U.N. sounds Darfur warning in 42-page OHCHR report - U.S. condemns attacks by Sudan's SLA

A new detailed UN report [see summary here below] warns that killings, rapes and indiscriminate attacks are still forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes in Darfur. Excerpt from The Scotsman January 28, 2006:

"A 42-page report said those carrying out the violence included soldiers who fired at civilians from helicopter gunships.

The report criticised the government of coup leader Omar el-Bashir, saying promises to end centuries of discrimination and marginalisation of black African minorities were marked by "token gestures" while murder and torture went unpunished."

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42-page UN report sounds Darfur warning

On January 27, 2006 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a detailed report on dismal human rights conditions in Darfur and other parts of Sudan and called on Sudanese Government to take measures to end culture of impunity.

UN News Centre January 27, 2006 reports that while noting some progress since peace accords were signed last year, such as the lifting emergency law in certain areas, the OHCHR report says other initiatives have been inadequate, especially in Darfur, where any positive political measures were "overshadowed by an ineffective judiciary, an ongoing conflict, and widespread human rights abuses." Excerpt:

From September to November 2005 government forces, working with militia who were often described by witnesses as Janjaweed, carried out at least eight organised armed attacks on over a dozen camps or villages occupied by internally displaced persons (IDPs). The attackers killed and wounded civilians and destroyed their homes.

The report rejects Sudan's rationale that it was responding to rebel activities, stating that in most cases civilians were "deliberately targeted." It notes that State-sponsored offensives fan the flames of violence by irregular groups "The increase in large attacks on civilians by Government forces likely encouraged the militia to execute other abuses with impunity."

Examples of sexual violence are also described in the report, such as the case of an IDP who was collecting hay one morning when she was approached by three armed military men, "slapped in the face, kicked in the stomach, and accused of being a rebel. She was then raped by two of the men."

The Geneva-based OHCHR reported allegations of torture at the hands of the national security, military intelligence and police officials in Khartoum, and voices serious concern about the absence of fair trial guarantees as well as inhuman detention conditions.

The 42-page report, which bases its findings mostly on direct investigations and information collected from victims, witnesses, and government authorities, calls on the Government to cease its attacks on civilians in Darfur, disarm militias there, and install an effective law enforcement system.

Khartoum is also urged to end culture of impunity, strengthen the judiciary and revoke immunity laws protecting state agents. "The National Security Service should be stripped of it abusive and unchecked powers of arrest and detention," the OHCHR states in the report, which was prepared in cooperation with the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).

Noting that the conflict in Sudan was initially sparked in response to marginalisation and discrimination, the report recommends that resource allocation be fair, transparent, non-discriminatory, and involve the affected communities. The Government should also facilitate the humanitarian and development aid and allow civil society to function freely.

In January, 2005, the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), ending a 21-year civil war which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 2 million people and the displacement of some 4 million others.

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Janjaweed attacks on refugee camps - OHCHR warns of impending "catastrophe"

See Displaced Populations in Darfur Increasingly Face Annihilation by Eric Reeves January 28, 2006 - Growing number of Janjaweed attacks on camps. UN High Commissioner for Refugees warns of impending "catastrophe" [via Coalition for Darfur]
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US condemns rebels attacks in Darfur

Washington File January 27, 2006 says the U.S. condemns the rebel SLA's attacks on village of Golo and a police convoy in West Darfur on January 23, which killed and wounded a large number of Sudanese Armed Forces personnel.



Photo: Teenage SLA fighters wearing amulets (believed to bring good luck and protect against evil the person who wears them) look on while in the rebel held village of Bodong in North Darfur, March 3, 2005. (Reuters/ST)
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Quote of the Day

"A lasting solution to this conflict can only be found through a negotiated settlement," he [UN Secretary-General] stressed.

Angelina Jolie and Bono at Davos Summit 2006 - China in Africa: CNOOC Nigerian oil deal

Click on image for further details and read more at Jewels in the Jungle.



Bono and Nigerian President Obasanjo at Davos Summit 2006

Grandiose Parlor says Bono wants Africa to be given a preferential treatment, and western economies to remove the subsidy on agricultural produce.



China in Africa: The CNOOC Nigerian Oil Deal

See Bill's blog entry on China in Africa: The CNOOC Nigerian Oil Deal and his readers' comments on the question of whether China's renewed interest and financial investments in Africa are good for the people of the continent or not.

Note, the State Council of China formed CNOOC in 1982 to conduct exploration and production in China's offshore areas, both independently and as the exclusive Chinese partner for foreign entities.

