Sudan raps UN envoy Jan Pronk

Comments from UN secretary general Kofi Annan's representative Jan Pronk and his aides had "impaired the country's sovereignty and marred its image abroad" says Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Keerti. Naughty UN ;)

See BBC report Sudan attacks UN envoy on Darfur.

HRW has evidence of Sudanese Janjaweed attacks in Chad and calls for sanctions against Janjaweed leaders Hamid Dawai and Abdullah Abu Shineibat

Reuters report by Opheera McDoom 21 Feb 2006 says Chadian farmers are being beaten, harassed and killed in raids by Sudanese militia, at times with support from Sudanese army helicopters, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report 21 Feb 2006. Excerpt:

The [HRW] report quoted dozens of interviews with some of the tens of thousands of Chadians who have fled their homes, flooding already overcrowded refugee camps along the long and porous Chad-Sudan border.

A 51-year-old Chadian farmer interviewed by Human Rights Watch said the Janjaweed were targeting non-Arab tribes.

"This is not your land. ... If you stay you will be killed, but if you run we won't kill you," he quoted the Janjaweed as saying when he fled his land.

HRW said it had evidence of Sudanese army involvement in the militia attacks and had documented at least four attacks by Sudanese armed forces on eastern Chadian villages.

"Witness accounts and physical evidence indicated that government of Sudan troops and helicopter gunships participated directly in attacks, while many people reported seeing Antonov aircraft approach from Sudan, circle overhead, then return to Sudan in advance of Janjaweed raids," the report said.

The New York-based rights group said Hamid Dawai and Abdullah Abu Shineibat, who they described as Janjaweed leaders with known links to the Sudanese government, were involved in the attacks and should be subject to a UN imposed travel ban and asset freeze.

One 50-year-old man interviewed by the rights group said he fled an attack on his village to a refugee camp in Darfur. Now he's fleeing insecurity from inside the camp.

"If they like your wife, they take her," he said of the Janjaweed in the camp. "Even the soldiers enter the camp and behave like the Janjaweed."



Image: Janjaweed - See HRW 21 Feb 2006 - Darfur Bleeds: Recent Cross-Border Violence in Chad
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Confronting War Crimes in Africa

Note this excerpt from the U.S. Hearing Before the Sub Committee on Africa of the Committee on International Relations House of Representatives June 24, 2004:

"Credible organizations have reported the following individuals of the Jingaweit bear responsibility for the atrocities that have occurred there. While we know there are others, the United States is working to determine their culpability and the culpability of others who support them. Some of the individuals are Musa Hilal, a Jingaweit coordinator; Hamid Dawai; Abdullah abu Shineibat; Omar Babbush; Omada Saef; Ahmad Dekheir; Ahmed Abu Kamasha. These people need to be investigated and brought to justice."

List of top wanted Janjaweed leaders - Who's who on Darfur (African Confidential)

Via Sudan Online Discussion Board 4/3/2005 - copy in full for future reference.

Quote: Who's who on Darfur (African Confidential)

The United Nations International Commission of Inquiry's report into the atrocities in Darfur names 51 individuals it recommends for prosecution at the International Criminal Court. The file has been sealed, to be opened only by a 'competent prosecutor'.

The names of many people involved in Darfur policy have been published by governments, the United States Congress, human rights organisations and the media since the genocide/ethnic cleansing got under way in earnest in early 2003.

