Darfur rebels derail peace talks - Sudan's VP to attend

Opheera McDoom (Reuters) 6 March 2006 says the SLA rebel split is likely to stall African Union-sponsored peace talks, just as other rebel divisions have helped derail six previous rounds of talks. Infighting has destabilised security in Darfur, where rape, killing and looting has forced 2 million people from their homes to miserable camps:

The head of the African Union mission in Sudan, Baba Gana Kingibe, said the group was powerful and had put the brakes on the AU-mediated talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha is to travel to the talks to raise the stakes and expedite a deal, state-owned press reported on Sunday. Note, Mr Taha is due in Brussels tomorrow to discuss Darfur.

New split looms against Darfur rebels' SLM leader Nur

Here we go again. Whenever the Darfur peace talks reach a critical stage, trouble starts brewing in northeastern Sudan and the Sudanese rebels create a split. Darfur's rag bag army of rebels seem too hot headed and uneducated to be capable of discipline and responsibility. Give them an inch and they take a mile. No wonder they have been ruled by the stick for so long. They need someone with vision like John Garang to lead them by the nose and hold things together. The only joiner I can think of, who speaks their language in more ways than one, is Libyan leader Col Gaddafi.

Meanwhile in Darfur, anarchy reins, defenceless Sudanese women and children continue to suffer, and time ticks on while the dirt poor children grow up during war without receiving an education.

Mar 5, 2006 Sudan Tribune article says in a move justified by their opposition to the conclusion of a deal between their leader Abelwahid Mohmaed al-Nur and the Sudanese government, a 19 member group from the leadership of rebel group SLM decided to freeze the powers of Nur as chairman of the SLM. Excerpt:

"For his part, Abdelwahid said the 19 group is not qualified to take such decision, he also reiterated his decision to end the coordination with the other rebel groups which have been negotiating as a unified Front.

This is the second division within the SLM. After a conference convened in Haskanita, a rebel-held town in North Darfur state, the SLM is divided to two factions, Minawi faction and Abdelwahid faction.

These divisions will complicate the task of the AU Mediation team in Abuja. Also, it will conduct international community to make more pressures on the rebel group during the talks."

Sudanese Vice President Ali Taha to visit Brussels

March 5, 2006 Bahrain News Agency reports Sudan's Vice President, Ali Othamn Mohammed Taha will visit Brussels next Tuesday for talks on Darfur with senior EU officials.

Sudan orders two US aid agencies to withdraw from Beja area, northeastern Sudan near Eritrea border

March 5, 2006 Associated Press says the Sudanese government has ordered the only two international charity groups to withdraw from the Beja area. No reason given.

Update 8 Mar 2006 (Reuters) Aid agency denies reports it was expelled from Sudan.



Photo: Beja people collect water in the rebel-controlled area of eastern Sudan, near the border with Eritrea June 4, 2005. (Reuters). The Beja Congress is an exiled group representing numerous eastern Sudan tribes. Last year, an alliance signed an accord with the Sudanese government to end its 16-year low-intensity conflict and support a separate peace deal that ended the 21-year southern civil war. The Beja group, however, rejected the accord, saying it failed to meet its demands for a share of wealth and power in the northeastern region.

Eritrea-Ethiopia border dispute

March 5, 2006 Strategy Page Someone Is Eventually Going to Lose says: "No good news here. Ethiopia is still mired in ethnic and political disputes that cannot be settled peacefully. Neighboring Eritrea has become a police state, and is demanding that Ethiopia back off in a border dispute. Neither nation can afford another round of warfare over the disputed border town of Badme. But the governments in both countries have pledged their political futures to getting Badme. Someone is eventually going to lose."