My thoughts are human rights activists got it wrong when they pressured Western companies to withdraw from Sudan as it left the market wide open for unscrupulous Asian companies. Western companies not doing business with Sudan means Sudanese oil is sold elsewhere. Perhaps if Western companies were located in the Sudan, they might have had leverage with the UN Security Council when it came to helping Darfur. We could have pressured them to send specialist lawyers to help settle land disputes; provide training for security forces to protect locals and aid workers; and arrange gainful employment for locals to help build schools, roads and handpumps for drinking water to help quell violent clashes over livestock and watering holes.

The Darfur genocide is now in its fourth year and as things stand now, 7,000 African Union soldiers are in Darfur at a cost GBP 10 million a month. God knows the financial cost of humanitarian aid and 11,000 aid workers or how many miles of roads and water pipes could have been built instead if it weren't for a handful of obstinate men in Khartoum. So far the cost in terms of human life alone is estimated as 400,000 and rising - half the number of the Rwandan genocide.

Sudan accuses Chad of shelling Arm Yakui, West Darfur - NMRD Darfur rebels attack Sudan army base in Arm Yakui

Whenever Darfur peace talks get close to an agreement the rebels fall out or split up and start killing to make headline news involving all sides. None are interested in peace. It's how they make a living. This could go on for years.

Today, Reuters correspondent Opheera McDoom reports the Darfur rebel group National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD) said they attacked a Sudanese military base in West Darfur January 28, 2006, killing 78 soldiers and accused Chadian insurgents of working alongside Sudan's armed forces.

NMRD (third group of Darfuri rebels) not in Darfur peace talks

Note, the report says the two other Darfur rebel groups, SLA and JEM, are in peace talks with Khartoum, but the NMRD are not and do not respect a ceasefire signed between those groups and the government in 2004. Further excerpts:

The Sudanese army source said the attack came from within Chadian territory. "This attack came suddenly from inside Chadian territory, and we returned fire with the same force using artillery," he said.

NMRD operate along Chad-Sudan border

The NMRD operate along the Chad-Sudan border. The long border between Chad and Sudan is porous and many tribes span the frontier. Deby himself took power in 1990 in an uprising he launched from Darfur.

Abdallah said Chadian rebels, led by Mahamat Nour, had fought alongside the Sudanese armed forces in the attack. "We don't understand why they are doing this. We have no problem with Mahamat Nour," he said.

United Front for Democratic Change (FUC) Chadian rebels, led by Mahamat Nour

Nour leads an alliance of Chadian insurgents called the United Front for Democratic Change, known as FUC. His group attacked the Chadian border town of Adre in December and are sworn to depose Deby.

Nour denied involvement in the clashes. "Our forces were nearby but they did not participate in the attack," he told Reuters by telephone from eastern Chad.

Sudan arrested 20 Chadian rebels in Khartoum last week, including one leader. Nour said they had been released and had left the Sudanese capital.

Sudan denies supporting the Chadian rebels. The rebels declined to say why they were in Khartoum, but Nour had written a letter requesting that his group be given an audience at an African Union summit in Khartoum on Monday.

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Sudan accuses Chad of shelling Arm Yakui, W Darfur

Sudan accused Chad of bombarding an area in its western border state of West Darfur and said its army had retaliated January 28, 2006, reports SAPA:

"The area of Armankul northwest of the town of Geneina, capital of West Darfur state, came under artillery shelling that continued for an hour and a half from inside the Chadian territories," military spokesman Gen. Abbas Adul Rahaman Khalifa said in a brief statement carried by the official news agency, SUNA.

He did not specify whether the attack was carried out by Chadian soldiers or a rebel group. "Our armed forces have dealt with this aggression with a retaliation in preservation of the sovereignty of the national territories and safeguarding the lives of Sudanese subjects," Khalifa said.

Further reading:

Jan 24, 2006 Sudan's SLA rebels launch attack in Golo, West Darfur - Note Eric Reeves' analysis March 17, 2005 re third Darfuri rebel group NMRD

Jan 25, 2006 Hundreds of Sudanese flee upsurge of violence in West Darfur after unidentified armed men attacked the town of Guereda - UN Refugee Agency

Jan 25, 2006 Splintering of rebel groups? Nur's forces captured aid workers? UN helicopter crashes near Golo, West Darfur

Jan 29, 2006 ST/AFP Sudan alleges new Chad army incursion - Sudanese army spokesman General Al-Abbas Abdelrahman Khalifa said in a statement that a Chadian unit backed by artillery attacked a Sudanese position 40 kilometres (24 miles) northwest of Geneina in West Darfur state on Saturday.

