Salva Kiir to lead Sudanese delegation to donors conference in Paris

Sudan's First Vice-President, Salva Kiir, is to head the government delegation for the Second Donors Conference, scheduled in Paris on 8, 9 March, reports Sudan Tribune March 5, 2006.

Sudan's State Minister, Tilar Deng, described as important the meeting on Saturday concerning the oil revenues and he announced that the committee for the demarcation of the borders is due to meet within a period of one week to continue its tasks and to determine the locations of the oil fields.

See Feb 27 2006 Sudan to adopt new method on sharing of oil revenue.

The Economist: Chad - The danger of war spilling over

THE mayhem in Darfur, in western Sudan, where some 400,000 people may have been killed and 2m-plus displaced, is worsening. The misery is spreading west into neighbouring Chad, unhinging that country and threatening a proxy war with Sudan. What can be done?

Read the rest from The Economist print edition March 2, 2006.

Arab FMs meet to prepare for Arab summit in Khartoum

Arab foreign ministers or their reps started a two-day meeting at the Arab League HQ in Cairo on Saturday to prepare for an upcoming Arab summit slated for March 28-29 in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Full article (China Broadcast) 4 Mar 2006.

Note how low on their agenda is Darfur.

King Abdullah receives phone call from Sudanese President

EIN News 4 Mar 2006 headline says "King Abdullah receives phone call from Sudanese President" but article is accessible by subscription only. More later, if I can find it.

Note Sudan is threatening to pull out of AU. Khartoum is due to host an Arab League summit at the end of this month.

Mar 30 2000 Arabic News - King Abdullah of Jordan received Sudanese Vice President Ali Othman Muhammad Taha and members of the accompanying delegation.

Jun 5 2005 Arab League chief tours Darfur - Sudan urges Arabs to support Darfur mission - SPLMs Garang leaves Egypt for Washington

Dec 25 2005 Sudanese official nominated as Arab League envoy in Iraq

Feb 22 2006 King receives invitation from Sudanese President to Arab Summit in Khartoum

Mar 2 2006 Al-Ahram Egypt: "There were some question marks here and there about whether or not Sudan is up to hosting the summit but now the issue is not being questioned," commented one Arab diplomat.

Mar 3 2006 Opinion piece by a Sudanese residing in Canada - Uganda's Museveni is the best choice for South Sudan

Arab Women Can Power Peace

Excerpt from Arab News op-ed Arab Women Can Power Peace:

Politicians have failed to bring about peace in many parts of the world. The Arab world in particular has suffered the most. There are many reasons behind the failed diplomacy. One of them is the absence of women in negotiations for peace.

The Jeddah Economic Forum this year focused more on the global role of women and their contributions to economic change. Women delegates presented the future vision of women and emphasized the importance of engaging women as builders of society and promoters of peace.

Wake up guys, it's time there were more women at top level peace negotiations. Mother knows best.

Russian peacekeepers to arrive in Sudan by end-April 2006

As reported here a few months ago, Russian peacekeepers will go to Southern Sudan to take part in the UN-led peacekeeping operation in the country as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CAP). Sudan Tribune 3 Mar 2006 reports the Russian air force will start airlifting Russian peacekeepers to Sudan in April, Army Gen Vladimir Mikhaylov, Russian air force commander-in-chief, told Interfax-Military News Agency 3 March. Excerpt:

"The advance task force will be taken to Sudan after 20 April," Mikhaylov said.

The task force will include representatives of all services who will prepare everything for accommodation of the main force, slated to be airlifted from 11 to 30 May.

The task force to be sent to Sudan from Russia will operate four Mi-8MTV helicopters, and 120 servicemen, fully armed and equipped. Also, over 100 tons of cargo and about 20 vehicles are to be airlifted.

Il-76, An-22 and An-124 Ruslan aircraft will make about 40 flights to airlift the task force with all required equipment and weapons, Mikhaylov said.

The Russian peacekeepers in Sudan will be a self-sustained force. Therefore, they will bring along all things required, including airfield equipment, engineering equipment, water purification and storage equipment and so on.

The airmen and technicians are now undergoing a training course in the 344th Torzhok army aviation training centre. The helicopters are being adjusted to meet UN requirements, Mikhaylov said.

Cholera kills 101 in South Sudan - 5,441 infected - UN

Red Cross and Red Crescent call for aid to fight cholera in south Sudan, reports AFP Mar 3, 2006.

