UN mission: Darfur rebels attack aid vehicles in Darfur

September 6 UN report confirms the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported continuing accounts of fighting between rebel militia and the nomadic Janjaweed militia, looting of aid and attacks on villages in Darfur.

The combat between the Janjaweed and the SLA has been taking place in the Jabal Moon hills in North Darfur, it said, but the situation in West Darfur is most troubling, following two attacks last week Thursday on humanitarian convoys sent in by NGOs.
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AU official: Darfur rebels are thieves

September 6 report via Arabic News.com says the special representative for the African Union, Baba Ghana, in a report described the rebels of Darfur as thieves, in remarks to the acts they carry out against the Sudanese Arabs.

His report deplored the rebels because they reject cooperation with the mediators of the AU who are trying to solve the crisis in Darfur. The talks are to be resumed in Abuja on September 15th."
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Darfur rebel group will be wrong not to attend talks

September 6 (Cairo) - source unknown via Sudan Tribune says Darfur's main rebel group SLA will be making a big mistake if it does not attend next week's peace talks in Nigeria, Sudan's foreign minister warned on Tuesday.
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BBC: Darfur rebels destabilising Darfur

September 5 report by BBC correspondent Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says Darfur rebel group SLA are destabilising Darfur and AU peacekeepers in Sudan have condemned the group for banditry and abductions.
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SPLA forces join army - Joint forces of 40,000 men for Sudan

Extract from report via Arabic News.com:

"Some 1500 soldiers from the forces of the SPLA, the armed portion of the SPLM headed by Sudan's VP, on Sunday went to Khartoum in order to form a joint unit with the government forces, in the framework of the peace agreement signed in January.

They will shortly form the first joint unit with a similar number of government army members. According to the peace agreement between the government and the SPLM, joint units should be formed from the SPLA and the government army to supervise the permanent ceasefire.

The joint forces which are estimated at 40,000 men will be deployed in the areas efected by the civil war, including 24,000 in southern Sudan and 6,000 soldiers in al-Nouba (central part), 6,000 in the Blue Nile (central east) and 3,000 in the capital Khartoum."
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Arab Genocide, Arab Silence

What responsibility do Arabs have to stop genocide being committed by Arabs? asks Joseph Britt in an op-ed entitled Arab Genocide, Arab Silence, Washington Post July 13, 2005.
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Kuwait pledges $500M for hurricane relief

September 4 Associated Press KUWAIT CITY confirms the oil-rich Persian Gulf state of Kuwait said Sunday it will donate $500 million in aid to U.S. relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.
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"Voices for Darfur" DVD released in United Kingdom

The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) Voices for Darfur DVD released in United Kingdom.

Here is a photo of the "Voices for Darfur" DVD cover.



UNHCR work with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur and with refugees in neighbouring Chad was getting a boost from a new DVD, "Voices for Darfur," released by EMI in the UK and scheduled to appear in stores in Europe, Australia, the US and Japan in the coming weeks.

It features artists who took part in the 8 December concert in London to raise both funds and awareness, including Sade, Yusuf Islam, Chrissie Hynde, Mick Hucknall, Nicole Russo of the Brand New Heavies, Moloko singer Roisin Murphy, Ruthie Henshall, Sir Willard White and UNHCR's longest-serving Goodwill Ambassador, American opera and jazz singer Barbara Hendricks, UNHCR said.

The two-and-a-half-year conflict has displaced close to 2 million people within Darfur and driven more than 200,000 into Chad, where UNHCR maintains 12 refugee camps.
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Image via Spotlight on Darfur 1 courtesy Tim Sweetman's post Let Us Weep.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa allthings2all aid bloggers blogburst

Katrina Hurricane - Friday Sermon on Sudan TV: Allah's Curse of the Jews Afflicted America, New Orleans No Longer "New" at All

Interrupting this intermission at Sudan Watch to post Sudan's "official" reaction to Katrina, kindly pointed out here in the comments by British blogger Captain Marlow:

"Following are excerpts from a Friday sermon at Al-Shahid Mosque, Khartoum, Sudan, delivered by Sheik Abd Al-Jalil Al-Karouri. The sermon was broadcast on Sudan TV on September 2, 2005.

Sheik Al-Karouri: From this mosque we send a message conveying our best wishes to America. If America wants to maintain what is left of its civilization, it must free itself, as we say in Sudan, from the curse of the Jews. Our Koran says that this (Jewish) nation is accursed - those who have incurred Allah's wrath. The curse of Israel has afflicted America. In the south of the US.... The state (sic) called New Orleans is no longer "new" at all. Four-fifths of this state is underwater, like the relation between land and sea in the world. The insurance companies are asking for over 20 billion dollars to cover what the people of this city or this state insured. Now it has become poor. I was pleased to hear that some Islamic countries have sent a message to America, saying they want to help. "We alternate these days between the people." I hope that Sudan would do the same. Sudan has a lot to offer. Even if we have a shortage of grains, we have a lot of meat. We can offer America sheep, so that it can choose sheep that don't have Mad Cow's Disease. They like that kind of food. At the very least, we could repay the donors part of what they give us all the time.