AMIS African troops in Darfur cost GBP 10 million a month

According to an article in today's Guardian by diplomatic editor Ewen MacAskill, the African mission in Darfur (AMIS) costs ten million pounds a month:

"The UN said it wanted the US and European countries to help form a tough mobile force. But this has met with resistance so far in Washington and Europe and the preference is for a largely African force.

The AU, at its summit in Khartoum last week, exasperated western diplomats by failing to discuss in any detail the Darfur crisis. But it did agree a resolution supporting the take-over of the force by the UN. The AU said it was struggling to find the 10m a month needed to maintain it."

Imagine, if all the money used for Darfur aid and peacekeeping over the past three years had been spent on building water pumps, schools and roads in Darfur. By continuing to murder while refusing to reach a peace agreement, uneducated and unemployed gun toting men are making a living from ruining the Sudan, failing its children while getting away with rape and murder. What a waste. It's a crime against humanity.

David Wallechinsky puts dictators in their places and lists Sudan's president as the world's worst dictator

Today's Washington Post has an amusing article by Mark Leibovich about the world's worst dictators. According to the article the potential "hot" dictator we should keep an eye on for next year's rankings is, quote:

"Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia [No. 18]. He keeps getting worse. If his police keep arresting and shooting people, he's definitely gonna be someone to watch."

See why by scrolling though Sudan Watch's sister blog Ethiopia Watch and note Basque News article 25 January 2006 entitled "AU condemns worst right offenders, among them Ethiopia".

Click into Sudan Watch flickr post for links to Parade's lists of the world's worst dictators - Sudan's president won first place in this year's list.

Sudan backs Iran's peaceful use of nuclear energy

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday pledged his country's support for Iran's position on peaceful use of nuclear technology.

Iranian Deputy President Ahmed Moussawi, who arrived in Khartoum earlier Wednesday on an official visit to Sudan, delivered a letter to the Sudanese president from his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmedinejad concerning the position of the Iranian authority toward its nuclear file and its right topeaceful use of nuclear energy, the Sudanese news agency reported.

See full report by China's Xinhua at SudanTribune 26 January 2006.

More information at Sudan Watch's sister blog Tehran Watch.

The children of Sudan are its future - Save the Children

This photo is the "Pulitzer Prize" winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine. The picture depicts a famine stricken child crawling towards a United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.



The vulture is waiting for the child to die so it can eat it. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, not even the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken.

Three months later he commited suicide due to depression.

How many more years must Sudanese children and mothers suffer?

Here we are in the year 2006. In a Jan 26 statement on Darfur, Save the Children notes it has been 3 years since the violence against civilians uprooted millions of people in Darfur and the causes of the conflict remain unresolved.

Why is it going on so long? After two years of blogging Darfur, it is this author's view that the rebels are not serious about peace at all. It seems to me their aim is overthrow the regime in Khartoum and seize power for themselves. What other explanation can there be? They have been given every chance and the world has bent over backwards to help. Even UN envoy Jan Pronk was quoted as saying in a news report this week he believes the Sudanese government were serious in their negotiations at the Darfur peace talks -- excerpt from Jan 23, 2006 Sudan Tribune report:

"I have no reason to believe that the Government would not be interested. I think that the Government will be interested in getting a peace agreement soon. And they have been to Abuja," he said.

The UN envoy said he had been to the Abuja talks often "and the Government negotiated quite constructively. They were good, tough negotiators but constructive."

Surely a peace agreement could have been reached by now if the rebels really cared about the millions of defenceless women and children imprisoned in camps. This could go on for decades. The rebels keep splitting up and are not disciplined enough or educated to govern responsibly.

The children of Sudan are its future. The rebels are responsible for holding back another generation of Sudanese children. God help them all. We don't really know half of what goes on or who funds the rebel bases and their leaders in Europe. This blog author finds it all too depressing and is taking a short break. Note this other excerpt from the statement by Save the Children:

"The Darfur crisis has already impacted negatively on millions of children in Darfur, and if it is not resolved, it will have far reaching repercussions for many tens of thousands of children in the decades to come.

