United Nations and Partners: 2006 Work Plan for Sudan

Executive Summary and Full Report (pdf) at ReliefWeb 1 March 2006.

Increasing number of Al Qaeda terrorist agents in Sudan

Mike Pflanz points out in today's Telegraph intelligence reports warn that the number of al-Qaeda terrorist agents in Sudan is already increasing.

Sudan wants Sudanese armed forces to replace AU troops in Darfur and calls foreign journalists 'terrorists'

March 2, 2006 Reuters report from Khartoum says Sudan's defence minister expelled foreign media from a news conference on Wednesday and compared them to "terrorists", saying that they had fabricated the three-year-old conflict in Darfur. Excerpt:

"Any foreign correspondent, from any foreign agency, get out -- we don't want you in here," said Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein.

Egypt's al-Ahram newspaper, Arab Al Jazeera television and even Sudanese journalists representing foreign news agencies were forced to leave the room.

All the foreign journalists had been called and invited to the news conference. Hussein also ejected all television crews and refused to allow journalists to use recording devices.

He compared foreign journalists in Sudan to "terrorists" and said: "The international media has escalated the problem ... because they sent incorrect information."

But Hussein warned no matter what the cost, U.N. troops would not be deployed to Darfur.

"Darfur will become the graveyard for the United Nations and foreign intervention," he said.

He added the Sudanese government would provide additional support needed by the African Union force in Darfur. The AU says it has funds only up to the end of March to continue operations.

Hussein also said if the AU could not do the job in Darfur, they should remove their troops to be replaced with the Sudanese armed forces.

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Sudan summons US envoy Cameron Hume on alleged press statement

Sudan's media campaign is intensifying during the run up to outsider decisions on sanctions, UN troops in Darfur and a forthcoming visit from the ICC, due sometime soon. It looks like they are even trying to make a meal out of something that was said about Islam by the US Charge d'Affaires at a private function. See article from Khartoum March 1, 2006 published at Sudan Tribune.

European Union Backs Proposal for New Rights Council

March 1 2006 AP report by Edith M Lederer confirms the EU gave its backing Wednesday night to a proposal to create a UN Human Rights Council, a move leaving the US isolated from some of its closest allies in its opposition to the new body Excerpt:

Opposition to the proposed council, which would replace the discredited UN Human Rights Commission, put the US on a collision course with supporters including many UN member states, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, key human rights groups, a dozen Nobel peace laureates and now the European Union.

Note, the article explains Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said earlier Wednesday that adopting a text "without United States support isn't good for human rights and not particularly good for the council."



Photo: Britain's UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry, seen here in December 2005, urged Khartoum and the African Union (AU) March 1, 2006 not to reject a plan to replace the African Union force in Darfur with a robust, Western-backed UN force. (AFP/File/Stan Honda)

UK pushes for travel ban on leaders to curb Darfur killings

Diplomatic Editor Anne Penketh, UK Independent March 1, 2006 reports Britain is pushing for a UN travel ban and assets freeze to be applied to named Sudanese government, militia and rebel leaders in the next 10 to 14 days in the hope of curbing the killings in Darfur, diplomats said. Excerpt:

Although British officials refused to release the names, diplomats said they had taken pains to draw up a "balanced" list of up to eight leaders from both sides in the three-year conflict.

They denied that the names were taken from a list of 17 people already circulating in New York, which includes the Sudanese Interior Minister, the Defence Minister, the director of national intelligence and a commander of the rebel SLA.

UNHCR has reports of more CAR arrivals fleeing violence

March 1, 2006 UPI Analysis: Sudan resistant to U.N. help? by William M Reilly points out that Sudan is one-quarter the size of the United States - and UNHCR said it had reports of more Central African Republic (CAR) arrivals fleeing banditry as well as hostilities between rebel groups and government forces in the northern region of their country.

Britain's UN envoy urges UN force for Sudan's Darfur

March 2, 2006 Daily Telegraph Australia report says Britain's UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry has urged Khartoum and the African Union to accept a plan to replace the AU force in Darfur with a robust, Western-backed UN force.

"We would like to see the AU take a decision imminently to actually say we carried the burden, we carried it with dignity and that at this stage the best plan would be for the United Nations to take over that operation," Mr Jones Parry said.

UN to impose sanctions on 10 members of Sudanese government - Guardian UK

March 1, 2006 report by Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor for The Guardian says Sudan leaders face UN sanctions.

The UN intends to impose targeted sanctions on up to 10 members of Sudan's government and others involved in the Darfur crisis, after an increase in killings in recent months and access being denied to aid camps.