A 2004 Congressional report lists Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha as at first in 'charge of the offensive in Darfur' and later 'the key player behind the scenes', according to 'US and regional officials'. Other policy-making officials listed here and elsewhere include:

Lieutenant General Nafi'e Ali Nafi'e, seen as second-in-command on Darfur: Federal Government Minister, ex-External Intelligence boss;
Major Gen. Salah Abdullah 'Gosh', as third-in-command on Darfur: intelligence chief;
Maj. Gen. (Air Force) Abdullah Ali Safi el Din el Nur: State (junior) Minister for Cabinet Affairs and ex-North Darfur Governor; described in Congress members' June 2004 letter to President George W. Bush as 'General Coordinator of Janjaweed';
Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Haroun: Minister, Internal Affairs, former People's Police Force chief;
Ali Ahmed Kurti, Minister, ex-head People's Defence Force militias;
El Tayeb Ibrahim Mohamed Kheir (El Tayeb 'Sikha': Iron Bar): Presidential Security Advisor, ex-Darfur Governor;
Gen. Mutref Sideeg: Foreign Affairs Under Secretary; The published part of the US State Department's List of Janjaweed commanders comprises:
Musa Hilal Musa: Janjaweed coordinator and Buffalo Brigade (Liwa el Jamous) commander;
Brigadier Hamid Dawai: Terbeba-Arara-Beida area leader;
Abdullah Mustafa Abu Shineibat: Habila and Foro Burunga area;
Omada Saef: Misterei area;
Omar Babbush: Habila and Foro Burunga area;
Ahmed Dekheir: Mornei area;
Ahmed Abu Kamasha: Kailek area;The US Congress members' letter names as 'supervising and controlling Janjaweed activities and operations' several of the above, plus:
Abdel Hamid Musa Kasha: Commerce Minister;
Gen. Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein: Internal Affairs and Police Minister;
Maj. Gen. Adam Hamid Musa: South Darfur Governor;
Brig. Mohamed Ahmed Ali: Director, Riot Police, which attacked Darfur displaced people in Khartoum in March 2004;
Mohamed Yussef Abdullah, State Minister, Humanitarian Affairs; The Congress letter names a 'Coordination and Command Council of Janjaweed':
Lt. Col. (Abdel Rahim Ahmed Mohamed) 'Shukratallah': El Geneina;
Ahmed Mohamed Haroun: see above;
Osman Yussef Kebir: Governor, N. Darfur;
El Tahir Hassan Abboud: National Congress Party (ruling NIF faction);
Mohamed Salih el Sanusi Baraka: National Assembly member;
Mohamed Yusef el Tileit: State Minister, Western Darfur;
Maj. Gen. Hussein Abdullah Jibril: National Assembly;As field commanders, along with Musa Hilal and Hamid Dawai, theCongress members list:
Brig. Abdel Wahid (Said Ali Said): Kebkabiya area;
Brig. Mohamed Ibrahim Ginesto;
Maj. Hussein Tangos;
Maj. Omer Baabas;Also potentially of interest in their military/political roles are:
Gen. Abdel Karim Abdullah: intelligence chief;
Gen. Awad Ibn Auf: Military Intelligence chief;

Gen. Bakri Hassan Salih: Defence Minister;

Lt. Gen. Omer Hassan Ahmed el Beshir: President

http://www.sudaneseonline.com/cgi-bin/sdb/2bb.cgi

Libya's Gaddhafi and Senegal's Wade discuss African solution to Darfur crisis - United States of Africa?

Angola Press report via Andnetwork .com 21 February 2006:

Libyan leader, Col. Moammar Kadhafi and Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade on Monday held a telephone conversation appreciating the efforts made at the African level to end the conflict in Sudan's western province of Darfur.

They also discussed the African Union's development process and consolidation towards the creation of the United States of Africa, official Libyan sources said here.

The sources said the conversation comprises part of the coordination and permanent consultations between the two African leaders. Source : Angola press"

See Feb 18 2006 Tony Blair hails Gaddafi's efforts for Darfur.

Bolton chides Annan on UN planning for Darfur force

On 20 Feb 2006 US Ambassador John Bolton said that Secretary-General Kofi Annan should be pushing UN officials harder in planning a force in Darfur rather than just lobbying the US for contributions.

"It would be helpful, I think, if the secretary-general, in addition to prodding the US, could also be out there talking to the African Union and the Arab League, and in fact, even talking to his own peacekeepers about the importance of moving ahead here," Bolton told reporters.