Save the Children fights for children in the UK and around the world who suffer from poverty, disease, injustice and violence.
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Children's drawings from Darfur



Above drawing by Doa, Age 11 or 12: Janjaweed descend on a village on horses and camels, a woman flings her arms in the air as she is targeted for sexual violence or execution. A soldier takes a woman to be raped. She has a cell phone next to her head: "She wants to call the agencies for help." (Image courtesy Human Rights Watch/Sudan Watch archive)

See more children's drawings from Darfur.
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Peace will only be made, and kept, by the Sudanese people themselves



Photo: A young Sudanese child is helped with a drink of clean water at the Abu Shouk refugee camp near El Fasher, in Darfur, Sudan, in August 2004. (AFP/File/Jim Watson/Sudan Watch archive May 27, 2005)
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Teenage fighters in Darfur



Photo: Teenage Sudan Liberation Army fighters in the rebel held village of Bodong in North Darfur. (Reuters/Sudan Watch archive)
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Photo: A member of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), listens to a radio at Dorsa village in west Darfur, October 10, 2004. (Reuters/Sudan Watch archive)
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Photo: A Darfur rebel (Unsourced - Sudan Watch archive)
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Photo: Rebels from Sudan's Eastern Front parade during a conference held by the Front north of Kassala town, near the Eritrean border. (AFP/Sudan Watch archive April 2005)

Further reading:

Oct 3, 2005 Sudan's SLA Minnawi faction quits Darfur peace talks

Oct 2, 2005 Sudan's Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal led attack on Darfur

Oct 1, 2005 Sudanese army attacks Darfur civilians - African Union concludes all parties to the conflict were violating ceasefire agreements and there is neither good faith nor commitment on the part of any of the parties

Oct 1, 2005 Important African Union Statement on Security in Darfur

Oct 1, 2005 War crimes warnings from UN and UK on Darfur Sudan

Oct 1, 2005 Darfur: Peace talks expected to conclude early 2006

Oct 1, 2005 UN Security Council calls for Darfur peace deal by end 2005
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Calling Mama Mongella: The stability of Sudan is fundamental to the whole of the African continent

Marvel at this historic photo: A WOMAN among the 30 African leaders gathering in Khartoum to decide whether to allow a Sudanese dictator to lead Africa or to vote for a Congolese dictator instead.

The world watched African politics in motion and witnessed how African leaders once again chose another dictator to lead Africa. The African Union was set up to replace an organisation that at one time was chaired by Idi Amin. Had there not been so much adverse publicity from activists, Sudan would probably be chairing the AU and overseeing the Darfur genocide.



Photo: Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (C) is escorted out of a conference hall after a closed-door meeting with other African leaders at the sixth African Union Summit in Sudanese capital Khartoum January 24, 2006. The African Union chose Congo Republic as a compromise to chair the organisation after opposition to Sudan because of fears its human rights record could hurt the continent's credibility. Under the deal, Sudan takes over leadership of the 53-nation body after Congo Republic steps down next year. Critics had said Sudan should not get the chair while it was under fire for rights abuses in its western region of Darfur, where 7,000 AU peacekeepers are trying to uphold a tentative ceasefire between the government and rebels. (Reuters/Antony Njuguna/Yahoo)
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African summit rejects one tyrant but elects another

See Jan 25, 2006 report in the Telegraph "African summit rejects one tyrant but elects another" by David Blair in Khartoum. Excerpt:

"If Sudan's record of atrocities makes it unsuitable to lead Africa this year, it is hard to see how al-Bashir will be the best leader to make Africa's case to the world next year," said Reed Brody, of Human Rights Watch.

He added that Congo-Brazzaville's human rights record, while better than Sudan's, was "nothing to celebrate".

Mr Sassou-Nguesso, 62, seized power in the oil-rich state in 1979. His Marxist regime was a key ally of the Soviet Union. Under pressure from France, the former colonial power, he eventually introduced democratic ref-orms and left office after losing an election in 1992. But he returned to power in a welter of bloodshed by leading a victorious rebel army with Angolan military backing in a civil war in 1997.

He called an election in 2002, banned his two main rivals from running and claimed victory with almost 90 per cent of the vote. Fighting continues in Congo-Brazzaville, where rebels are trying to oust him.

Mr Sassou-Nguesso's human rights record has been heavily criticised. When the United Nations repatriated 350 refugees to his capital, Brazzaville, in 1999, they immediately disappeared and their fate has never been established.

Despite all that, African officials insisted that Mr Bashir's failure to win the chairmanship demonstrated Africa's new concern for human rights.

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War crimes - have we learned anything?

Finally, here is a copy of a Sudan Watch post dated 18 April, 2005:

"Haven't we learned anything? Are we no further forward than we were 60 years ago?" asks the BBC's highly regarded world affairs editor John Simpson, in his report "War crimes - have we learned anything?

In the piece, published at BBC news online today, he writes:

"There was a time when we thought that killing on an industrial scale might be a thing of the past; but, depressingly, the pictures are no longer just in black and white nowadays. It may be 32 years since General Augusto Pinochet's men began killing left-wingers in Chile, and 30 since the Khmer Rouge arrived in Phnom Penh to force the entire population out into the killing fields. But it's only 11 years since Rwanda, and 10 since the Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladic, ordered the murder of every male Muslim in Srebrenica. And in Darfur people are dying right now."