Photo: Sudanese security chief Salah Abdullah Gosh (SMC/ST)

Sudan Tribune article says according to above Guardian report, a security council resolution, sponsored by Britain, will recommend a travel ban, a freeze on overseas accounts and other assets, and, possibly, the issuing of warrants by the International Criminal Court, which deals with crimes against humanity. Excerpt:

The UN drew up a confidential list last year of dozens of Sudanese leaders it claims are responsible for deaths and displacement, as well as leaders of the government-backed militia and two rebel movements.

Sudan's interior minister, defence minister and the director of its national intelligence service are named in a confidential list of individuals who could be considered for sanctions by the UN Security Council over their alleged role in the conflict in Darfur.

Note the Guardian report says a British official said the resolution naming individuals in "close to double figures" would be put in the next fortnight; the names would not be revealed beforehand, for fear they would move their assets or go into hiding, but at least one was a senior member of Sudan's armed forces.

Also, in a separate development, Britain is to host talks in London next week aimed at trying to prevent a renewal of fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea over a long-running border dispute. As well as the two governments, the talks will be attended by the UN, the US and, possibly, Norway.

Egypt, Algeria, Qatar object to UN peace force for Darfur - Al Qaeda is entrenched in Sudan, UN envoy warns

New York Sun article Al Qaeda Is Entrenched In Sudan, U.N. Envoy Warns by Benny Avni, Staff Reporter, March 1, 2006 - excerpt:

[UN special envoy] Mr Pronk said Sudan sent envoys to capitals of key members of the African Union [AU] and the Security Council to plead with them to reject the transition to a UN force.

One observer familiar with the Addis negotiation, who asked for anonymity, told The New York Sun yesterday that most of the resistance there to a UN force comes from the two members of the AU's peace and security commission who are also members of the Arab League, Egypt, and Algeria. Qatar, which represents the Arabs on the Security Council, also has raised objections.

American ambassador John Bolton said that along with the Sudanese government, the AU, the Arab League, and other concerned groups, America has tried to negotiate a resolution to send a UN force to Darfur to try to "stop the genocide." Addressing Mr al-Bashir's resistance to the idea, Mr Bolton said, "One can only hope that the government of Sudan shares the objective that its own citizens should live."

A spokesman for the American UN mission, Ben Chang, added, "We will expect the Sudanese government, as well as the rebels, to accept and accommodate the UN peacekeeping force once the transition takes place."

But according to Mr Pronk, there is "a lot of talk about Al Qaeda in Khartoum," where the government is spreading conspiracy theories about foreigners trying to turn Sudan into another Iraq or Afghanistan. Sending NATO there without Security Council approval, the way the Clinton administration did in the Balkans, is a "recipe for disaster," Mr. Pronk said.

Citing multiple sources, Mr. Pronk told reporters there is "intelligence information that there are [Al Qaeda] people in Khartoum who have not been there before," and that those people have issued "threats" and "letters," warning of retaliation if the Sudanese people believe their country is invaded by the West.

Khartoum hosted Osama bin Laden in the late '90s, but the Sudanese government has played both sides by supplying America with some intelligence for the war on terror while continuing to raise the Al Qaeda specter as a warning to the West.

Mr Pronk said that unlike failed states like Somalia, Sudan's government has firm control in the country, and that even street demonstrations are orchestrated to the last detail and the crowds "know how far they can go."

Currently, he added, the climate against the UN in Khartoum "is heating up," and therefore it would be "foolish not to take such warnings [of Al Qaeda attacks against a UN force] seriously."

Photo: Libya's LJBC News says Libya's leader Col Gaddafi and Egypt's leader President Mubarak held a meeting yesterday [Tuesday afternoon Feb 28] in Libya where the two reviewed the latest developments related to Darfur. The meeting was also attended by Maj. Gen. Mustafa Mohamed al-Kharobi. They reviewed the march of the African Union and international and regional issues of common interest. President Mubarak informed about the results of his tour of a number of the Gulf states.

Messrs Gaddafi and Mubarak continued their talks on these topics during the lunch banquet hosted by the Libyan leader in honour of President Mubarak. This meeting was attended by the accompanying delegation of President Mubarak which included, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Information, Industry and Trade, Minister, Omar Sulaiman and the Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation.



