Sudan: UN WFP Weekly Situation Report on Darfur 14 - 20 Sep 2005

Imagine the complex logistics involved in delivering food to those most in need in the Sudan. 90% of the 10,000 aid workers currently employed by international aid agencies are local Sudanese people.

Thousands of unemployed Sudanese men refuse to get aid through official channels. They ambush relief trucks and use violence to steal food and aid for themselves. Such looting stretches to trucks, petrol, plastic sheeting, mobile phones, cash and other personal belongings stolen during attacks on aid workers.

Here below is an excerpt from the UN's World Food Program weekly Situation Report on Darfur 14 - 20 Sep 2005. Click into the full pdf report and read between the lines.

[Note the pdf report states WFP and "Cooperating Partner SC-US" are looking into possibilities of flying in distribution teams to inaccessible locations in West Darfur. Also, it mentions what sounds like new teams in Darfur, ie: "UNDSS security assessment mission" ... "UNDSS/WFP security mission" ... "a joint team of security officers from WFP, UNDSS and UNMIS" ... "Cooperating Partner GAA"]

HUMANITARIAN & SECURITY SITUATION

The security situation, and subsequent restrictions on UN movement, continue to affect humanitarian operations including WFP's food distributions and assessments in Darfur. Despite increased precautionary measures such as GoS police patrols and AU escorts, armed men continued to attack commercial and humanitarian vehicles in the region.

South Darfur

Two separate incidents of armed attacks on trucks were reported in Amar Jandid, approximately 10 km north of Menawashi, during the reporting week. Both incidents involved a large group of armed men who ambushed and looted commercial trucks traveling in the area. Some 87 bags of sorghum were stolen among personal belongings and money of the occupants.

There were several reports of both GoS and SLA buildup as well as clashes in locations around South Darfur. In Mershing, a UNDSS/WFP security mission recommended that food distribution activities be suspended for a few days while precautionary security measures are put in place. Meanwhile, there were also reports of SLA's established presence in Joghana, approximately 110 km south of Nyala. The UNDSS has advised agencies working in Joghana to ensure that the SLA is notified in advance of any movement in the area. The situation will be closely monitored by the UNDSS as fears of clashes with GoS present in Buram, some 30 km south of Joghana, are raising security concerns. In Jebel Marra, clashes between GoS and SLA were reported in Guldo during the week.

North Darfur

It was reported that the SLA attacked a GoS checkpoint in Abu Hamra village as well as several other villages close to Shangil Tobaya during the week (namely Um Lawat, Karja, Tebeldiya Wari and Arara). While the African Union (AU) is further investigating the situation, many residents allegedly fled Arara village from fear of GoS retaliation. A joint team of security officers from WFP, UNDSS and UNMIS traveled to Shangil Tobaya and Tabitt, where they met with AU, SLA and the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) to discuss the situation. While the situation was reported to have stabilized, residents of the villages have re-located to IDP camps near Shangil Tobaya. The UNDSS is expected to submit a full report in the coming week.

Following the shooting incident that occurred in Tawila on 9 September 2005, a UNDSS security assessment mission re-visited the location and has declared the situation to be relatively stable. UN movement restrictions in Tawila were lifted but UN agencies have been advised to conduct all activities between 0900 and 1600 hours. All field missions were advised to contact the UNDSS prior to departure and to exercise extra caution at all times.

Cooperating Partner GAA suspended activities in Um Maharek village in Kutum locality following an outbreak of violence in which 15 people were killed.

West Darfur

On 15 September, two commercial trucks, being escorted by GoS police, were attacked and ambushed by armed men approximately 25 min south of Masteri. Four civilians and two GoS soldiers were reported to have been killed in this incident. An unescorted NGO vehicle was also stopped and looted near Habilah Kanari during the week. Armed men also shot at two vehicles belonging to UNHCR in the same area. It should be noted that the UN can only move on these roads (Geneina/Habilah/Mornie/Masteri roads, Sisi/Mornie road and areas around Jebel Moon) with a security escort.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa

Sudan: New violence breaks out everywhere in Darfur

Recent news reports of violence breaking out everywhere in Darfur comes as no surprise as it always seems to escalate in the run up to, and during, any important negotiations or peace talks.

As usual, it is difficult to tell who is starting what. Neither side ever proves sincere about wanting peace.