He concludes by saying:

"It takes more than shaking our heads over old television pictures of piles of bodies to make sure that these terrible crimes aren't repeated. Governments will never take enthusiastic action unless they think we really care about these things."

Full Story.



Photo (AFP/BBC UK): More than a million people died under the Khmer Rouge rule.
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Quotation

"If the people will lead, the leaders will follow."

[via Nile Basin Blog with thanks]

In Darfur, handpumps are on the frontline of peacebuilding

Ever since December when government soldiers overran the town of Tawila, burning homes and ruining wells, the pump has been the only source of safe water for kilometres around. It has become a commodity so valued that residents and soldiers alike fight -- and sometimes kill -- to quench their thirst. Indeed, this particular handpump has been the site of numerous rapes, beatings, and at least three deaths, including of soldiers shot by rebels.

Full story by Dorn Townsend, UNICEF, 26 January 2006 via ReliefWeb.



Photo: Waiting at the well - Naga, Sudan.
Courtesy www.markpelletierphotography.com/photo_galleries.htm (Sudan Watch archive)

UK House of Commons International Development Committee Report on Darfur: The Killing Continues

Link to pdf report Darfur: the killing continues (HC 657) 23 January 2006 went live online a few minutes ago here in England 11:10 am 26 January, 2006.

Click here and scroll down for link to the Committee's March 2005 report: "Darfur, Sudan and the Responsibility to Protect".

Blair admits world is failing Darfur as sanction calls grow

The Scotsman's political correspondent Gerri Peev says says Tony Blair has admitted the international community is failing Darfur and that more troops are needed to curb the violence.

When questioned by Sir Menzies Campbell, the interim Liberal Democrat leader, over the lack of action, Mr Blair said: "I think the international community is failing people in Darfur." He agreed that the African Union troops should have a boosted mandate.

Further reading:

Jan 26, 2006 UK Parliament House of Commons International Development Committee Reports - British MPs demand sanctions over Darfur.

Jan 26, 2006 Press Association report in the Scotsman MPs demand 'sanctions' on Sudanese - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for plans to deploy a new, Western-backed rapid reaction force with air support and sophisticated equipment. He said: "The overriding priority for the international community must be to end the bloodshed. The UN should mobilise additional resources for the AU mission's work and reinforce its role with a UN mandate."

Jan 25, 2006 Sudan Watch Britain calls for more peacekeepers in Darfur.

UK Parliament House of Commons International Development Committee Reports - British MPs demand sanctions over Darfur

January 26 BBC report says a group of British MPs wants the government to push the UN to impose sanctions against Sudan.

Note, the UK Commons International Development Committee published a report January 23, 2006 entitled Darfur: The Killing Continues*. Apparently, it is scathing about the Sudanese authorities.

On Wednesday, Tony Blair promised to do more to help refugees in the region and said strengthening peacekeeping forces should be a priority.

UK House of Commons Report: "Darfur: The Killing Continues"

The Committee will be releasing an online copy of its 23 January 2006 Report on "Darfur: The killing Continues" (HC 657), on Thursday 26 January at 00.01am (at which point the link should become active)

UK House of Commons Report: "Darfur, Sudan and the Responsibility to Protect"

The short report "Darfur: The Killing Continues" is a follow-up to the Committee's earlier report entitled Darfur, Sudan and the Responsibility to Protect [HC 67] published on 30 March 2005. It emerged from an oral evidence session held in November with the Secretary of State for International Development, Lord Triesman, International Crisis Group and Aegis Trust.

Also, see corrected transcript of oral evidence to be published as HC 657-i.

Ageis Trust webcast featuring Lt Gen Romeo Dallaire

View Aegis Trust archive of panel discussion webcast 25 January 2006. Speakers: Lt Gen Romeo Dallaire, Rt Hon Clare Short MP, John Bercow MP, Dr Mukesh Kapila.

Julie Flint and Alex de Waal's Darfur: A Short History of a Long War, and Gerard Prunier's Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide

Instapundit's Darfur update January 24, 2006 provides an excerpt from Nicholas Kristof's review of two new books on Darfur -- Julie Flint and Alex de Waal's Darfur: A Short History of a Long War, and Gerard Prunier's Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide. [via Captain Marlow with thanks]

New AU chairman would welcome UN support for AU troops in Darfur: International force in Darfur must be African-led

Reuters report by Nick Tattersall Jan 25, 2006 says the African Union would want to maintain control of peacekeepers in Darfur even if UN soldiers were sent to bolster the mission, the new head of the AU said. Excerpt:

Congo Republic's President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who was appointed by African leaders on Tuesday as chairman of the AU, said he would welcome UN support for AU troops in Darfur but that the force had to remain African-led.