[...]

All these are signs. If people want their countries to prosper, they must make peace with Allah and avoid disputing Allah and His prophet."

[via MEMRI TV - with thanks to Captain Marlow]

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Allah sermon mosque Khartoum Koran Jews Israel prophet Hurricane Katrina Captain Marlow

Man's inhumanity to man, poverty and inequality

After posting regularly for sixteen months on humanitarian crises in the Sudan, DR Congo, Northern Uganda, Ethiopia and Niger, this blog author is overwhelmed by man's inhumanity to man and the sad truth of poverty and inequality exposed by Hurrican Katrina, and is taking a break to rest and reflect.

News round ups of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in New Orleans and surrounding areas, mainly from a UK perspective, are at my personal blog:

Sep 3 post: Reporters' Log on Katrina's aftermath Friday 2 Sep - Saturday 3 Sep, 2005.

Sep 2 post: 90,000 sq miles affected by Hurricane Katrina - 60,000 people could still be stranded in the city - Death toll could climb above 10,000 in Louisiana alone.

The following news report via Reuters 2 Sep was to be posted here yesterday, but I kept it back for the purpose of announcing this intermission. It does not make clear if any people in the group were from Darfur, Sudan or even Africa. Right now, I prefer to believe there were:

Prayers from Sudan - and the World
When Hurricane Katrina struck, Paul Dirdak, executive director of UMCOR, was traveling with UMCOR staff in a war-torn area of Sudan. He reports that when news reached their group people stopped their work to pray for the thousands of people affected by Hurricane Katrina. He noted that since they heard about the hurricane, conversations in Darfur centered around the suffering so many in the US are experiencing.

A disaster of this size can cause those affected to feel isolated and alone. "The people of the world are praying in their many languages for those who feel very much alone," said Dirdak to Katrina's survivors. "We in the church will seek out the loneliest and walk with you during the months and years of your recovery."

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British Red Cross experts help hurricane relief

Two British Red Cross experts are flying to Alabama to assist in the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina.

Red Cross logistics experts Mike Goodhand (47) from London and John Cunningham (52) from Bristol leave London's Heathrow airport today at 20:30 to assist the American Red Cross.



Tens of thousands of people are in urgent need of shelter, food and water in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The American Red Cross has launched the largest ever relief effort in its 125-year history to meet people's immediate needs. It has opened more than 275 centres to provide temporary shelter for more than 76,000 people and it will provide up to half a million hot meals a day. In the last 24 hours it served 170,000 hot meals alone. More than 100 emergency response vehicles are also at work in the affected states distributing food. The organisation is providing blankets, beds and food to those who have been evacuated from New Orleans to Houston, Texas.

Commenting on his deployment to Montgomery, Alabama, Mike Goodhand, head of logistics at the British Red Cross, said

"Responding to a disaster of this magnitude is an enormous logistical challenge because flooding, downed power lines, impassable roads and sporadic gas fires all pose hazards to us getting relief to those who need it most. However, the Red Cross is used to working in some of the world's most difficult disasters. It's critical that we get help to people now."

The pair will help co-ordinate the reception and onward distribution of relief items like food, water and medical supplies.

The British Red Cross delegates will be joined by logisticians from the Dutch and Finnish Red Cross societies.

In America the authorities have declared a public health emergency in the affected region as fears grow over the lack of sanitation, clean water and food, including the potential threat of the outbreak of water-borne diseases.

To support the Red Cross relief effort please donate online at www.redcross.org

Eyecatching American Red Cross blog buttons can be found at Rebecca's.

As children are the world's future, Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children UK are usually my favourites but at the moment Red Cross are doing tremendous work for the people of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and need all the help they can get - along with other excellent aid organisations that can be found in above posts and Instapundit's list not forgetting HurricaneHousing.org.

Please give what you can, no matter how little. Every penny counts. Thank you.

God bless.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Red Cross Hurricane Katrina aid worker poverty inequality

Attack on Darfur aid convoy - Kiir meets Mubarak in Cairo

It's good to see Reuters improving their standards. In their latest news of an attack on an aid convoy in Darfur, they use the words "armed men" instead of "bandits" and explain "the official said it was not possible to accurately determine whether the armed men were operating alone or were connected to pro-government or rebel forces in the area."

Further excerpt from the report:

Armed men attacked and robbed an aid convoy travelling in western Darfurand threatened to kill aid workers if they used the same route again, a senior official with one of the aid groups involved said on Saturday.

"They (armed men) severely beat the people travelling in the convoy - there were some broken limbs. ... They cleaned out the cars. They took phones, money, radios, everything," the official told Reuters.

"They threatened to kill the people in the convoy if they saw them travelling on the same road again," the official added.

The convoy included seven vehicles and 22 foreign and Sudanese staff members. Women in the group were stripped of their clothes and beaten.