Perhaps this will go on for six years until the time for South Sudan to vote to break away. Trouble is, most of Sudan's oil is in south, central, western and border of Chad-Sudan, not in Northern Sudan where most of the government's supporters reside.

Note, Strategy Page's summary of the latest security situation in Darfur (thanks to Instapundit). The last line states Darfur rebel group JEM says it is working with the east Sudan rebels.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa

US sees LRA as a terrorist organisation - Pronk says peace in Southern Sudan fragile

Paul at Uganda-CAN publishes a post Sep 22 featuring a Reuters report on Jan Pronk, the UN's special envoy in Sudan, who says the peace agreement between South Sudan's former rebel group SPLM/A and Khartoum regime is fragile.

Mr Pronk is briefing the UN Security Council.

He said Dr. John Garang's death last July, which caused sporadic rioting, has been followed by a recent upswing in LRA activity in southern Sudan, as well as reports that some elements of the Sudanese military were still supporting the rebel group.

He also expressed concern over the possibility of renewed conflict in southern Sudan as refugees begin returning to their homes there despite delays in the arrival of crucial humanitarian aid and UN peacekeepers.

Also, Paul writes:

"Uganda-CAN urges the world to think of the conflicts in southern Sudan, Darfur, and northern Uganda as part of an interrelated regional conflict which can only be resolved through cooperation among all parties and the signing of regional peace agreements. Read more on Uganda-CAN's website about southern Sudan and Darfur and information on key actors there."

Going by various news reports, Sudan, Darfur, northern Uganda (and I would add DR Congo) appear to be part of an interrelated regional conflict (and it would seem when it comes to DR Congo, some connections go back to Rwanda's genocide) which was the reason for starting Uganda Watch and Congo Watch last year.

Note, the US State Department recognises the LRA as a terrorist organisation.
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Museveni wants Kony extradited

Uganda-CAN picks up on a report by New Vision that claims President Museveni has demanded the immediate extradition of Kony and remnants of his army that have recently crossed into the DR Congo (DRC).

According to the report, sixty fighters led by Kony's second-in-command Vincent Otti recently fled northern Uganda and southern Sudan to cross into northeastern DRC. The Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) claimed the rebels are hiding in Garamba game park in the DRC.
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Uganda says top LRA rebel wants asylum in Congo

The deputy leader of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is asking for political asylum in Congo after fleeing into its remote northeastern jungles, Uganda's defence minister said today.

Uganda says Vincent Otti and about 50 fighters left their hideouts in southern Sudan's lawless mountains last week and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday.

But the Congolese government said on Friday it had no information about the group's presence on its territory or of any asylum request.

See full story Sep 23 2005 (Standard)
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Bush held talks with Rwandan leader re Great Lakes region

Recent news reports say terrorist groups aim to set up camp in east Africa.

Previous posts here at Sudan Watch note:

- The US has a sophisticated intelligence base in Djibouti housing 800 special-operations troops.

- A meeting held at the White House last April between President Bush and Rwanda's leader Paul Kagame to discuss the Great Lakes region. [The Great Lakes region has been marred by conflict since Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in which up to 937,000 people were killed]

- The US promises support for military operations to fight LRA.



Photo: President George W. Bush meets with the President Paul Kagame of Rwanda in the Oval Office Friday, April 15, 2005. (White House photo by Krisanne Johnson)

See Congo Watch post 16 April 2005 - Bush Holds Talks with Rwandan Leader at White House. Excerpt:

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. On all, 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.

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Issue of terrorism is reshaping alliances in a surprising way

Snippets from BBC report Sudan eyes gains from terror talks Sep 22 2005:

The US has set up an anti-terror base to monitor East Africa.

Speaking at the conference, Sudan's Vice-President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha said that the Darfur conflict was continuing only because of foreign interference.

He was talking about Eritrea, which has not been invited to the counter-terrorism conference.

Mr Taha called on Eritrea to involve itself in dialogue to help to stabilise Darfur. He also made a sustained attack on the international media for focussing attention on Darfur.

Economic sanctions imposed by the US make it difficult to attract investors and develop the economy. The sanctions are seen as a major impediment to normalisation in a country impatient to rejoin the world community.

The discovery of large oil reserves in recent years has made the search for a diplomatic solution even more urgent.

The decision of the CIA to agree to come to Sudan shows the pragmatism of the intelligence community against the continuing political desire of America to punish Sudan for what has happened in Darfur.