Photo: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (R) and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (L) walk to the opening session of the third African Summit at Tripoli in Darfur, Sudan May 16, 2005. (Reuters/ST)

See Feb 28 2006 Egypt, Libya leaders reject UN Darfur force

UN says NATO-led force in Darfur would be 'recipe for disaster'

Feb 28, 2006 AFP report says UN special envoy Jan Pronk warned Tuesday that sending a NATO-led force to protect civilians in Darfur would be "a recipe for disaster".

In my view (for what it's worth) he is right. I think the African Union is doing an excellent job in Darfur and could do even a greater job if they were helped with NATO's expertiese and technology and given the mandate of a protection force. If Khartoum wants to avoid a UN peace force in Darfur because it fears retaliation from Janjaweed, terrorists and other enemies, surely a compromise would be for Khartoum to request AU to expand mandate of AMIS to turn them into a peacekeeping protection force that can help quell anarchy and not just act as monitors observing a broken ceasefire agreement. Excerpt from AFP report:

Pronk, the UN special representative in Sudan, also spoke of rising anti-UN feelings in Khartoum as authorities there fiercely oppose plans to replace an ineffective African Union force in Darfur by a mobile, more robust UN contingent.

Noting that while Khartoum did not oppose the use of NATO logistical capabilities to support a Darfur operation, it was dead against deploying a NATO-led force on its soil.

A NATO-led force "would be a recipe for disaster ... People would really start a Jihad (holy war) against it," Pronk said.

"The (Khartoum) government is taking a very strong position against the transition (to the UN) and that is new," he noted. "There is fear in Khartoum that the transition will be a conspiracy which will bring Sudan into the same situation as Iraq."

"The climate in Khartoum against the UN is heating up very strongly. There are threats, warnings," Pronk said. "They speak of recolonization, invasion, imperialism, (a) conspiracy against the Arab-Islamic world." (ST/AFP)

Photo: Ayman al-Zawahri - see further details at Wikipedia and Sudan Watch June 20 2005 Al-Qaeda said angry at Sudan for passing data to US

New website Sudan Vision (Newspaper) says "US military base in south Sudan. How pitiable"

Good luck to New Sudan Vision a newly established monthly newspaper, currently available only in electronic form. Sudan Vision's website states the newspaper will be available on the internet for the first few months of its publication until the Sudanese editors based in Canada can have it relocated to Sudan or printed across North America. If you want to contribute, please email New Sudan Vision.

Mading Ngor Akec Kuai is a Sudanese student in Canada, he is one of the editors of the newly launched http://www.newsudanvision.com/. He can be reached at madingngor@newsudanvision.com Read his 28 Feb 2006 opinion piece at Sudan Tribune 1 March 2006 entitled U.S. military base in south Sudan: How pitiable?

Update 5 minutes later: Sudan Vision's website looked pretty good when I browsed through it half an hour ago but as soon as this entry was published, the link to Sudan Vision led to a website that now looks like it is undergoing construction - everything I saw, including the above opinion piece, has now disappeared.

UN envoy Jan Pronk cites Al-Qaeda threats to his own life and non-African UN troops deployed to Sudan's Darfur

Feb 28 2006 Bloomberg report reveals the UN's top envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk said intelligence shows there are "persons in Khartoum who were not there before," meaning al-Qaeda terrorists who have threatened his life and would act against any UN troops, particularly non-Africans. Excerpts:

"The government of Sudan has taken a strong position against the transition," Jan Pronk, the UN's top envoy to Sudan, told reporters in New York, referring to the planned shift from an African Union force in Darfur to UN blue helmets possibly backed by NATO. Pronk said the government in Khartoum fears the type of occupation of Sudan that the U.S.-led coalition has undertaken in Iraq.

The AU has about 7,000 soldiers in Darfur, a commitment that doesn't adequately protect villagers from militia attacks, Pronk said.

"They are in an extremely difficult position," he said of the AU troops. "There are places in Darfur where militias are assembling themselves in thousands and preparing attacks that take place. Three thousand men on camels and horseback ride into villages with army cars behind them."

Pronk said preparations for a UN mission to Darfur have also been thrown into doubt by the African Union's reconsideration of the transition. It is no longer certain what the AU, which initially supported the idea, will decide at a March 10 meeting on the issue, he said.

"We are in a stalemate politically," Pronk said. "The climate in Khartoum against the UN is heating up. There are threats, warnings about al-Qaeda."

Pronk said intelligence shows there are "persons in Khartoum who were not there before," meaning al-Qaeda terrorists who have threatened his life and would act against any UN troops, particularly non-Africans. Khartoum is Sudan's capital.