'The United Nations can bring forces, but all of that should be to support the AU forces, under the command of the AU and its officers who are there,' Sassou told Reuters in a joint interview with French radio late on Tuesday.

'This dossier must be managed by the African Union. I believe that the international community will understand that it is better to operate like that,' he said after an AU summit in Sudan's capital Khartoum."

Hundreds of Sudanese flee upsurge of violence in West Darfur after unidentified armed men attacked the town of Guereda - UN Refugee Agency

Almost 800 Sudanese have fled to eastern Chad to escape increased violence in West Darfur, the UN refugee agency said yesterday. Excerpt from Press Release - UN News Center via Harold Doan and Associates UK, Jan 24 2006:

Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the Sudanese are receiving help in Gaga camp, which currently holds around 6,600 people.

There are more than 200,000 refugees from strife-torn Darfur in camps in eastern Chad and Mr. Redmond said the security situation had deteriorated in West Darfur in recent months, involving both the Janjaweed militia and "a recent rise of tensions between Chad and Sudan."

Gaga is the newest of 12 UNHCR camps in eastern Chad and many of the new arrivals say they travelled at night, riding donkeys to reach the camp, or else walked for days to find safety.

Mr. Redmond said that because of the worsening security situation in West Darfur, the Geneva-based agency had reduced the number of aid workers operating in the area and, as announced at the weekend, security concerns had also forced the UNHCR to reduce staff numbers in eastern Chad.

The weekend announcement came after unidentified armed men attacked the town of Guereda and abducted five government officials last Friday. While expressing concern for their safety, UNHCR calls for the immediate release of those detained, Mr. Redmond said today.

President of UN Security Council says a "large" UN peacekeeping force is now needed

Associated Press report Jan 24, 2006 reveals Augustine Mahiga, Tanzania's ambassador to the UN and president of the Security Council, commended the work of AU peacekeepers in Sudan, but said a "large" UN peacekeeping force is now needed:

"It will be large and resources will be required," Mahiga said. "The AU would continue to participate operationally and politically."

UNHCR chief warns Security Council of much greater calamity in Darfur and calls for UN peacekeeping force in Darfur

China's People's Daily and Xinhuanet are covering news of the warning by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres. Excerpt:

Guterres told the Security Council the situation in Darfur has deteriorated over the past six months, saying that it will require bold measures and the full involvement of the African Union and the UN to avert the catastrophe.

"If we fail, if there is no physical protection for those in need of aid, the risk is a much greater calamity than what we have seen so far," he said. "I appeal to this body today in the strongest terms".

Associated Press Jan 24, 2006 quotes Mr Guterres as saying a large UN peacekeeping force is needed in Darfur if a "total humanitarian disaster" is to be avoided in the country's Darfur region.

"I do believe the Sudan-Chad situation is the most challenging humanitarian problem we face today in the world," Guterres said at a press conference following his Council appearance.

Unknown group of armed men attacked town of Guereda in Chad

Note the report says an unknown group of armed men attacked the town of Guereda in Chad this weekend, forcing the U.N. refugee agency to reduce its staff in eastern Chad.

Guterres told the Security Council that international pressure on Sudan is essential for a peace agreement to materialize in the country and to avoid the explosion of a wider crisis.

"This is crucial. The proof that this is crucial is that the instability in Darfur is very quickly having an impact in Chad," Guterres said. "We had to relocate part of our staff. We have 200,000 refugees on the Chad border. Military confrontation in that region would be a total humanitarian disaster."

But two weeks ago, Jan Pronk, the top UN envoy in Sudan, called for a force of as many as 20,000 troops to provide security in the vast and arid region.

The AU said it accepted the Pronk's call in principle and that its ministers would make a final decision at the end of March.

Britain calls for more peacekeepers in Darfur

Prime Minister Blair has faced new questions about the Darfur crisis during his weekly appearance in parliament. Excerpts from VOA News report by Michael Drudge London 25 January 2006:

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has told parliament the international community is failing to support the people of Darfur. Mr Blair says an African peacekeeping force needs more troops and money.

"I think the international community is failing the people in Darfur, which is why it is so important that we take the measures that the development secretary, indeed the government, have been pressing for," he said. "And those measures have got to include not just the immediate humanitarian help, but also to make sure that the African Union peacekeeping force comes up to its full strength."

Mr Blair says a number of steps need to taken to bring peace to Darfur, but he defends British policy on the issue.