The world may not even be able to agree on how to define terrorism, and it was hard to secure agreement on a resolution to condemn terrorism "in all its forms" proposed by the UK at the recent UN summit of world leaders.

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Missionary Blog Watch

Missionary Blog Watch keeps an eye on Christian missionary blogs on the net in order to introduce you to interesting posts, new bloggers and developments on Missionary-Blogs.com.

[via Keith with thanks]

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Congo Uganda

Volkswagen-Stiftung offer of scholarships for a research project about Southern Sudan

Message from Warnews Blogs September 15, 2005:

Dear All,

The Volkswagen-Stiftung is sponsoring a research project at the University of Bremen, Germany on "Governance and Social Action in Sudan after the Peace Agreement of 2005: local, national, and regional dimensions" (Politische Steuerung und soziales Handeln im Sudan).

As part of the research project 10 research scholarships are being offered, which are aimed at applicants from Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Attached you find the research proposal and further details about the scholarships.

Further details can be found on www.iwim.uni-bremen.de

It would be greatly appreciated if you could forward this email to anyone who might be interested in applying for a scholarship.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Congo Uganda Kenya

Sudan: Bashir announces national unity government

Sudanese President Omar al Bashir announced on Wednesday the formation of a new government of national unity in accordance with the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the government and the southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).

Xinhua Sep 21 excerpt:

Analysts say that the biggest disappointment for the southern Sudanese is that they have not been given the energy and mining ministry which includes the oil sector.

President Omar al Bashir's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) retained the powerful energy portfolio after weeks of tough negotiations with the former rebel, Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The north also keeps control of the key defense, interior and finance posts.

Of the 29 ministries, 16 remain in the hands of the northern NCP, nine go to the SPLM, the former southern rebels, and smaller groups have the others.

The interim government will remain in place until legislative elections are held in around four years.

A six-year post-war interim rule started in July, after which the south will hold a referendum on self-determination.

In a Sep 21 article entitled "Sudan unity under test" Aljazeera says Sudan has six years to make unity work.



Photo: Al-Bashir termed the unity government a good omen (Aljazeera)

Further reading:

Sep 20 Sudan Tribune Full list of Sudanese government of national unity by presidential decree. [Note, another list points out the 74-strong line-up includes only five women]

Sep 21 AFP report: Sudan national unity govt faces tough task.

Sep 21 Reuters report: S. Sudanese unhappy with new government.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa

SLA have withdrawn from south Darfur town, UN says

SLA rebels in Darfur said they captured the town of Sheiria from government forces in a surprise attack on Tuesday.



Photo: A Sudanese boy hold his malnourished cousin as he waits for medical assistance at a health clinic run by Medicine Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Akuem village in southern Sudan September 11, 2005. (David Mwangi/Reuters)
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Sudan official vows army will retake rebel town

Reuters via ReliefWeb says a Sudanese military official vowed on Wednesday that Sudan's armed forces would recapture the town.

"Right now, the town is still under rebel control," the official told Reuters. "Government forces will respond and expel them from the town," he added without giving details.
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Rebels reported to have withdrawn from south Darfur town, UN says

Associated Press report confirms SLA rebels are reported to have withdrawn from a South Darfur town which the Sudanese army was threatening to recapture, a UN spokesman said Wednesday:

The Sudan Liberation Army overran the town of Sheiria on Monday, violating the ceasefire in the western region of Sudan. The move provoked government protests and UN expressions of concern for the town's 33,000 residents, who depend on international aid.

"We have heard from some sources that the SLA left the town" Tuesday, UN spokesman George Somerwill told The Associated Press by telephone.

Somerwill declined to reveal the sources, but stressed that the African Union mission was responsible for the peace process in Darfur.

African Union spokesman Noureddine Mezni refused to comment on whether the rebels had withdrawn from Sheiria, saying a statement would be issued later.

The above mentioned fighting between Sudan's government and the Darfur rebels resumed during preparations for the sixth round of Darfur peace talks, which started in Abuja Nigeria on September 15, 2005. (Graphic/Reuters)

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa SLA African Union

US promises support for military operations to fight LRA

Xinhua reports Sep 21 that US National Security Advisor Steve Hadley has assured Uganda of his country's cooperation in the planned joint operation between Uganda, Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) against remnants of rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

On a group of LRA ebels entering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through southern Sudan, Hadley said US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton will take up the matter of UN Observer Mission in Congo to improve UN presence and performance in the DRC.