The incident happened on Thursday in the Masteri area, southwest of of El Geneina.

UPDATE Sep 3 - Eugene links to Reuters report: Darfur: Rebel Attacks are Banditry, AU Official Says.
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Sudan's VP Kiir and Egypt's President Mubarak in Cairo



Sept 1, 2005: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) meets with Sudan's new first Vice President Salva Kiir in Cairo in Kiir's first visit abroad since succeeding the late John Garang. Their talks focused on ongoing efforts to end the 30-month-old civil war in Darfur. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)

According to an unsourced report at the Sudan Tribune, Kiir, who was in Cairo for one day, also met Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, officials said, without elaborating.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Cairo Egypt Kiir Mubarak aid aid worker aid convoy attack

Katrina aid - Blogbursts - Spotlight on Darfur 1 and Darfur Collection

Further to an earlier post here below, I have just received word from Catez saying Spotlight on Darfur has been put forward to 5 September as the blogosphere has had planned blogbursts on Hurricane Katrina aid. This means bloggers can email Catez with posts until Sunday 4 September.

Thanks to Global Voices for picking up on my post at Congo Watch publicising the initiative.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa allthings2all Hurricane Katrina aid bloggers blogburst Global Voices

Rapex: South African anti-rape condom aims to stop attacks

A South African inventor unveiled a new anti-rape female condom on Wednesday that hooks onto an attacker's penis and aims to cut one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the world.

[via Mick Hartley's post Rapex - with thanks]

Sudan to host African, Arab summits - Egypt is world's 3rd largest buyer of weapons: Saudi Arabia ranked 2nd

From correspondents in Khartoum via The Australian Sep 1:

Sudan would host African and Arab summit meetings in 2006, the country's president said overnight during the inauguration of a new post-civil war parliament.

"Our country is happy to be hosting at the start of the coming year the African Union summit," President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was quoted as saying by Sudan's SUNA news agency.

"We will host the summit of Arab states in the same year."

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Egypt is world's 3rd largest buyer of weapons - Saudi Arabia ranked 2nd

Miss Mabrouk of Egypt links to these reports on leading buyers of weapons:

Egypt Deemed Leading Buyer of Weapons
... Egypt has become the third largest buyer of weapons over the last four years. ... Egypt purchased $6.5 billion worth of weapons from 2000 to 2004.

India Becomes Developing World's Top Arms Buyer
The United States once again topped the trade with developing states. ...66 percent were in the Near East, including sales to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. ...Saudi Arabia ranked second among developing world arms buyers last year ... and China was third ...

U.S. Tops Listing of Weapons Sales to Nations
The total worldwide value of all agreements to sell arms last year was close to $37 billion, and nearly 59% of the agreements were to sell weapons to developing nations...
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Where the World is Flat as a Pancake

Here is another of Miss Mabrouk's gems that speaks volumes [btw Did you know only 10% of Americans are passport holders?] -

"Says Power blogger Andrew Sullivan:

42 Percent: That's how many Americans believe that the earth and all its creatures have always been the same since they were created by God in Genesis. Fully "70 percent of white evangelical Protestants say that life has existed in its present form since the beginning of time." 63 percent of them are "very certain" that this is true. I must say that there are times when one is rendered speechless. No educated intelligent person could possibly look at the evidence of science and say such a thing. And yet we are supposed to have a reasoned debate with these people on the matter. How is that even possible?"

Read the rest.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Egypt African Arab weapons Americans Andrew Sullivan India Saudi UAE China Oman Israel

Sudan: Judge allows Talisman genocide case to proceed despite Canada, U.S. warnings

This seems daft. But who knows if there is more to it than meets the eye. Nothing anymore would surprise me about politics and the Sudan.

A U.S. judge refused to dismiss a church's lawsuit alleging that Calgary-based oil producer Talisman Energy Inc. aided genocide in its pursuit of oil in Sudan, despite efforts by the U.S. and Canada to stop the suit.

Note these snippets from a report by AP via Canadian Press Aug 31, 2005:

The ruling allowing the suit to proceed came Tuesday after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote reviewed a diplomatic letter from the Canadian Embassy calling the case an "infringement in the conduct of foreign relations by the government of Canada" that would have a "chilling effect" on Canadian companies in the Sudan.

In the lawsuit, Talisman, one of Canada's most international oil and natural gas producers, is accused of such crimes as ethnic cleansing, killings, war crimes, confiscation of property, enslavement, kidnapping and rape in Sudan.

Talisman would not comment on the recent ruling. "The judge has instructed both parties not to argue the case in the press," company spokesman Barry Nelson told The Canadian Press Wednesday. "And we are therefore unable to say anything."

In the past, Talisman has argued vociferously that its presence was helpful to the war-torn country of Sudan, building needed infrastructure and helping broker peace.

But after years of criticism from social and church groups about its 25 per cent stake in the prolific Sudanese project, Talisman sold out to India's state-owned oil company in the spring of 2003 for $1.1 billion Cdn.