When told of Bolton's remarks, Annan said, "I'm not going to answer that." But his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN "planning process was moving full speed ahead."

Full report (Reuters) by Evelyn Leopold 21 Feb 2006.

Also, see Feb 21 2006 Washington Post report by Sue Pleming: US tells UN to hurry up with Darfur planning

S Sudan's Salva Kiir says Sudanese army supports Ugandan LRA terrorists

African News Dimension Feb 21, 2006 reprint by Andnetwork .com:

Sudanese first-vice-president and president of southern Sudan government Lt. Gen Salva Kiir Mayardit said, for the first time, he believes that Sudanese army support Ugandan rebel Lord's resistance Army.

In an interview with the BBC Arabic service, Kiir reiterated an accusation already advanced by many southern responsible. He further said that Ugandan rebels receive support in the suburb of the Southern Sudan capital Juba.

Last December, the responsible of the SPLM intelligence service, Edward Lino, had accused in an interview with the Sudanese al-Sahafa the Sudanese army of supporting the Ugandan rebel LRA.

But, Kiir added he has no prove on the implication of the Sudanese army.

Sudanese Defence Minister Lt-Gen Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein denied last year receiving any official complaint from the SPLM regarding the involvement of elements of the Sudanese army in supporting the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army militias.

Sudan's Salva Kiir, had said Saturday on 4 October 2005 that he would hand Kony over to the International Criminal Court. But Kiir said he did not know Kony's whereabouts. The Sudanese government had provided bases for the LRA south of Juba, but after it began to withdraw its support the LRA began raiding and looting Sudanese villages for food, and killing Sudanese civilians.

On 13 October 2005, the ICC unsealed arrest warrants it issued three months earlier for five LRA commanders, including the leader, Joseph Kony.

While Sudan and the International Criminal Court (ICC) differ over Darfur, Khartoum is cooperating in the case of Joseph Kony, one of five top Lord's Resistance Army members named in a sealed indictment compiled by prosecutors of the permanent war crimes court. Warrants for their arrests have been distributed to Uganda, Congo and Sudan.

Sudan once backed the LRA, even as Uganda supported the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Army in its civil war with the Sudanese government. But Sudan and Uganda normalized relations in 2001, Sudan's southern civil war ended in January and the SPLM joined a national unity government. Ugandan troops have since been allowed to operate in some parts of southern Sudan against the LRA.

Human rights groups say the Lord's Resistance Army has over the years abducted more than 30,000 children, forcing them to become fighters, porters or concubines. The rebels have killed thousands of civilians and forced more than a million to flee their homes, but appears to have no clear political agenda and little contact with the outside world.

Source : Sudan Tribune

Two Chadian army generals desert, join rebels

Two top Chadian army generals have deserted and joined insurgents sworn to ousting President Idriss Deby, rebels along the Sudan-Chad border said on Monday.

"General Sedi Aguid and General Ishaq al-Diar are in one of our camps on the border," said Mahamat Nour, the leader of an alliance of nine Chadian guerrilla groups, the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC).

"It's important to have them with us and important that the international community ... sees that this now confirms that Deby is finished, he has no men with him and they should warn him he should talk with us," Nour told Reuters by telephone from the border. Full report (Reuters) 20 Feb 2006.

Note, Feb 12 2006 Exclusive interview: Mahamat Nour the Chad rebel leader demands change, by force if needed.

Chad: Are Deby's days numbered?

IRIN report 10 Feb 2006 - excerpts:

The UN and other aid agencies in Guereda and Iriba pulled about a fifth of their humanitarian staff out of the two towns following the January abduction of government officials. They have yet to return.

Farther south around Adre, humanitarian agents' movement is restricted.

Convoys are required to travel certain routes and border areas are out of bounds for UNHCR officials, making it difficult for the agency to see if there are people needing assistance along the frontier.



Photo: Chadian soldiers patrol dirt roads near the Sudan border (Claire Soares/IRIN)

Medical groups like MSF-France are hunkered down in Adre hospital, having had to suspend their mobile clinic that travelled south along the border, treating people in hard-to-reach villages.