A cholera epidemic in south Sudan has killed 101 people among 5,441 cases in past month and the water-borne disease is spreading, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

The outbreak at the town of Yei is "under control" but continues to rage in the regional capital Juba where 100-150 new cases are reported each day, down from a peak of 400 new cases a day, according to the UN agency.

"There is still a huge epidemic in Juba. We are also concerned that cholera has spread to areas surrounding the two towns," Claire-Lise Chaignat, WHO's global cholera coordinator, told Reuters.



Feb 23 2006 Drilling for Sudan's drinking water is more important than drilling for oil - waterpumps are on the frontline of peacebuilding.

Salva Kiir, Archbishop of Canterbury discuss peace process

The first vice-president Salva Kiir yesterday met the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams in Juba and the delegation accompanying him.

The meeting was attended by the governor of Bahr al Jabal State, Clement Wani Konga, the Sudanese radio reported.

Kiir welcomed the delegation and gave a briefing on the progress of the implementation of the peace agreement, expressing his appreciation for their visit to southern Sudan and their concern for peace. Full article (ST).

Eyewitness to the war in Sudan writes account in new book

Oxford, UK (PRWEB) March 4, 2006 -- Sudan's Painful Road to Peace written by Arop Madut Arop, a renowned Sudanese journalist who has had unparalleled access to key players in Sudan's conflict (1983-2005). Available to order online at BookSurge.com, Amazon.com, Borders.com.

Give peace a chance - Sending UN into Darfur is no solution - Janjaweed will be very tough to stop by force alone

How can there be peace in Sudan if the tribal leaders are not part of the peace talks? Who disarms first, the rebels or the Janjaweed?

Eric Reeves' warmongering opinion piece and the latest news reports of Americans demanding that NATO troops be sent to Darfur I find rather worrying. I agree with Julie Flint's opinion piece in The Daily Star Lebanon, March 4, 2006, in which she says "keep it on hold while peace is given a chance".

Julie Flint op-ed - Sending UN into Darfur is no solution at all - excerpt:

"To protect the people of Darfur and get them home will require far, far more troops than anyone is currently prepared to offer or fund. Even if powerful countries put their money where their mouth is - and there is little sign of that at present - it is highly improbable that any force, whether UN, NATO, or AU, or a combination of all three, will be able to do anything but keep a peace that is agreed between the parties.

Darfur is tribal, and the tribes have to be part of the solution. The concerns of the Arab nomad tribes must be addressed, along with the longstanding mistrust of the Zaghawa - heightened since the war began by the abusive behavior of many of Minawi's forces. There are those in the American administration who have been urging a loya jirga-type meeting with the genuine representatives of the people of Darfur in the driving seat rather than the principals currently in Abuja, but they have not been heeded. Neither have those in the UN concerned that the organization's humanitarian staff and humanitarian operations may be penalized if a UN army is sent in without Khartoum's blessing. With Khartoum's blessing, of course, any UN force would be a toothless beast that would be little or no improvement on the AU.

Dialogue may not work, and unless real pressure is brought to bear on Khartoum, it will not even get off the ground. Plan for a bigger, braver mission in the event that it fails. But keep it on hold while peace is given a chance. The Janjaweed warriors, armed with a racist ideology and still backed by the Sudanese government, will be very tough to stop by force alone."

UNHCR - Chad/Sudan: Flight both ways; Central Africans moved away from border

Excerpt from a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond at the press briefing, on 3 March 2006, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva:

Population movements in both directions along the insecure Chad/Sudan border are continuing, with some 100-125 Sudanese refugees now arriving at Gaga camp in eastern Chad every day. On Tuesday, we reported that in a worrisome new development Chadians were also fleeing to Darfur because of insecurity in Chad. So now we've got refugees going in both directions in this increasingly volatile region. In eastern Chad, since January, a total of 3,600 new arrivals have been recorded at Gaga camp, with 1,500 arriving in February alone. UNHCR teams report that two-thirds of the new arrivals are from villages located on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border, around the Chadian town of Adre. The rest have travelled from camps for internally displaced people in western and southern Darfur.

March 3, 2006 UN News Centre report explains that Gaga camp, which has a capacity for 20,000 refugees, now has a population of 10,000. Some 200,000 refugees who have fled Darfur since 2003 live in 12 refugee sites in eastern Chad.



Oxfam Photo: A water distribution point in Gaga camp, Chad where Oxfam engineers built the water system.