"The only way that the situation in Darfur is going to improve is when there are sufficient numbers of peacekeeping forces on the ground to keep the combatants apart, when the process of dialogue and peace takes place, which we have been calling for, and obviously, where the measures are in place to improve humanitarian help," he added. "So we have to do more, but we are doing more and I would just point out we as the British government have been leading in this area and will continue to do so."

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British Lib Dems slam Darfur 'failure'

Excerpt from ePolitix.com Jan 25, 2006:

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to do more to help the victims of civil war in Sudan.

Acting leader Sir Menzies Campbell said the international community had "failed the people of Darfur".

Speaking at prime minister's questions in the Commons on Wednesday, he said Britain had been right to prioritise Africa in its foreign policy.

"The prime minister rightly said that Africa is 'a scar on the conscience of the world' and made Africa the focus of the British presidency of the G8," Sir Menzies said.

"With hundreds of thousands of people dead and two million displaced, haven't we failed the people of Darfur?"

Tony Blair agreed that more needed to be done to aid refugees and assist the African Union in ensuring fresh violence does not break out.

Splintering of rebel groups? Nur's forces captured aid workers? UN helicopter crashes near Golo, West Darfur

The African Union claims the SLA attacked the government-held town of Golo earlier this week, reports Reuters today. About 60 aid workers have since been evacuated:

"A UN helicopter crashed today near Golo in the Jebel Marra area where fighting has been taking place, a UN statement said ... one UN source said the aircraft made a forced landing because of a problem with its rotor."

In news here below, UN envoy Jan Pronk is quoted by a Chinese news agency as saying, "I will not tolerate if Nur's forces captured those humanitarian workers" ... and that he could not know whether the cause of the helicopter crash was mechanical or shot by particular circles, adding the UN mission in Sudan would deliver a statement later.

Darfur rebel groups appear to be splitting in a dangerous way, making peace talks impossible. JEM rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim is quoted in a Reuters report yesterday as saying:

"Of course we will continue on peace talks. We expect the problem of Darfur to be solved next year."

Updates

Jan 25, 2006 Xinhuanet says at least four international relief workers were slightly injured and a Sudanese is missing. Apparently, the UN helicopter exploded in an emergency landing, a UN source in Khartoum told Xinhua. Earlier, Jan Pronk said the crash took place while it was attempting to evacuate 36 UN relief workers, including some Sudanese nationals, following violent fighting in the area. Excerpt:

He said that he has just learned about the crash of the chopper and could not know whether the cause of the accident was mechanical or shot by particular circles, adding the UN mission in Sudan would deliver a statement later when any information on the accident is available.

Pronk expressed his concern of what was taking place in Gebel Marra where 73 non-governmental organizations are operating, stressing the need to "evacuate the humanitarian workers this day". The UN official added that he informed Abdu-al wahid Mohammed Nur, one of the two rivals of the Sudan Liberation Movement [aka SLA], whose group controls the area, to commit to the ceasefire and to stop military operations there.

"I will not tolerate if Nur's forces captured those humanitarian workers," said Pronk.

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Further reading:

Jan 12, 2006 Sudan peace deal 'bad' for Darfur. - BBC

Jan 24, 2006 SLA rebels launch attack in Golo, West Darfur.

Jan 25, 2006 Reuters/Gulf Times Rebels raid Darfur town - US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said about six soldiers were killed in the attack, in an area controlled by an SLA leader, Abdul Wahid Mohamed el-Nur.

Aljazeera carries same report quoting Jendayi Frazer as saying, "Golo has been a focus for tension as it is now in government hands, but overlooked by hills which are a rebel stronghold. "It suggests we really need to speed up the talks - it's a very fragile situation. This is bad and ... it points towards a splintering of the rebel movements."

Jan 25, 2006 M&C News (1st Update) - A source working for the Irish humanitarian aid organization GOAL said that the helicopter crash killed one passenger and left 10 others in a critical condition. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the helicopter was carrying as many as 35 passengers.

Jan 25, 2006 RTE Ireland Sudanese aid worker killed in air crash - 25-year-old Hadja Hamid was being evacuated with other Goal workers following an escalation of violence in the Jebel Mara area of Darfur in recent days. Four others were able to escape to safety from the UN helicopter, which crashed shortly after take-off. Miss Hamid was Sudanese and had been working for Goal for the past six months on the agency's supplementary feeding programme.

Jan 26, 2006 Rebels battling for Darfur town - BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says international community has changed tack. Sudanese government used to be generally blamed for the violence but now the US has condemned the rebels for launching their twin offensives. Peace talks in Nigeria have been complicated by rows between different rebel groups and factions.

Jan 27, 2006 Washington File report - US condemns the rebel SLA's attacks on village of Golo and a police convoy in West Darfur on January 23, which killed and wounded a large number of Sudanese Armed Forces personnel.