It seems to me all wrong that western companies are pushed out, paving the way for others to move in who are not as helpful to locals. What did India, Malaysia, China and Russia do to help the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur and Chad? Surely the poor locals would have been better off if Talisman, British Petroleum et al were there in a big way. There might even have been better relations with China and Russia, resulting in more leverage at the UN Security Council for Sudan to agree on UN peacekeepers for Darfur.

Captain Marlow writes an insightful post entitled EU starving the developing world that ends with this [imo it could apply to the Sudan]

"Sadly, everything has become a political issue and it is now impossible to trust reports on biotech, ecology, global warming. Numbers are manipulated to score political points, not to describe facts. The various activists seem to have played a self-defeating game here, since no one believes their alarmism anymore. The problem is that we all lose if we play this game instead of seriously looking for solutions."

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Sudan's post-war parliament opens

Aug 31 BBC report says Sudan's new parliament has met for the first since January's peace deal:

In his speech, President Bashir reiterated his determination to "find a peaceful solution" to the conflict in Darfur. Meanwhile, UNICEF has said attacks on humanitarian aid convoys by bandits in Darfur have become rampant.

"Not a single day goes by without two, three or four attacks on aid convoys," UNICEF's representative in Darfur, Keith McKenzie, told a new conference in London.

He said Darfur's 11,000 aid workers were doing an excellent job, but he warned that the rising level of lawlessness was making some agencies consider reducing their presence at a time when the need for their help was growing.

The number of refugees in the region has risen to more than 3m, with some 2m of them housed in 200 camps.

President Bashir came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989 (AP photo and caption courtesy BBC)
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Former NATO Commander urging UNSC to send NATO troops to Darfur

Sudan Tribune publishes a report Aug 31 saying former NATO Commander Wesley Clark is urging the UN Security Council to despatch about 12,000 NATO troops to Darfur to protect civilians.

The report states that "to rein in these excesses, an African Union force of 18,000 troops is expected to be on the ground in Darfur by next year."

Note, neither the author nor source of the report is credited. There is no telling who wrote it or where it's been lifted from.
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Petrochina pumps up the war chest

Extract from a report at FinanceAsia.com by Jackie Home, Sep 1, 2005:

Analysts estimate that Kazakhstan will become the world's second largest oil supplier within the next two decades and China has already started to capitalise on this by building a 3,000km pipeline between the two countries. Phase one of the development is expected to be completed by the end of this year and is being jointly managed with the Kazakhstan government.

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Eric at Passion of the Present points out Trip to Darfur Travelogue which features some especially good photographs. Thanks Eric.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Talisman oil Kazakhstan rebels terrorists NATO Sudan Passion of the Present genocide activists China human rights Captain Marlow

Deadly road home to West Darfur - Spotlight on Darfur 1

Photo: Sadiya Ibrahim walks for five hours from the displaced persons' camp she lives in to cultivate her land in Jerban, 22km north of El-Geneina in West Darfur, Sudan. (AP Photo/Tanalee Smith)

See Deadly road home report at South African News 24, Aug 30 2005.

Note, the report says 68 households fled to Dorti - 64 of them have returned temporarily this year to work their fields. Also:

"The situation still remains far from ideal," said Filippo Rossi, a protection officer with the UN refugee agency who focuses helping villagers return to their homes in West Darfur. "At least this year the people are taking some initiative to resume their lives, going home for cultivation. The courage is there."

UNHCR says about 20,000 people have returned permanently to their villages in West Darfur in the last 15 months, although more than 700,000 people remain displaced in this state on the border with Chad."

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SPOTLIGHT ON DARFUR 1
And The Darfur Collection

Last May, Catez Stevens at Allthings2all in New Zealand kindly put together The Darfur Collection.

Now, Catez is initiating and hosting Spotlight on Darfur 1 starting September 1. It will feature posts on the current Darfur situation from various bloggers. If you are a blogger and would like to send in a post for inclusion in the Spotlight on Darfur please email Catez for details.

Eugene Oregon at Coalition for Darfur helpfully writes Reminder: Spotlight on Darfur 1.

Note, Catez is planning a regular series of Spotlight on Darfur. If you have missed Darfur 1, there is still plenty of time to prepare a post for Spotlight on Darfur 2 or 3 or 4 ...

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa allthings2all Coalition for Darfur

MADRE's report back from Darfur

In July 2005, MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, donated an emergency humanitarian aid shipment worth $500,000 to Darfur, Sudan. The shipment included urgently needed clothing and bedding for women and families whose villages have been destroyed by militias in ongoing violence in Darfur. It was distributed by MADRE's partner in Sudan, Fatmia Ahmed. She reports on her experience which has been published at ReliefWeb Aug 29, 2005.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa MADRE human rights aid worker international aid

Is Al-Qaeda Moving to Africa?

The Sahel is Osama's New Playground
In a scathing attack broadcast on the al-Jazeera satellite television on June I7, a spokesman for Osama Bin Laden, one Ayman al-Zawahiri, denounced Khartoum for assisting "our arch-enemies" and threatened that "somebody will have to pay a very high price for it".