See Oxfam Helps Set Up Gaga, a New Refugee Camp

Feb 3 2006 New Janjaweed attacks force more Darfuris into Chad camps

Sudan might pull out of AU - Sudan restructures armed forces

Sudan is a member of both the African Union and Arab League. Sudan's president recently failed in his bid to chair the African Union. Now, a Sudanese minister says his country might pull out of the African Union if the AU's Peace and Security Council approves replacement of the AU force in Darfur with a UN force, Aljazeera reports March 3, 2006. Excerpt:

Alsammani al-Wasilla, Sudan's minister of state for foreign affairs, has reiterated Khartoum's rejection of the proposal for deployment of international troops in Darfur, Aljazeera's correspondent in Khartoum said on Friday.

Powers to army

In an apparently unrelated development, the Sudanese army has introduced major changes to the structure of the armed forces, creating for the first time a joint chiefs of staff command, Aljazeera reports.

The new changes grant more powers to the Defence Ministry to assume full responsibility for strategic planning for the country's defence policy.

"The changes were inevitable in order to upgrade the combat and defence capabilities of the armed forces to protect the country's borders against external threats," Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein, the Sudanese defence minister, said.

US Senate approves proposal to send NATO troops to Sudan's Darfur

Focus News Agency March 3, 2006 says US Senate approved proposal NATO troops to be sent to Darfur AFP informs.

"President Bush must start cooperating immediately with African Union leadership and our NATO partners because we have decided to take up the task to stop the violence in Darfur. People there can't wait anymore someone to send UN forces", Senator Joseph Biden stated. The Senate's decision must be approved by George Bush before it can be executed.

Mar 3 2006 AP report
Mar 3 2006 Press Release from Sen. Biden Coalition for Darfur
Mar 3 2006 Sudan Tribune US Senate calls for NATO involvement in Darfur peacekeeping

UN, US discuss no-fly zone for Darfur - US and other powers should provide air cover for peacekeepers, Annan says

Extracts from Washington Post report by Colum Lynch March 2, 2006:

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the US that UN members should consider providing close air support in possible combat situations for several thousand AU troops in Darfur.

The UN is also requesting that governments with advanced militaries supply the African troops with sophisticated logistical and intelligence support and aircraft for ferrying troops around the province.

The Bush administration has sent four military planners to New York to help the UN plan for the transition. US officials say the military will likely airlift troops to Darfur and provide the mission with logistical and intelligence support.

One US military official involved with Africa said the Pentagon is considering ways to assist in Darfur but that the African Union would have to remain in the lead for now. "No final decisions have been made," the official said.

The official said the administration and the UN are in discussions about enforcing a UN ban on flights by the Sudanese aircraft that have been used in attacks on villages and rebels in Darfur. "What's been talked about is imposing a no-fly zone," he said.

Bolton, meanwhile, has distributed a paper to council members with elements for a Security Council resolution authorizing a new UN mission. The paper calls for the protection of civilians under threat and for the enforcement of a ban on offensive air flights by the Sudanese air force over Darfur. It would also provide authority to carry out preemptive strikes against groups that pose a threat.

Staff writer Ann Scott Tyson in Washington contributed to this report.

AU, EC meeting today underlined urgent need for Darfur peace deal - EU's African Peace Facility fund supports AMIS

African Union press release March 1, 2006 via AllAfrica March 2, 2006 - excerpt:

As regards Darfur, the meeting underlined the urgent need for a rapid and successful conclusion to the Abuja Talks. The EU called for a quick resolution on the future of AMIS, including a possible transition to the UN, as will be considered at the proposed Ministerial Meeting of the Peace and Security Council on 10 March 2006.

The meeting took note of the difficulty of sustaining funding for AMIS, including through the existing African Peace Facility resources, which will expire shortly. The EU indicated its willingness to continue its support to AMIS within the framework of the resolution referred to above.

Update: March 3 2006 AngolaPress EU wants AMIS placed under UN command

Aboul Gheit, Egyptian FM, says Darfur peace agreement must be reached before international troops are deployed

In a meeting with the British envoy to Darfur, Alan Goulty, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Wednesday Africa must keep the main responsibility of restoring peace in Darfur, reports AP March 1, 2006:

"Aboul Gheit added that those involved in the conflict must reach a peace agreement before international forces are deployed, Egypt's Foreign Ministry statement said.