In a written statement released January 25, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called the attacks "unwarranted and violations of the cease-fire agreement. Their perpetrators must be held accountable," he said. McCormack went on to "commend the African Union Mission in Sudan for its response in both of these incidents, particularly its assistance to humanitarian workers caught in the midst of the fighting."
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SLA Chairman Abdel-Wahid Mohammad al-Nur

Julie Flint is the author, with Alex de Waal, of "Darfur: A Short History of a Long War," (Zed books, October 2005). Note this excerpt from commentary she wrote for The Daily Star November 15, 2005:

Eighteen months ago, Minawi attempted to "re-unite" the SLA by force when he attacked the mountain stronghold of his rival, SLA Chairman Abdel-Wahid Mohammad al-Nur. He failed. His attack on Marajan appears to have been the first blow in a second attempt to unite the SLA by force. He perhaps hoped that Marajan's abduction would go unnoticed amid the attention focused on his "unity" conference at Haskanita in North Darfur - organized without the consent of the SLA chairman. The conference elected Minawi leader of the SLA - with 411 votes for and 222 abstentions, despite the fact that it was, in large part, a gathering of the faithful.

However, the conference backfired. It was opposed not only by Abdel-Wahid's Fur supporters and the Arab tribes sympathetic to him, but by many of Minawi's own Zaghawa commanders, who perceive him as favoring his own Ila Digen clan (Awlad Digayn, in Arabic) over all others. It pushed his deputy chief of staff, Bakhit Karima, into open opposition. Over the weekend, Hassan Abashir, the SLA commander in charge of heavy weapons, announced that he too has withdrawn his support from Minawi.

Sudan's SLA rebels launch attack in Golo, West Darfur

According to Reuters Jan 24 the SLA launched an offensive on Golo yesterday and the Sudanese government reacted a senior African Union official was reported as saying without giving details.

The report explains Golo is a government held town in the central Jabel Marra region of Darfur that has changed hands several times in the three-year conflict.

Note, on Dec 28, 2005 ReliefWeb published a UN news report saying a number of roads in the Jabal Marra area were declared "go" areas for UN agencies on Dec, 22 2005 and that since early 2004 UN agencies had access only to Gilgo, Golo, Turrah and Rokerro by air, limiting the amount of support the UN agencies could give to NGOs in the region.

Map of Jabal Marra, West Darfur, Sudan



Click for larger image. Map courtesy HIC Field Atlas.
For map of Sudan see http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/sudan.pdf
For placename index see Darfur, Sudan Map.
For map of oil concessions see sidebar here at Sudan Watch.

Fur clan in the Jabal Marra area

UK Parliament Select Committee on International Development DRDC report Nov 2004 explains that western parts of Darfur, including the fertile landscapes surrounding the Jabal Marra massive, are the traditional home of the sedentary African groups such as Fur, Massaleet and other non-Arab tribes, and:

"It should be noted that rebellion against the government policies in Darfur started in reality in 1992 when the late Mr Daoud Yahya Bolad, a one time leading member of the ruling party of General El Bashier, became aware of the government complicity in the campaign of destruction that targets the African tribes of Darfur. Mr Bolad quietly broke ranks with the government, forged a link with the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army and Movement (SPLA/M) and started organising members of his Fur clan in the Jabal Marra area. He was able to establish a western faction of the SPLA/M and get the support of some followers in the western parts of Darfur. Mr Bolad was speedily arrested and summarily executed by the security forces in 1992 and consequently his movement ceased to exist."

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National Movement for Reform and Development

This excerpt from Eric Reeves' analysis March 17, 2005 mentions a third Darfuri rebel group NMRD:

"Reuters recently reports (dispatches of March 14 and 16, 2005) on fighting between Khartoum's forces and the National Movement for Reform and Development (a third Darfuri rebel movement) in the Jabel Moun area of West Darfur. The Darfur Relief and Documentation Center (Geneva) has also recently reported in detail on intense fighting in the same area, and gives a much fuller sense of the impact of fighting on humanitarian operations:

"Lawlessness, banditry activities, violence and the threat of violence are rampant in the region with serious implications on the situation of food security in many affected areas especially in the Jabal Marra massive and Jabal Moun in West Darfur."

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Reminder of killing of AU soldier in West Darfur

British government Press Release Jan 9, 2006: The Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, and the Foreign Office Minister for Africa, Lord Triesman, have condemned the killing of an African Union Mission soldier in Sudan (AMIS), in an attack in West Darfur, Sudan, on 6 January by unknown assailants. Ten AMIS soldiers were also injured in the attack.