Another logistical headache brought on by a deterioration in security is in the far north, where two camps - Am Nabak and Oure Cassoni - are less than 50 kilometres from the frontier with Sudan, the minimum distance recommended for security reasons.

"We anticipate having to move those that are close to the border and which therefore may become more of a target," said Kingsley Amaning, the UN Resident Representative in Chad. "Rains come in July and we believe we have to do it before then."

This means finding a new shelter for some 46,000 refugees and the UN is talking to the Chadian government about building a new camp north of the town of Biltine.



Photo: A Chadian soldier on the streets of the border town of Adre (Courtesy IRIN) Adre is one of the few places where there is a tangible sense of how Deby perceives the threat to his reign. Eighteen months ago it was a sleepy, dusty outpost; now it is definitely a military town.

Armed soldiers idle by water points, pick-up trucks with roof-mounted machine guns pick their way among the donkeys and horse-drawn carts, and military patrols can be seen meandering down every other street.



Photo: A Sudanese boy in Chad refugee camp shows off his homemade kite. (IRIN)

Some diplomats saw Chad's hosting of a press conference late last year where the two main Darfur rebel groups pledged a united front as a warning shot fired by Deby with two audiences in mind.

Firstly to his own clan, as proof that he is sticking up for his Zaghawa kinsmen on the other side of the border who are allegedly being massacred by Arab militias. And secondly to Sudan and the wider international community that he can pollute the Darfur peace talks if he wants to.

"With mutual accusations and the increased concentration of troops on both sides of the border, the potential for an open confrontation between the two countries cannot be minimised," UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in his latest report on Darfur.

Holocaust denier Irving is jailed

Quite rightly, British historian David Irving has been found guilty in Vienna of denying the Holocaust of European Jewry and sentenced to three years in prison. He had pleaded guilty to the charge, based on a speech and interview he gave in Austria in 1989. Full story (BBC) 20 Feb 2006.

Note, the fear that deniers could gain the upper hand led an SS camp guard, Oskar Groening, to break a lifetime of silence earlier this year in a BBC documentary, Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution.

"I saw the gas chambers. I saw the crematoria. I saw the open fires. I was on the ramp when the selections [for the gas chambers] took place," said Mr Groening, now in his 80s. "I would like you to believe these atrocities happened - because I was there."

UK's Cardinal O'Brien with SCIAF in the Sudan sees hope amid horror of African nightmare

'THE men had their ears cut off - cut right into the skull. One said he had been stripped and beaten. Another had also had his lips cut off, you could see the scars. He told me stories of other people who had had their lips padlocked. Man's inhumanity to man is quite startling."

Cardinal Keith O'Brien's frank and graphic response when asked what hit him hardest during a recent visit to Sudan brings home the horrific abuses suffered by thousands of people in the war-ravaged African country.

But the Cardinal believes there is hope, with projects run by Sciaf and other charities providing crucial help to people whose lives remain devastated by the war.

He says: "I saw women getting their hair done and their feet painted by hairdressers who are also trained psychologists.

"It is only when they get a woman's confidence when they are washing her hair that they can get her to communicate and reveal something of what has happened to her. These women have suffered multiple rapes, but under Sudanese law marital infidelity is a crime. Women also need four witnesses in any allegation of rape, and eight if the witnesses are women too."

Full report by Julia Horton (Scotsman) 20 Feb 2006.

Gloria White-Hammond calls for aid to Darfur women

"The black community needs to assert itself politically and demand increased humanitarian aid for genocide victims in Darfur," the Rev Dr Gloria White-Hammond, a Boston pediatrician active in Sudan and chair of the Million Voices for Darfur campaign, said yesterday. Wholeheartedly, I agree with her, and when she says:

"I believe the tipping point will come from people of African descent. I want it to be said that we did for the African people today what was not done for us 400 years ago.