Solving Darfur's problems must be based on "a political settlement accepted by all sides and backed by wide popular support within the framework of a unified Sudan," the statement quoted Aboul Gheit as saying." (ST)

John Bolton, US Ambassador to the UN, says the term Darfur "genocide" sounds right

Opinion piece March 1, 2006 by James Forsyth at The New Republic Online - reprinted at Sudan Tribune - excerpt:

John Bolton is nothing if not direct. So it was unsurprising that when Time magazine asked him recently whether genocide is "the right term for what's happening" in Darfur, he gave a blunt response: "Sounds right to me."

Also note, US Department of State report at ReliefWeb March 1, 2006: US envoy Bolton sees critical need for UN peacekeepers.

Sir Emyr Jones Parry, UK Ambassador to the UN, urges Sudan, AU to back UN force for Darfur

AFP report March 1, 2006 says Britain's UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry urged Khartoum and the African Union (AU) not to reject a plan to replace the AU force in Darfur with a robust, Western-backed UN force. Excerpt:

"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," Jones Parry said.

"The AU is certainly sending mixed signals at the moment but the previous report (in January) was unequovical that this should be handed over (to the UN)," Jones Parry told reporters here.

"The best thing the African Union and the government of Sudan can do in the next week or so is to agree the handover so that the whole resources of the UN can be mobilized to actually improve the situation in Darfur which has deteriorated recently" both in security and humanitarian terms, he added.

Gereida, South Darfur - "I know how many women and children have been killed. That is ethnic cleansing, and it should stop," UN envoy Pronk declared

An informative IRIN report on the towns of Gereida, Shaeria and Mershing in South Darfur, 2 March 2006, reveals many interesting details, ie the SLA's illegal occupation of Gereida is a constant source of provocation says the AU, and Gereida is now home to more than 90,000 displaced people. On reading IRIN's report, one can't help wondering about the oil found in South Darfur. Excerpt:

The perimeter of Gereida town in South Darfur is rapidly expanding outward, with row after row of makeshift shelters filling the plains adjacent to the town.

The general security situation around Gereida has deteriorated rapidly due to clashes between the Fallata and the Massalit, and has drawn in other communities as well. It has led to casualties and displacement of civilians in more than 20 villages surrounding the town.

The African Union (AU) announced that Gereida was home to nearly 90,000 IDPs, one of the largest concentrations in Darfur.

"It is not just the number that is a problem, it is the rate at which it has been increasing," said Lt-Col Barukinamwo Canisius, AU commander in Gereida.



Photo: Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) fighters on patrol near Gereida, South Darfur, Western Sudan (Derk Segaar/IRIN)

The Sudanese government reportedly armed Fallata and other Arab militia to fight the Massalit, who are accused of supporting the rebel SLA. The rebel movement, too, has violated the ceasefire, having moved troops into Gereida in March 2005, despite a November 2004 agreement to demilitarise the town.

"The continued illegal occupation of Gereida by the SLA is a constant source of provocation," said Baba Gana Kingibe, head of the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS).

"The SLA must abide by the decision of the Joint Commission for Gereida to be demilitarised and neutralised, and thus pave the way for AMIS to establish a presence as was done in other similarly contested towns like Labado, Marla, and Ishma," Kingibe added.

A community leader noted, however, that the Massalit had opposed the decision to demilitarise Gereida. As they had expected, the AU had not been able to provide sufficient protection, and the SLA was providing security instead, "for the time being".

"We are here to protect the citizens, on the invitation of the people of Gereida," said Col Mubarrak Hamed Ali, SLA commander of Gereida, on 25 February. "Without the SLA, Gereida would already have been turned into ashes."

The colonel pointed out that the Sudanese government had officially agreed to disarm the Arab militia, known as the Janjawid. As long as no such effort was being made - and the government continued to arm militia and incite attacks - the SLA could not be asked to stop protecting their people.

"This is not a tribal problem, it is an effort to take over Gereida," he noted.

"The area has experienced sustained Janjawid attacks since December, resulting in the killing of 300 members of the Massalit," said AU commander Canisius. "The recent attacks pose a serious threat, and an attack on Gereida town itself cannot be ruled out."

The latest Janjawid attacks had taken place only 5 km from the outskirts of town, he said.

"That is ethnic cleansing, and it should stop," Pronk declared

Jan Pronk, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Sudan, has called on the international community to strengthen its ability to protect civilians in Darfur and place greater emphasis on interethnic reconciliation.