Uganda becomes part of the global Terrorist Interdiction Programme (TIP) aimed at containing the ability of terrorists to move freely across territorial borders. - Aug 20, AllAfrica.

Al-Qaeda leader may flee to Africa
Britain and the United States are training border guards in the Horn of Africa in the expectation that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, may seek sanctuary there if forced to flee Iraq. - Aug 25, London Times.

Minister: Terror suspects hiding in southern Africa
Individuals with links to al Qaeda and other groups are hiding in southern Africa and could be setting up networks within the region, South Africa's intelligence minister said on Monday. - Aug 29 Reuters via CNN.

Al-Qaeda will retreat to Africa, says US general
A senior US military officer on Wednesday predicted that al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq will move to the "vast ungoverned spaces" of the Horn of Africa once conditions in the country get too tough for them. - Aug 30 Mail & Guardian.

See links to above reports at Miss Mabrouk of Egypt post: Is Al-Qaeda Moving to Africa?
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LRA and its reign of terror in N. Uganda and S. Sudan

In most quarters, the barbaric LRA are viewed as terrorists. British blogger Mick Hartley links to a sad video at Human Rights Watch entitled "Night Commuters: Uganda's Forgotten Children of War" and a photo essay. On these reports and the LRA, Mick writes:

This isn't just an internal Ugandan matter. Ten years back, supposedly in retaliation for the Ugandan government's support for the SPLM [late John Garang's southern Sudan rebel group], the Sudanese regime in Khartoum started supplying the LRA with arms, making them a much more formidable force.

Sudanese backing has dried up, but the struggle goes on. The dilemma for those Ugandan forces battling the LRA is that the child soldiers they face are victims as well. They can't win by force without destroying the people they're meant to be saving ... and all efforts at negotiation have collapsed. After all, how do you negotiate with a group of millenarian cultists?

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Uganda asks Sudan to extend operation areas against LRA

LRA leader Kony has fled to north of Juba on Nisitu-Torit road, reports Xinhua Aug 30:

Following an agreement in 2002, Sudan allowed Ugandan forces to pursue the LRA south of Juba.

But the LRA have now fled across the red line to the north of Juba. "We are not allowed to operate there," said Uganda's President Museveni.

Musevni has asked Bashir to allow military operations against the LRA north of Juba in southern Sudan.

Bashir said the Sudanese army in Juba can operate against Kony there.

Musevni proposes his forces work with the Sudanese army and the SPLA to hunt him.

The LRA have killed over tens of thousands of civilians and displaced over 1.4 million people in their 19-year rebellion in northern Uganda.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Uganda Al Qaeda al-Qaida rebels terrorists Bin Laden Sahel Horn of Africa al-Zarqawi Juba Human Rights Watch Musevni

Sudan: Qatar Charity starts Darfur relief mission

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

Security forces hunt militants in Sinai

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unidentified gunmen in Darfur steal vehicles and aid

News reports never explain how rebels, fighting for years on end in countries like the Sudan, make a living to pay for their food, trucks, petrol, satellite phones, radios, arms and ammunition etc.

To expect peace and quiet in regions like Darfur where anarchy reigns because leadership and policing is poor or non-existent, seems unrealistic. Banditry in Darfur frequently makes headline news but seldom does banditry in countries like DR Congo or northern Uganda make the news.

Today, a report by Reuters in Khartoum opens by saying, quote "Bandits are stepping up attacks on African Union and relief convoys in Sudan's Darfur region disrupting the flow of aid in the conflict-stricken area, African Union and aid officials told Reuters on Sunday"

The gunmen were unidentified. But why call them 'bandits' and not 'unidentified gunmen'? Reuters' reporting of "stepping up attacks on African Union" makes the violence sound targetted, like war is being waged against AU troops. And the words "disrupting the flow of aid" and "obstruct aid" make it sound like there is a concerted effort to stop aid getting through. Who is creating such spin, and why? Is it the African Union, aid officials or Reuters being sloppy?

The Reuters reporter does not make clear who said the word 'bandits'. Use of the word 'bandits' and not 'rebels' to describe unidentified gunmen, implies the gunmen are from elsewhere or not part of the Darfur rebel movement and even leads one to think the gunmen could be pro government, maybe the so-called Janjaweed. It is not clear if the Reuters reporter chose to use the word 'bandits' in place of 'gunmen', or whether AU and aid officials actually used the word bandits to describe unidentified gunmen.

What difference is there between rebels and bandits? It seems to me they all part of the same anarchy but the Reuters report leads one to think maybe forces allied to the Sudanese government are stepping up attacks on African Union troops, inciting violence and stopping aid reaching those most in need, thus continuing genocide.

Here is an excerpt from the report entitled "Bandits in Sudan's Darfur attack AU, obstruct aid" which makes no mention of the word 'bandit' -

"An AU official said the African body was investigating recent attacks, and added it was not yet clear if the gunmen acted alone or had links to the other armed groups in the area.