Wish I could find a woman of Arabian descent saying the same thing on behalf of Arabian folk, especially women and children.

Note, Sudan means "land of the blacks" in Arabic, and for centuries black Africans were abducted in Sudan as part of the Arabian slave trade. Read more about slavery in Sudan and find out how you can help...



Photo: Rev Dr Gloria White-Hammond (Courtesy massbible.org)

My Sister's Keeper is a human rights initiative in Sudan founded by Gloria White- Hammond and Liz Walker.

Further reading:

Jul 4 2004 Jim Moore's Journal The Failure to Respond (Harvard panel and discussion)

Dec 26 2004 Jim Moore's Intention, Darfur, Sudan - If we look long-term at what we would hope for Sudan, it is that information, dialogue, constructive relationships would thrive among its citizens and those of the rest of the world.

Jun 30 2005 PoTP Speaker paints vivid picture of Sudan horror

PeaceWomen contacts Sudan.

Kiva: Loans that change lives - Sudan becomes attractive for Arab investments

Kiva website states it provides a new, sponsor a business option for individuals to connect with small enterprises in developing countries through flexible loans and invites readers to become a lender to a small business in Africa and be reimbursed for the loan.

Sounds like a good initiative. Not sure how it all works. According to the website, Kiva is experiencing a huge outpouring of support and cannot list businesses fast enough. Excerpt:

"Latest journal from Peace Poultry Tororo, Uganda , January 3, 2006: This business has received loan money worth $300. The money has already been put in business to increase the stock."

Source: Trey's blog.
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Sudan becomes attractive for Arab investments

A Sudanese official has said holding meetings of the Arab Union for Engineering Industries for the first time in Sudan is an indication that Sudan has become an attractive area for Arab investments.

The official affirmed desire of the union for increasing of trade exchange between Sudan and the Arab states - and urged activation of Arab free trade agreement and COMESA agreement.

Full article (SUNA/ST) Feb 19, 2006.

US troops accounted for in crash off Djibouti - US long-term Africa intelligence base

AP report 19 Feb says 10 US troops who were reported missing after two Marine Corps transport helicopters crashed into the sea have been accounted for but it did not specify whether they had survived.

Update Feb 19 BBC: Ten killed in US Djibouti crash

US long-term Africa intelligence base

Djibouti hosts the only United States military base in sub-Saharan Africa and is a front-line state in the global war on terrorism. See report at afrol.com January 2004.

Tactical use of genocide in Sudan and the Five Lakes region

Opinion piece by John Bart Gerald Feb 17, 2006 GlobalResearch, excerpt:

"When food production is disrupted by war there are few defences to natural disaster. Interrelated wars of varying intensity continue in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Chad, Uganda, Rwanda, Congo. Much of East Africa is starving.

Amidst the terrible suffering we find the United States and its principle humanitarian organizations insisting that the Government of Sudan is committing genocide. This was officially decided in 2002 with the Sudan Peace Act 1, and the position is dutifully echoed by U.S. officials, many government funded NGO's, and the US news media."

Bush signals expanded NATO role in Sudan - NYT

After President Bush spoke on Friday, a senior State Department official said the US proposal continued to be "to strengthen the AU" until UN forces arrive late this year.

While Mr. Bush spoke of "a NATO stewardship," the American officials cautioned that NATO would command only logistical operations, not the AU troops.

They reiterated that Washington would send no American troops. In Congressional testimony this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "We are prepared to talk with our NATO counterparts about what more we can do to support" the AU forces "until we can get the UN forces" into Darfur.

A Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Joe Carpenter, said in Washington that no decisions had been made on NATO's role, but "NATO could potentially be a significant leader" in UN peacekeeping. Full report (NYT) via Sudan Tribune 19 February 2006.