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

[via Uganda-CAN with thanks]

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa DR Congo Uganda LRA Uganda-CAN MONUC SPLA US

UN Jobs - Vacancies in Sudan

A Swiss association, not affiliated with the United Nations has a site listing Vacancies in Sudan.

Africa's peace seekers: Lazaro Sumbeiywo

This is a breath of fresh air: an article containing the the words "Africa's peace seeker" in its title. Here is an excerpt from an inspiring piece about African peace seeker Lazaro Sumbeiywo by Abraham McLaughlin, staff writer of CS Monitor, September 12, 2005:

"Until a single phone call from the president of Kenya changed the trajectory of his life, Lazaro Sumbeiywo had spent the whole of his illustrious career focused on making war.

When the phone rang in his office in October 2001, this towering son of a village chief was Kenya's top general.

"I have an offer for you," he recalls the president saying, "and I order you not to refuse."

General Sumbeiywo was fiercely loyal to then-President Daniel arap Moi. During a 1982 coup attempt, he'd raced to Mr. Moi's home to protect him. Off and on since 1987, he had sometimes been involved with the Sudan negotiations. But the president's order caught him off guard.

"I want you to find peace in Sudan," Moi said.

The general was dumbstruck. This was Africa's longest civil war - a seemingly intractable 18-year conflict between Muslim Arab northerners and mostly Christian black southerners. Some 2 million people had died. Four million had been forced to flee their homes. And at least five major peacemaking efforts over 13 years had failed. Yet if peace could be found in oil-rich and populous Sudan, it could usher in a new era of trade and prosperity in neighboring Kenya and across northeast Africa.

After stammering something, Sumbeiywo hung up. Then, he phoned back to try to reject the assignment. But Moi wouldn't take the call. So, Sumbeiywo did the only thing he could think of: He started a three-day fast "to get very close to God."

It was not the last time he would seek divine help. Over the next 3-1/2 grueling years of peace talks, he would muster the persistence of the biblical Joseph, the wisdom of an African chief, and the ingenuity of a modern mediator. And eventually the process he led would become what many now see as a gold standard for making peace in Africa.

"General Sumbeiywo should win the Nobel Peace Prize," says former Sen. John Danforth, who was President Bush's special envoy to Sudan from 2001 to 2004. "His ability to stay there in the talks and be an honest broker - and to listen to all the back and forth over such a long period of time - was essential, and was very largely responsible for the result," says Senator Danforth by phone from St. Louis.

As a boy, Sumbeiywo would walk past one of the biggest trees in his rural village and see his father, the chief, sitting under its sprawling branches, surrounded by neighbors. His dad would listen for hours as people aired disagreements over such things as who owned a particular cow. Then he'd dispense his wisdom. Like many African chiefs, he'd stay under the tree until every villager had spoken.

Decades later, standing at the front of a conference room at a Kenyan resort hotel, Sumbeiywo drew upon his father's ways: He let the two sides vent..." Read full story.



Gen. Lazaro Sumbeiywo

1947 Born in Elgeyo Marakwet district of Kenya

1968 Enrolled in Britain's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst

1987 Appointed director of Kenya's military intelligence

1997-98 Served as Kenya's envoy to the Sudan peace process

2000 Appointed Chief of Staff of Kenya's Army

2001 Appointed mediator of Sudan's north-south conflict

2003 Retired from army to devote full time to peace effort



Photo: Child soldiers with the Sudan People's Liberation Army gather at their barracks for a demobilization ceremony in Malou, southern Sudan. (Sayyid Azim/AP/CS Monitor)
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Timeline

Click here to see, at a glance, Sudan's long path from war to peace.



Photo: SPLA soldier in 1997 (John Cobb/AP/csmonitor)

Spotlight on Darfur 1 and The Darfur Collection

Huge thanks to Catez Stevens in New Zealand for initiating and hosting Spotlight on Darfur 1, a great round up of posts authored by 14 different bloggers from around the world.



Catez also produced The Darfur Collection last May.

Please email Catez at Allthings2all if you have a post for the next Spotlight on Darfur 2 or 3.

Picture courtesy Tim Sweetman's post Let Us Weep.

Thanks to Global Voices for their third post and links to my blog Congo Watch featuring this initiative.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa allthings2all aid bloggers Live 8
blogburst

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