"There is a lot of banditry ... The area is lawless and they (gunmen) are attacking everyone," Jean Baptiste Natama, a senior AU protocol officer told Reuters.

Natama said one person was lightly injured on Thursday when unidentified gunmen attacked a patrol near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state.

The AU official said the incident was the first of its kind in several weeks. But an aid official, who did not want to be named, said incidents of gunmen shooting at convoys and stealing vehicles and aid had increased in recent months in Darfur.

"The situation got worse from around April, May, June ... They (gunmen) are taking vehicles. We have lost trucks and aid commodities," said the official who would not say how much material had been lost."

As noted here in previous posts, an Arab militia, in an interview last year, admitted to not feeling guilty about looting. He explained they are too proud to ask for charity and hand outs and resort to any means to feed themselves and their families. It is not difficult to imagine Sudanese rebels having to do the same. How else do they all make a living? Or are they being funded and supplied by external sources and, if so, by whom and why?

UPDATE Aug 29: Sudanese government accuses Darfur rebel group SLM of attacks, abductions, stealing camels and vehicles. Ref article by Xinhua via ReliefWeb Aug 29, SUNA, the official news agency in Khartoum, says:

SLM, one of two main rebel groups in Darfur, attacked the al-Malam area on August 23 and seized a number of vehicles;

On August 24, SLM launched another attack against the same area, firing at unarmed people, capturing seven as well as looting 3,100 heads of camels;

The Sudanese government announced the attacks on the eve of the arrival of AU Chief Mediator to Darfur Salem Ahmed Salem in Khartoum who was charged with discussing issues related to the upcoming round of Abuja talks with the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels.

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Photo: Displaced people from Darfur, Sudan. The top United Nations refugee official called on the international community to compensate Chad with development projects for taking in tens of thousand of refugees fleeing the fighting in Darfur. (AFP/HO-UN/Yahoo)
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UPDATE Aug 31: Sudanese rebel group deny attacking aid convoys in Darfur

Copy of a report Aug 31, 2005 via Sudan Tribune - Text of report in English by independent USAID-funded Sudan Radio Service, BBC Monitoring Middle East:

Aug 31, 2005 - One of the anti-government groups in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Movement, SLM, has refuted reports that its forces have been attacking aid convoys in Darfur.

The SLM field spokesman, commander Muhammad Hamid Ali, claimed to Sudan Radio Service on Monday [29 August] in a telephone interview, that the Janjawid militiamen and government troops have been dressing like SLM fighters so that they can attack relief trucks and tarnish the image of the SLM.

[Soundbite of Ali]: "There are groups of the Janjawid and some elements of the government military intelligence who dress in the same uniform as SLM combatants, mark their vehicles with SLM logo and attack aid convoys, then report that the attacks have been carried out by SLM members."

Commander Ali said his people depend entirely on relief supplies to survive and it is unthinkable that the SLM troops would attack convoys carrying supplies destined for their needy people.

He claims that international humanitarian agencies have been manipulated by the government to make statements without investigations that anti-government forces have been attacking aid convoys.
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Egyptian plane loaded with relief aid arrives in Darfur

Good news. Kuna in Kuwait Aug 28 says an Egyptian transport airplane loaded with relief aid arrived in Fasher, regional capital of Darfur, to help needy people. The plane carried 5.5 tons of medicine, 3.5 tons of food and other relief supplies.

KUNA says according to official media, this was the 24th aircraft sent by Egypt to the Darfur population.
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UNCHR: 4 million refugees would return home to South Sudan

More good news. Bahrain News Agency Aug 28 report says UN high commissioner for refugees in Sudan, Antonio Guterres said in an interview he gave to the BBC that south Sudan's problem would be soon solved and more than 4 million refugees would return to their homes after 20 years of civil war.

"There is a great opportunity for peace in Sudan now. I am here to meet with Sudan's Deputy President, Silva Kiir, and representatives of various southern governorates to ease the return of the refugees", Guterres said.

Tags: Darfur Sudan aid worker aid African Union gunmen rebels bandits Eritrea DR Congo Uganda Nyala Janjaweed

Eritrea suspends U.S. aid efforts - Disillusionment with western aid bureaucracy

The U.S. ambassador to Eritrea has confirmed that Eritrea has asked the US international aid agency, USAid, to cease operations in the country.

"The government has told us they are uncomfortable with the activities of USAid," Ambassador Scott DeLisi said.

The government has impounded about 120 aid agency vehicles, and some aid was recently blocked over tax demands.

Rumours about USAid stopping work surfaced last month, but the ambassador's announcement was the first time they had been confirmed.

Relations between Eritrea and the US have become strained in recent years. Full story at Sudan Tribune Aug 26, 2005.
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Eriteria and the disillusionment with western aid bureaucracy

Read what Sudanese blogger Wau Nau at the African Herbsman blog in Washington DC has to say about the above news.