Sudan sets up body for disarmament, demobilization

President Omer al-Bashir Saturday issued a republican decree forming the National Council for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Coordination (NCDDRC) to be chaired by Minister of Presidency Maj. Gen. Bakri Hassan Salih. Full report (SUNA) via Sudan Tribune 19 Feb 2006.
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Salva Kiir says partnership with NCP growing every day

According to the Sudanese Media Center (SMC) news service Lt Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit confirmed SPLM will not delay in appointing its reps to joint committees and commissions so that the peace agreement is fully implemented.

Salva Kiir hailed President Omar al-Bashir's visit to Juba and Rumbek last Tuesday 14 February. He added that the detailed explanation offered by the president on the issue of oil revenues had satisfied the regional government.



Photo: First Vice President Salav Kiir (left), Lake State governor John Lat (right) and President Omar al-Beshir in the center in Rumbek on 14 Feb 2006 (Manyang Mayom) Full report via ST.

Note, Kiir observed that southerners had waited for the visit for long as it kept on being postponed due to sudden changes to the president's programme. He added that southerners expressed their happiness with the visit by turning in large numbers to attend the rallies in Juba and Rumbek.

Sudan opposes International Criminal Court

The Sudanese government opposes the International Criminal Court, insisting it can prosecute any war criminals in its own courts. The ICC investigation is the first to be carried out against the will of the country where the alleged crimes occurred.

The ICC, which is based in the Netherlands, has a list of 51 suspects - including Sudanese government officials, pro-government militiamen and rebels - that was compiled by a UN panel which reported on the Darfur conflict last year.

Among the 51 names listed are "military and civilians about whom there is much convincing evidence", said Antonio Cassese, an Italian law professor, who led the United Nations commission of inquiry on Darfur crimes.

That evidence includes accounts from senior military officers that the Sudanese government "openly uses militia gangs, gives them weapons and salaries and tells them to kill and burn and it backs them up with planes and helicopters," Mr. Cassese said. "There is no restraint. More than 2,000 villages have been burnt. The scale of looting, raping and torture is horrible." Full report (Sudan Tribune) 19 February 2006.

Sudan rejects US claim of ongoing Darfur genocide

"She (Rice) is biased because any authentic parties who are concerned with what's going on in Darfur have confirmed that this is not genocide," said Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jamal Ibrahim.

"This is a systematic policy of the U.S. administration ... of pressuring the Khartoum government," Ibrahim said, saying the US was responding to internal pressures from Congress and the African American lobby. Reuters via Sudan Tribune 18 Feb 2006.

Tony Blair hails Gaddafi's efforts for Darfur

AngolaPress says British Prime Minister, Tony Blair in a phone conversation with Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Gaddafi, has acknowledged the tireless efforts exerted by Col Gaddafi, toward finding a lasting peaceful solution to the crisis in Darfur.

Quite right too. Many Sudanese people appear to like, respect and listen to Colonel Gaddafi. Pity he's not mediating the Darfur peace talks, he speaks their language - in more ways than one.



Photo: Sudan's vice president Salva Kiir Mayardit (L) chats with Libyan president Mohammed Gaddafi during the official opening of the Sixth Ordinary Session of Assembly of the African Union capital Khartoum, January 23, 2006. Five African leaders asked Sudan to withdraw its bid to head the African Union because the appointment could sink Darfur peace talks and dent the group's credibility, an AU official and delegates said. Sudan, which is under fire for rights abuses, wanted to succeed Nigeria at the two-day summit in Khartoum. (Reuters/Antony Njuguna) Note, some news reports speculate Sudan has been promised the AU chair for next year.

Feb 8, 2006 UN says Eritrea, Libya, Chad supply arms to Sudan's Darfur rebels and SPLM/A provided training and arms to SLM/A

Photo: 8 Feb 2006 Chad and Sudan in Tripoli pact to end tension - The leaders of Chad and Sudan agreed on Wednesday to end to a crisis between their two countries, which have accused each other of backing insurgents, a Libyan official said. The Tripoli Agreement between Presidents Idriss Deby of Chad and Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan was reached at the end of mini-summit hosted by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.