The US has circulated what US Ambassador John Bolton called "elements" of a Security Council resolution defining the mandate of a UN mission to Darfur. Bolton said there was no support for action on the text before the AU meeting.

Further reading:

June 20 2005 Al-Qaeda said angry at Sudan for passing data to US

Aug 30 2005 Is Al-Qaeda Moving to Africa?

Jan 31 2006 Sudan's Hassan al-Turabi harboured bin Laden

Refugees flee from Chad into Sudan's Darfur - Chad hosts about 300,000 refugees

BBC report 28 Feb 2006 says conflict in Chad has led people to cross the border into Darfur, the UN says. This reversal of previous refugee flows is "a worrisome new development", says the UN refugee agency. There are some 200,000 Darfur refugees in Chad. Between 8,000 and 10,000 including "an undetermined number" of Chadians are seeking help after a rebel attack.

Meanwhile, a senior British official has said he expects targeted sanctions, such as travel bans, to be imposed soon on about 10 Sudanese officials, accused of human rights abuses in Darfur.

Chad hosts about 300,000 refugees

AP report Feb 28 2006 says Chad hosts about 300,000 refugees and an indeterminate number of Chadians has joined a group of at least 8,000 people gathered around the Darfur border villages of Galu and Azaza. Others are believed to have fled to relatives living in the Galu area. Most of the Chadians in Sudan are women and children. UNHCR is trying to determine which people returning to Sudan were Chadians and if they should be considered asylum seekers

Note Feb 28 2006 NYT report Geneina, Western Darfur resembles a garrison town of six armed forces and Janjaweed - Refugee crisis grows as Sudan's war crosses into Chad

Egypt, Libya leaders reject UN Darfur force

AFP report 8 Feb 2006 reveals Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi rejected the replacement of an African Union force in Darfur by UN peackeepers, the Egyptian ambassador to Libya said.



Photo: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) and Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, seen here during a September 2005 meeeting. (AFP)

Further reading

Feb 24 2006 Libya's Gaddhafi and Sudan's al-Bashir discuss Darfur crisis

Feb 26 2006 AU chair and Libyan leader Col Gaddafi follow up on Tripoli mini-summit

Feb 28 2006 Egypt's president visits Libya

Feb 28 2006 Libya's Kadhafi urges Africans to fund AU troops in Darfur

Abyei Boundaries Commission: Who bears the responsibility?

Note February 28, 2006 opinion piece at Sudan Tribune by UN Economic Affairs Officer Adam B. Elhiraika. It concludes by saying:

"Failure to reach an acceptable peaceful settlement to Abyei dispute will create a new "Kashmire" in which both Messeria and Dinka will suffer for a long time, possibly longer than the longest civil war in Africa in which the two tribes suffered the most among all other tribes in Sudan."

Further reading:

Aug 16 2005 Sudan: Abyei Boundary Commission report

Sept 26 2005 Text of the Draft of Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan

Oct 10 2005 Fighting feared in South Sudan's oil-rich Abyei region

AU Mediation regrets Slovenian initiative on Darfur

Sudan Tribune report Feb 27, 2006 says Sam Ibok, leader of AU Mediation Team appealed to the Government of Slovenia and other international partners to refrain from encouraging the Parties at the Darfur peace talks in Abuja to engage in "Forum Shopping", and stressed the need to avoid sending mixed and often confusing signals to the Sudanese Parties negotiating in Abuja.

The Slovenian initiative, outlined by Drnovsek in early February, includes a political solution similar to the one used to resolve southern Sudan conflict one years ago. The plan also includes provisions for ensuring security and special provisions that deal with the involvement of the international community in the peace process.

AU meeting on Darfur handover to UN postponed

Reuters report Feb 28 2006 says the AU meeting to make a final decision on a handover in Darfur, originally due to take place on Friday has been postponed until March 10 to give enough time for all those concerned in the Darfur crisis to attend, AU spokesman said.

Note, if the UN took over the AU Mission in Darfur it would be possible for UN peacekeepers to be given Chapter 7 mandate. Khartoum has insisted all along that the role of African Union troops in Darfur is to monitor a ceasefire, not as a protection force. The AU's security council could expand the mandate of its troops in Darfur anytime without a UN resolution. But Khartoum does not want the mandate expanded - ever. Perhaps someone like Libya's Col Gaddafi might persuade them otherwise. Who disarms first, the rebels or the Janjaweed?

