conditions in Darfur do not improve, neither the U.S. nor other countries are going to be able to provide the financial assistance for the North-South accord," Mr Zoellick said, adding that the US could offer $1.7bn to Sudan.

"The world knows what is happening in Darfur and the government cannot escape the consequences of that knowledge," he told donors at at the conference.

Among major pledges yesterday, the European Commission promised about $765 million, Britain $545 million, Ireland 15 million euros, Norway $250 million, the Netherlands $220 million, Switzerland $63 million, Canada $90 million, to name a few.

The European Commission made clear that the resumption of cooperation will be progressive, taking into account "the effective implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the evolution of the situation in Darfur."


Photo: Donor conference for Sudan reaches $2.6 billion aid goal, triggering clapping around the conference hall in an Oslo hotel attended by 60 nations - including Sudan's Vice-President pictured here [praying or clapping that he's not in jail?]

Click here to read how he and former rebel John Garang were addressed by Kofi Annan at the conference in Oslo yesterday, attended by 60 nations.

News from Russia reports today April 12 that Robert Zoellick, US deputy secretary of state, speaking on the way to the conference, warned that the government in Khartoum stood at "a point of fundamental choice between an upward or downward spiral" that risked breaking Africa's largest country apart, reports FT News.

The US - the largest donor to Sudan - Europe and other donors would not be able to continue working with the government if the situation did not improve in Darfur, he said.
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Oil and Peace don't mix

Oil strategists plan for geopolitical drama as demand increases writes John Fialka in the WSJ April 11, 2005. Excerpt:

It's a small world after all -- with an even smaller oil supply. That's what U.S. energy experts, oil companies, and national security planners are concluding as they try to project America's and the world's oil demand versus declining supplies in coming years.

Military planners in particular, aware of the interconnectedness of, if not all things, at least oil markets, intend to spend millions on oil-price-stabilization projects in emerging oil regions like the Caspian Sea and West Africa. One project, to cost $100 million over the next decade, is the Caspian Guard -- a network of special-ops units and police intended to secure oil facilities in the region, though almost none of the Caspian oil will reach U.S. markets.

Most worrisome to strategists is the role China and India will play in increasing oil demand worldwide. Already, government-owned oil companies in the two countries are forging production partnerships with Iran and Sudan.
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NATO's spear reaches its target

Heh. Khartoum might get the wobblies if they see an April 11 report at Radio Netherlands re NATO's response force. Excerpt:

NATO's 'Noble Javelin 05' exercise - testing out the capabilities of the new NATO Response Force (NRF) - entered its second week with the evacuation of aid workers and refugees, and missions targeting armed rebels on the fictitious Dansu islands.

The initial stages of the exercise were played out largely at sea, but the main focus now is on land, namely the Canary Island of Fuerteventura which, in the 'Nobel Javelin' scenario, is part of the 'federal state of Dansu'.

As the focus shifts landward, so has the command over the exercise, which has transferred on shore from British aircraft carrier HMS Invincible. It's now housed in a barracks in the harbour town of Puerto del Rosario. Just as was the case at sea, there are four headquarters: one each for the ground forces, the air force and the navy, plus an umbrella 'Deployed Joint Task Force Headquarters'. In this context, 'joint' refers to the combined operations of navy vessels, the air force and ground troops; and such combined operations have been very much in evidence on Fuerteventura over the past few days.

Note, the report also says:

Dansu - if the letters of this fictitious state are rearranged, the word Sudan emerges. Some parts of the NRF exercise indeed display a remarkable similarity with the situation in Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region. However, Brigadier General Ton van Loon of the Dutch armed forces explains:

"That's coincidence. We are not here training for a specific situation. What we are trying to do increasingly is to hold exercises which could also be carried out in practice.

Command of the naval forces taking part in 'Nobel Javelin 05' will soon pass to Commodore J.W. Ort of the Dutch Royal Navy, who takes over from British Rear Admiral Charles Style.
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EU, African Union to enhance partnership in conflicts settlement

A report by China View Luxembourg April 11 says the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) agreed on Monday to consolidate and further develop their partnership in the area relating to peace and security in Africa.

Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told a press conference that he and his African counterparts had been looking for solution to the problems faced by the AU during today's discussions.

Visiting Nigerian Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji, the current chairperson of the AU Executive Council, said that the EU is a faithful ally of African countries. "We need international cooperation and we appeal the EU to offer assistance that we required," he added.

In a communique issued after the fourth ministerial meeting between the EU and the AU, the ministers said that they exchanged views on matters of mutual interest, including those on specific conflict situations, terrorism and the progress made with regards to capacity building in the field of conflict prevention and crisis management.

Regarding Sudan, the ministers welcomed the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the rebels, saying that the deal should pave the way for the promotion of peace, post conflict reconstruction and development of all parts of Sudan.

The ministers express their grave concern at the continuing conflict in Darfur. The two sides condemned the violation by all parties of the cease fire, particularly the assaults on the civilian population, humanitarian workers and on the personnel of the AU. The ministers also discussed the situation in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire Coast and Togo.
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East African states set up military intervention force

Note this Reuters report April 12, 2005 by Tsegaye Tadesse in Addis Ababa:

Seven east African countries on Monday signed a deal to create a 3,000-troop standby brigade to intervene in crises like the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Somalia, Kenya and Rwanda signed the deal as part of the African Standby Force (ASF), initially expected to involve 15,000 African Union troops. These would initially be drawn primarily from the continent's military powers --South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia.

The force is chartered with a peace-building and humanitarian mission and could intervene unilaterally in the event of "war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, as well as a serious threat to legitimate order."

The memory of Rwanda's genocide figured greatly in the mission envisioned for the ASF, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the conference in the Ethiopian capital. "Africa and the whole international community were unable to do anything to prevent or stop the genocide in Rwanda," he said. "This underscores the need for us to move with resolve and speed to establish the mechanisms necessary to prevent such occurrences."

The East African Standby brigade is one of five regional units expected to be set up and deployed by the end of the year to create the ASF. The AUs ambition to build a reaction force, like many of its other efforts, is hampered by a lack of money from its members states. It has relied heavily on donor money to field its peacekeeping force of 3,000 in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

The east African unit will have an Ethiopian commander to start and an administrative budget of $2.5 million contributed by its members. The other four regions are in varying stages of finalising their teams. No immediate date for the deployment of the East African Standby brigade was given.
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Half of women in Arab world are illiterate

The Daily Star reports on April 12 via AFP that half of the women in Arab world are illiterate and more than 10 million children in the region don't go to school, according to a report released on Monday. Excerpt:

The report on the status of children and women, produced by the Arab League and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), said many Arab countries have made progress on child rights and protection, but that more still needs to be done.

"More than 10 million children in the Arab world are out of school, most of them in Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Sudan," said the report, although it gave no figures for the total number of school-age children in the region.

It said although many countries have established a basis for a child's right to education, they still fall short of the UNs millennium development goals for primary education, especially for girls.

"More than half of the women in the Arab world cannot read or write," said the report, arguing that this was preventing them from obtaining vital information on such issues as pre- and post-natal health, leading to high infant and child mortality rates.

Mortality rates among under-fives in the region stand at around 60 for every 1,000 births compared to just six in industrialized countries. Many of those deaths occurred in the first year primarily due to "pre-natal complications," exacerbated by ignorance.

"There is a dire need to invest in hospitals and clinics in order to provide care in cases of emergency delivery and to address the causes of pre- and post-natal complications," the report said.