Photo: The UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, attending a meeting at Mershing, South Darfur.

"The civilians of Gereida and the villages around it need protection from continuous attacks by the Janjawid and militias," Jan Pronk recently told a crowd of over 10,000 people in the town square.

An observer noted that there was no evidence of the militia engaging with the SLA directly. Rather, they targeted civilian locations with the apparent intention to destroy the villages of perceived rebel supporters.

"I know how many women and children have been killed. That is ethnic cleansing, and it should stop," Pronk declared.

Shaeria, South Darfur, Western Sudan



Photo: SLA, Minni Menawi, right, and the AU representative to the Sudan, Baba Gana Kingibi, left, talk at a press conference in Muhagiria, south Darfur Friday, Nov. 18, 2005. (AP/Sudan Tribune/Sudan Watch archive Feb 2006)

Tensions have also risen in Shaeria in South Darfur since SLA rebels associated with commander Minni Minnawi attacked the town on 19 September and held it for a few days. Minnawi is of Zaghawa origin, and ethnic Zaghawa are blamed for providing the SLA intelligence to launch a successful attack.

"For a lot of people it has become personal. It has become a matter of self-defence," said Mansur Hassan Omar, the recently appointed commissioner of Shaeria.

The fact that the Zaghawa population only arrived in Shaeria to escape the 1986 drought does not help. The sentiment that the "guests" are abusing the hospitality they were given fuels local resentment.

Following the re-entry of government forces on 22 September 2005 and the withdrawal of SLA rebels to positions in the immediate vicinity, the Zaghawa population faced increasing harassment, violence and intimidation. Many fled the town. A Zaghawa community leader claimed that the government had armed Messiriyah and Birgit militia and that Birgit leaders had publicly called for the displacement of "all Zaghawa from the area of Shaeria".

"You can see the women and children [who fled Shaeria] near the AU compound, but where are the men?" a town resident asked. "They are in the bush."

Although a reconciliation agreement was signed between Birgit and Zaghawa community leaders on 4 December 2005, Birgit militia soon returned to town. Harassment of the Zaghawa, as well as apparent retaliations and targeted killings of Birgit by alledged SLA sympathisers, increased significantly.

The leaders of both ethnic groups fled to Nyala, leaving a vacuum of civil authority in Shaeria. Sudanese National Security and the military are now in charge of the town, collaborating with irregular armed groups.

"We don't have any problems with the other tribes - we have problems with the militia," said the Zaghawa community leader. "Where do they get their uniforms and their Kalashnikovs?"

The militia have targeted Zaghawa neighbourhoods, harassing and occasionally killing civilians, burning houses, looting livestock and denying access to water points. Although the AU conducts bi-weekly water patrols for displaced people near its compound, it is largely ineffective in providing protection to the civilian population.

"They [the militia] come during the day, and you can see them carry the belongings of the IDPs - whole beds sometimes - from their shelters [near the AU compound] towards Shaeria town," an AU soldier said.

Tensions further escalated between 25 and 28 January after a number of joint attacks by government forces and Arab militia on encroaching SLA positions. On 14 February, SLA forces shot down a helicopter gunship during a heavy government bombardment 10 km south of town. According to government sources, the Antonov plane and two helicopters present at the scene had been called in to "pre-empt" an impending SLA attack.

As a result of the ongoing insecurity, the entire Zaghawa community as well as people from other ethnic groups have left the town, reducing its population to a fraction of its original 32,000 inhabitants. They have started arriving in locations as far away as Nyala and El Fasher, the capitals of South and North Darfur respectively, after journeys of nearly 100 km through the desert. Others are still camped near the AU compound or dispersed to the countryside or nearby towns such as Labado or Muhagiriya.

"Please make a distinction between fighters who are armed and women and children, who are not armed," Pronk recently told 1,000 inhabitants of Shaeria. "They are also citizens of Shaeria, just like you.

"We need peace between the government and the SLA, and we need tribal reconciliation," he added. "There is no need to wait for a result in Abuja [the Nigerian capital where peace talks are being held]. You can start here. At some point you have to stop the killing and reconcile."

Protection and reconciliation

An Arab community leader observed that the Darfur conflict started for political reasons but had given way to community conflicts. "It has brought us back 100 years in terms of development, and it has destroyed the social fabric of Darfur," he said.

Pronk, however, urged the local community not to lose sight of the fact that the war started for political reasons.