The UN Security Council acted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter when it defined the Mandate for the UN Mission in Sudan to monitor the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CAP) signed between Khartoum and southern Sudan rebels in January 2005. If a Darfur peace agreement was brought under the umbrella of the CAP, one wonders if the 10,000 strong UN peacekeeping force for southern Sudan would include troops and equipment for Darfur. What a massive underaking. Sudan is the size of Europe. Darfur is the size of France. NATO has the technology to detect when raids are taking place. Surely Darfur needs to come under the CAP so that resources are pooled and shared to help quell anarchy in Darfur. Notice how the rebels in Eastern Sudan, who also feel their region, just like that of Darfur in western Sudan, has been marginalised, have been quiet of late.

Water to spark future wars: UK

Britain believes that climate change and the shrinking water resources could trigger armed conflicts in the future and wants to ready its army for such a possibility, The Independent reported on Tuesday, February 28. Full report at Islam Online Cairo February 28, 2006.

Note Feb 23 2006 Drilling for Sudan's drinking water is more important than drilling for oil - see how in Darfur handpumps are on the frontline of peacebuilding.

Libya's Kadhafi urges Africans to fund AU troops in Darfur

AngolaPress Tripoli, Libya Feb 28, 2006 reports Libyan leader, Mouammar Kadhafi has reiterated his call on Africa countries to fund the 7,000-strong African peacekeeping mission in Darfur:

"If Africa is unable to provide the funds for those troops, it could become an international issue with the intervention of international forces in Darfur, which would be tantamount to (another) colonisation of Africa," Kadhafi said Sunday at the opening of the People's General Congress of the African Youth.

He said Africans should be ware of the danger posed by the recourse to international forces whenever there was a problem in Africa.

"If we call in UN peacekeepers whenever a crisis breaks out, we are handing the continent over to (foreign) forces. Africa would then become a colony and a protectorate under international trusteeship," the Libyan leader cautioned.

He cited the Horn of Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, the Great Lakes region and southern Sudan as places where international forces had been deployed.

According to Kadhafi, Africa, which currently has 2.250 million soldiers and spends US$14 billion a year on armed forces, does not need international forces or funding to maintain its troops in Darfur.

He also urged African youths to work towards African unity and build a continental force to prevent the return of colonialism and slavery.

More than 1,500 youths representing various civil organisations from across the continent, are attending the three-day meeting.

Geneina, Western Darfur resembles a garrison town of six armed forces and Janjaweed - Refugee crisis grows as Sudan's war crosses into Chad

Photo: Chadian government troops guard rebel prisoners following an attack by Chadian rebels and army deserters on the town of Adre on the eastern border with Sudan, December 19, 2005. (Reuters).

Snippets from New York Times article Refugee Crisis Grows as Darfur War Crosses a Border by Lydia Polgreen February 28, 2006. Michael Kamber contributed reporting from Geneina the capital of Western Darfur, Sudan:

"You may have thought the terrible situation in Darfur couldn't get worse, but it has," Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch, said in a recent statement. "Sudan's policy of arming militias and letting them loose is spilling over the border, and civilians have no protection from their attacks, in Darfur or in Chad."

That Chadian rebels have found sanctuary in Sudan is beyond doubt. Geneina, the capital of Western Darfur, resembles a garrison town; armed men from at least six forces are visible on the streets, as are Arabs in street clothes carrying AK-47's. Local residents identify them as janjaweed.

In the market in the evening, Chadian Army deserters wearing their distinctive turbans sit drinking tea, submachine guns beside them. Freshly dug machine-gun pits surround the police and army stations, and aid agencies are putting sandbags around their offices.

The Chadian rebels have new weapons, uniforms and vehicles, aid officials in Geneina said, leading many to conclude that they are getting support from the Sudanese government.



Photo: Chadian soldier on the streets of the border town of Adre (Claire Soares/IRIN)

With so much firepower on the Sudanese side of the border, residents in villages like Chad's Ade, south of Adre, have borne almost daily attacks.

"There is no security here," said Hisseine Kassar Mostapha, secretary general of the local government in Ade. "We are out here completely on our own, with no one to protect us."



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

The lack of security means little assistance from international aid groups. In Kolloye, 10,000 Chadians, refugees like Ms. Mahamat, live in roofless grass shelters that give little protection from the frigid night air and no shelter from the punishing desert sun. Water is scarce and food supplies are low, villagers said. The only assistance is a mobile clinic run by Doctors Without Borders that operates three times a week.

Full article reprinted at PoTP and The Tech.



Photo: Soldiers believed to be Janjaweed. [Sudan Tribune Feb 2006]