Feb 6, 2006 Libya to host mini-sumit on Sudan-Chad crisis

Jan 24, 2006 Chad welcomes Libyan initiative over row with Sudan - The Chadian Foreign Minister, Ahmat Allam-Mi , has declared his country's welcome of the Libyan mediation to settle the Sudan-Chad tension, according to the Sudan News Agency.

Jan 19, 2006 Libya proposes to deploy AU soldiers on Chad-Sudan border

Nov 20, 2005 CIA met Gaddafi - Sudan rounded up extremist suspects for questioning by CIA



Sep 29, 2005 Chadian president in Libya to meet Gaddafi - Photo: Chadian President Deby arrived in Libya Thursday afternoon, Sept 29, 2005 at Sirte international airport where he was received by Major-General Alghwaldi Alhmeadi. (LJB)



Photo: Sep 27, 2005 Mini Mubarak and Gadhafi summit in Cairo - A video grab from the El-Masriyya satellite channel shows Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (L) shaking hands with Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi in Cairo. The two leaders held talks on how to prevent the failure of peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Darfur. (AFP/El-Masriyya/Yahoo)

May 11, 2005 Libya opens route for UN aid to Darfur - UN's WFP began airlifting food aid from a new route directly from Libya to reach Darfur. Last November, a collaboration between the US and the Libyan governments allowed the transition of WFP food aid through Libya to reach Darfur refugees displaced by the fighting to camps in Chad. The new air route will boost the overland transport route - opened last April - of food aid through Chad. This opening of the ancient caravan route through Chad has so far allowed the delivery of 400 metric tonnes of food aid. WFP is expecting to deliver some 50,000 metric tonnes of food aid through air, land and rail transport



April 13, 2005 Photo: Libyan leader Mouammar Kadhafi and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo during Darfur summit in Tripoli last year. (AP)

April 3, 2005 Libyan leader Gadhafi receives John Garang's delegation



Photo: Sudan asked Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi to "intervene personally" in the escalating crisis in Darfur, Libya's official JANA news agency reported in August 2004.

Oct 19, 2004 Summit in Tripoli closed with emphasis on getting aid to the refugees - Sudan hints at Darfur power share - JEM says Libya can play a very vital role.



Photo: See Nov 11, 2004 report Britain drafts UN resolution on Sudan peace accord. Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir shakes hands with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the presidential palace in Khartoum in Sudan, Oct 6, 2004.( AFP).

Sudanese President al-Bashir directs the evacuation of LRA from South Sudan within one month

According to news from Sudan Vision, Sudanese President Al-Bashir has directed the evacuation of the Lord's Resistance Army from South Sudan within one month in order for the south to live in peace. Via Andnetwork.com:

Al-Bashir, who on Thursday [Feb 16, 2006] paid a visit to Juba and Rumbek towns, announced the government readiness to use the strategic stock in filling the food gap in South Sudan, directing the Armed Forces and SPLA to supply Rumbek and Juba with dura.

Upon his arrival in Juba, the President was received by the First Vice- President and President of South Sudan Government, Lt-Gen. Salva Kiir, members of South Sudan and Central Equatoria State Governments and Southern Sudan Parliamentarians.

Photo: President al-Bashir reviews the Honor Guard during the arrival ceremony at Rumbek Airport, on his left First Vice President Salva Kiir Feb 14, 2006 (Manyang Mayom) via Sudan Tribune.

According to above SV report, at the rally held in Juba Salva Kiir introduced President Al-Bashir to the rally as the "maker of peace". Also, among other issues including seccession and oil revenues, the President highlighted the food security in the South, calling for: the provision of agricultural inputs and opening of roads for flow of movement and normalization of life, a university in Rumbek, converting Rumbek hospital into a specialized one, in addition to rehabilitation of Shambe post and opening of a vocational training centre.

Further reading:

Feb 18, 2006 Acholi king, S. Sudan Marchar discuss LRA's eradication - Acholi king David Onek Achana has held consultations with southern Sudan vice President Riek Machar to find a resolution to the ongoing LRA crisis.