"Some people felt that they were being treated unfairly. Feelings of injustice led to this war, and the rebels will not stop if they don't reach part of that objective," he observed.

Militia would often use weapons given to them by the government to defend their communities against individuals, he said. This blurred the line between regular and irregular forces. Pronk noted that the counter-attacks had been very vicious and created their own problems and dynamics. As a result, almost 2 million people, or one-third of the population, now lived in IDP camps - the majority of whom were afraid of militia and the government, not the rebels who had started the war.



Photo: A displaced woman sheltering under the trees in Gereida with the belongings she was able to salvage from her destroyed village.

Warlordism on the increase - Pronk calls on Sudanese government to stop arming the militias

The UN envoy urged the SLA to stop its attacks, as they provoked counter-reactions with "bad consequences for their people". He also called on the government to stop arming the militias.

As local commanders did not necessarily take orders from their leaders anymore and "warlordism" was on the increase, the solution to certain conflicts had to be found at the local level.

"I believe more and more in reconciliation talks on the ground in Darfur and not only in Abuja," Pronk added. "You cannot replace Abuja, but now that the rebel movements are so fragmented, you could also have some regional reconciliation efforts in order to solve local conflicts."

"The UN could support and participate in such processes," he said, "but only when the process is fair and tribes can themselves decide who will represent them, and as long as all parties welcome the participation of the UN."

In the meantime, the UN would continue to support the AU and help its peacekeepers strengthen their protection activities.

"They now have 7,000 troops on the ground and wanted to expand it to 12,000," Pronk said. "I think we need more than 12,000 troops and that is a way in which the UN could help."

Even if the international community decided to take stronger action to protect the civilian population, however, it would take time before tangible changes would be seen on the ground.

Mershing

Things do not always go from bad to worse, however. Approximately 55,000 people recently returned to Mershing after having fled to nearby Menawashi - on the road between Nyala and El Fasher - at the end of January.

Tensions had risen in this area of South Darfur after armed men ambushed a convoy on 18 January and killed four Sudanese police officers. In apparent retaliation, armed militia on camels and horses - supported by Sudanese police forces - attacked and looted Kaile camp for displaced people as well as Mershing market on 22 January. A similar attack took place on 25 January. In total, an estimated six people were killed.

As a result, most people - approximately 20,000 town residents and 35,000 displaced people - left Mershing and moved to Menawashi, claiming they no longer trusted the police.

Farrah Mustafa, deputy governor of South Darfur, acknowledged that the police force in Mershing "had not done its best".

"The displaced residents said they would only go back if we would replace certain police officers, but instead we replaced the whole police force, 80 people in total," he noted. "The first week of February, the population decided to come back to Mershing."

Indeed, when Pronk visited Mershing at the end of February, he was greeted by thousands of recently returned town residents.

But here, too, the situation is far from resolved, and Arab militia around the town still pose a potential threat. Continued reconciliation efforts are needed, as illustrated by the crowds chanting "John Garang, John Garang" - invoking the name of the late southern Sudanese rebel leader - when Sudanese state authorities paid a recent visit.

Further reading:

Mar 29 2005 Darfur rebels attack villages in South Darfur - Sudanese FM blames SPLM over Darfur, oil

Sep 1 2005 SLA have withdrawn from south Darfur town, UN says

Oct 3 2005 Sudan admits using helicopter gunships in attack on Shearia South Darfur

Feb 1 2006 South Darfur: Janjaweed attack IDP camps Kele, Silo, Tege, Um Gozein, Ton Kittir - Mass exodus from Mershing - Joint Sudan/AU forces to patrol?

Feb 3 2006 AU says SLA attacks in Shearia and Golo provoked Sudanese forces and prompted reprisal attacks by Janjaweed

Feb 4 2006 South Darfur: Mershing's entire population of 55,000 fled to Menawashi after raids by Janjaweed

Feb 7 2006 Controlled anarchy at Kalma camp in South Darfur, Sudan

Feb 14 2006 SLA shot down gov't helicopter in Shearia, South Darfur

Libya's Kadhafi speaks to Wade and Museveni

March 2, 2006 LJBC News tells us Senegal's President Wade spoke on the phone with Col Kadhafi on Wednesday night and reviewed the latest developments concerning Darfur. Col Kadhafi also called President Museveni of Uganda during which he congratulated him for winning a 3rd presidential term in the general elections held in Uganda last Thursday.

United Nations and Partners: 2006 Work Plan for Sudan

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