Tags: Eritrea USAID aid worker aid

Gambia among nations on the brink as a "failed state"

Note this copy of a report by Bubacarr Ceesay August 26, 2005:

The first annual report on the list of potential "failed states"; research conducted by the Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy has listed the Gambia as a potential candidate among 60 nations on the brink of collapse. Ivory Cost made the top of the list and Gambia taking the last spot 60. Several African countries including DRC, Guinea, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia, and Chad also made the top ten. Interestingly, none of Gambia's closest neighbors Senegal and Guinea Bissau made the list. Surprisingly, Gambia's longtime ally Mauritania and now a country under military rule did not make the list.

The report which relies on numerous media reports on nations and utilizes high-tech methods for data computations to reach a conclusive ranking; thus stated:

"How do you know a failed state when you see one? Of course, a government that has lost control of its territory or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of force has earned the label.

To present a more precise picture of the scope and implications of the problem, the Fund for Peace, an independent research organization, and FOREIGN POLICY have conducted a global ranking of weak and failing states. Using 12 social, economic, political, and military indicators, we ranked 60 states in order of their vulnerability to violent internal conflict. (For each indicator, the Fund for Peace computed scores using software that analyzed data from tens of thousands of international and local media sources from the last half of 2004. For a complete discussion of the 12 indicators, please go to Foreign Policy or www.fundforpeace.org.) The resulting index provides a profile of the new world disorder of the 21st century and demonstrates that the problem of weak and failing states is far more serious than generally thought. About 2 billion people live in insecure states, with varying degrees of vulnerability to widespread civil conflict."

Tags: Gambia Darfur Sudan DRC Ivory Coast Guinea Sierra Leone Liberia Liberia Somalia Chad Senegal Guinea Bissau failed state failed states

UN food agency hands over upgraded airport to S. Sudan

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today handed over a refurbished airport to the local government in South Sudan's interim capital of Rumbek to provide greater access to the war-wracked region.

See full report at UN News Centre 26 August 2005.

Tags: UN Darfur Sudan Africa WFP Rumbek

Network of women journalists in Africa launches Web site

Aug 26 - A network of women journalists in Africa has launched a new web site FEMINIA for publishing and exchanging articles of interest to women on the continent.

Currently, the site features stories on gender mainstreaming; women in Darfur, Sudan; the vulnerability of girls to HIV and AIDS; and Cameroonian women working in the markets who are leading forces in the country's economy. Articles are available in both French and English.

Tags: Journalists Darfur Sudan Africa Uganda DR Congo Niger Ethiopia

Over 6,000 Sudanese refugees in Uganda to be repatriated

Over 6,000 Sudanese refugees in Uganda are to be repatriated, says report at ReliefWeb Aug 26.

Note, currently, there are over 188,000 Sudanese refugees in Uganda. The Sudanese refugees take the biggest percentage of the 230,000 refugees in Uganda. Other refugees in the east African country are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and others.

Tags: Sudan Africa Uganda DR Congo

U.S. has to lift sanctions against Sudan - U.S. ready to cooperate with Sudan

Photo: Sudanese Minister for Energy and Mining Dr Awad Ahmed Jazz holds a press conference in Khartoum, Wednesday, Aug 24, 2005. Jazz said his country welcomes all companies wishing to invest in oil in Sudan, but stressed that the U.S. has to lift sanctions against his country if American companies were to be fully involved in oil production.

Sudan said Wednesday it would increase oil production, currently standing at 300,000 to 500,000 barrels per day by the end of current year. (AP Photo/Abd Raouf/Yahoo)
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U.S. ready to cooperate with Sudan

Aug 25 Chinese news report excerpt:

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice Thursday confirmed her government's readiness to cooperate with Sudan to handle pending issues ahead of mutual relations, the official SUNA news agency reported here.

Rice made the remarks in a message she sent to Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail, said SUNA.

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Sudan urges Darfur rebels to participate in talks, Rice says ready to cooperate

Aug 25 Kuwaiti news report snippets:

Re Darfur rebels:

Dr. Magzoub Al-Khalifa, chairman of the government delegation to the Tanzania-based preparatory meeting for the negotiations said the meeting was successful and aimed at bringing the views of the concerned parties closer.

Re Dr Rice:

[Sudanese FM] Ismail received a letter from his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice, Thursday, in which she affirmed readiness to cooperate with Sudan to improve bilateral relations.

Rice also affirmed the US keenness of the US administration to cooperate with Sudan government with respect to the implementation of the peace agreement as well as normalization of situation in Darfur. She referred to her recent visit to Sudan, saying that it enabled her to get acquainted with Sudanese issues.

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Uganda to expel DR Congo rebels

Note this snippet from a report at BBC News online Aug 24, 2005 says "UN Security Council resolutions oblige Uganda to prevent its territory from being used by regional armed groups." Why can't such a resolution be introduced to quell anarchy in the Sudan and at least give the UN Security Council some leverage when new rebel groups spring up in the country?

"Uganda has announced it will expel six rebels from Democratic Republic of Congo after the UN voiced its concern over their presence in the county.

Uganda's internal affairs minister said the men had been declared persona non grata and must leave by Thursday.

The six are part of a group the UN says planned to use Uganda to launch a rebel movement to seize power in DR Congo.

UN Security Council resolutions oblige Uganda to prevent its territory from being used by regional armed groups."

Full story at BBC.

Tags: UN sanctions Darfur Sudan Africa oil human rights Condoleeza Rice Khartoum Uganda DR Congo

Encourage Western companies back to Sudan - Sudan Oil & Gas Summits London Nov 2005 and Dubai Jan 2006

Sudan's government and rebels have eliminated millions of people from their country. Poor Sudanese folk without land or property ownership rights are no longer in the way of progress. Sudan's government and rebels are now free to capitalise on the country's natural wealth without first providing decent security forces to maintain law and order and enable displaced citizens to own their own property and land, grow their food, make a living and raise their families.

Read the below copied articles and see how Sudanese powermongers who stole power through the barrel of a gun are now free to have oil and gas summits in London and Dubai. Great eh? Spread the word for genocidal dictators and rag bag rebel groups throughout the world to hear the news: genocide pays big dividends.

It has taken me sixteen months of blogging about Darfur to realise that it was wrong of activisits putting pressure on Western companies to pull out from the Sudan. Had the big Western companies still been there, Western activists could have brought pressure to bear on the companies and UN Security Council to help Sudanese security forces install law and order and protect Sudanese citizens.

It seems to me, Western companies have no option but to get involved with Sudan's oil, gas and mineral exploration in a big way, otherwise countries like China that put business before human rights, will continue to move in and exploit the region without putting anything back that helps the poor locals. In fact, I would go as far as to say Western companies should be encouraged to do business with the Sudanese government and donate a team of lawyers with expertise in property and land ownership rights.



An article at Albawaba.com today says, following consultation and partnership agreements with the Sudanese Ministry of Energy & Oil and Ministry of Investment, the Sudan Development Program has announced the official Sudan Oil & Gas Summit is to take place in London, in November 2005. Excerpt:

"The Minister of Energy & Oil, Alshreef Omar Badr wishes to bring the international oil industry together to work closely on the long-term development of Sudan's oil and gas infrastructure. The first step identified by the Ministry of Energy & Oil is the raising of production rates to 1.5 million barrels per day.

With recent surveys in Sudan indicating an abundance of oil reserves (estimated to be around two billion barrels) and a high rate of success in drilling operations, the untapped potential of Sudan is clear.

An official Sudanese government delegation will be present at the conference in London; this will be led by Awad Ahmad Al-Jaz, Minister of Energy & Oil and Alshreef Omar Badr, Minister of Investment. The conference will also welcome the chairman of the Sudanese National Petroleum Corporation, Musa Raud Al-Tekanna. The delegation has expressed its desire to "meet with international companies committed to offering their goods and services, forming partnerships and promoting investment opportunities".

Note, the article ends by saying:

"Despite the need for massive infrastructural improvement and the many difficulties encountered by Sudan in recent years, Sudan has maintained a respectable economic rate of growth. Now, with the shared government agreement and the pledging of $4.5 billion to redevelop the country at an April donors meeting in Oslo, the country is well placed to exploit its huge reserves."

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Sudan Development Program looking to further Sudan's economic reintegration

Note the following copy of a MENA article August 17, 2005 about the inaugural Sudan Development Program summit, taking place in Dubai, UAE 9-11 January 2006, advertised as "an essential networking event, based on face-to-face meetings and will allow international companies to present their goods and services to Sudan's public and private sector companies".



With companies from across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and beyond looking to move into Sudan to exploit the vast opportunities within the country's various sectors, the Sudan Development Program is pleased to announce that the inaugural SDP summit will take place in Dubai in January 2006.

The announcement of the summit comes following months of progress throughout Sudan, with negotiations taking place between the north and the southern regions in Nairobi, Kenya in January 2005 and the subsequent accord signing in July 2005. Salva Kiir, the leader of southern Sudan, was recently sworn in as first vice president of Sudan, succeeding the late John Garang.

Since the signing of the agreement, international companies have eyed the numerous opportunities to be found in Sudan, within sectors as diverse as construction, oil, banking and agriculture, while a donors meeting in Oslo in April pledged $4.5 billion for the funding of projects in southern Sudan from 2005-7.

Enjoying support from the Sudanese government, the objectives of the Sudan Development Program are to promote Sudan as an attractive investment destination, to secure capital and trade partners for projects already underway and to aid the forming of relationships between business figures and key individuals within the Sudanese marketplace.

The Sudan Development Program will look to increase the number of development projects being carried out in Sudan; prospective projects include the construction of the Lokichoggio-Kapoeta-Juba Road and plans to build a railway to connect Sudan with the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

(c) 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com

Tags: UN land+rights Darfur Sudan activists oil human rights genocide rebels Sudan Development Program London Dubai UAE China Mombasa Uganda DR Congo anarchy