Further reading:

Mar 1 2006 Britain to host talks in London re Ethiopia and Eritrea border dispute

Mar 1 2006 Lift ban on helicopter flights, Annan tells Eritrea

Mar 3 2006 Feb 2006 UN report says Eritrea, Libya, Chad supply arms to Darfur rebels

The 21st century's most explosive commodity will be . . . WATER

There's plenty of it to meet the world's needs but too much of our supply is in the wrong places says a report at thebusinessonline.com by Allister Heath 5 March 2006, copied in full at Ethiopia Watch, for future reference: The 21st century's most explosive commodity will be . . . WATER

Note Feb 28 2006 Water to spark future wars: UK.

Jan 12 2006 Sudan's Chinese backed Merowe Dam is for the greater benefit of Sudan



Photo: South Sudanese drinks - via Sudan Watch Feb 23 2006 Drilling for Sudan's drinking water is more important than drilling for oil - handpumps are on the frontline of peacebuilding.

Gaddafi receives Darfur rebels' JEM president Khalil Ibrahim

LJBCNews 5 Mar 2006 reports Col Gaddafi received Saturday evening the Head of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Darfur, Dr Khalil Ibrahim. Excerpt:

Dr Khalil Ibrahim informed the Leader of the latest developments in the region and the reconciliation process among different parties.

The Head of Justice and Equality Movement renewed his deep appreciation of the tireless and constant efforts made by the Leader with all sides to solve the problem in Darfur region and to consolidate peace and security there, underlining the dire need to continue these efforts made by the Leader who enjoys the trust and appreciation of all parties in the region and in Sudan in general.

Photo: Khalil Ibrahim, President JEM rebel group - via Sudan Watch archive Jan 20 2006 Darfur rebel SLM-JEM announce new alliance

AU, UN envoys discuss progress of Darfur peace talks and convening of the Joint Commission

Sudan Tribune reports on Mar 4, 2006 the AU Special Envoy for Darfur and Chief Mediator Salim Ahmed Salim, discussed the progress of the Darfur peace talks with UN Special Envoy Jan Pronk, currently on a visit to Abuja:

The two sides agreed on the urgency of convening a meeting of the Joint Commission, which had not met since October 2005, to enable the Sudanese Parties to examine the gravely deteriorating security situation and assume full responsibility for the repeated ceasefire violations.

Salim, expressed the determination of the AU Mediation to ensure that the present Round of Talks comes to a conclusion as soon as possible within the next few weeks.

Darfur rebel group JEM looking for trouble (again)

While the Darfur peace talks continue, JEM, one of the two main rebel groups in Darfur issue a Press Release 5 March 2006. Signed by Ahmed Husain Adam, it claims five waves of army/janjaweed battalions are now on the move, JEM are closely monitoring these military moves and will strike back at the appropriate time.

All-inclusive Darfur Conference - UN force in Darfur only upon AU request - Pronk

At long last, there is news today of an all-inclusive Darfur conference. I seem to recall that a few years ago, militia leaders were invited to peace talks but they did not turn up. Seems they were afraid of being attacked or arrested.

Surely this time might be different, especially after two years of Col Gaddafi's effort behind the scenes to broker peace for Darfur. He seems gifted at drawing people together and speaks their language, in more ways than one.

Today, a British reader posted a comment at Sudan Watch rightly noting:

"Libya has seen attempts by the Arab League and the AU to solve the crisis in Darfur fail in the past. Multi-party conferences took place in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, for example, the summit participants included the Egyptian President, the Libyan leader, the Nigerian President (also the AU chairman), the Sudanese President, the Eritrean President, and the Chadian President. Also attending was the Arab League Secretary General and representatives from a number of regional organizations. However two main Darfur rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, chose to stay away.

"Leaders from Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Nigeria and Chad voiced opposition to foreign interference in Darfur, stressing the issue should be solved within the AU framework."

But what is different this time is, the warring parties are under pressure from the UN and facing sanctions, travel bans, ICC inquiries and donor funding for development. Who knows, as an incentive to agree a ceasefire with the next few weeks they may even be offered ICC immunity and the role of UN troops in Darfur may be along the lines of the UN peacekeeping force agreed for South Sudan as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed January 2005.

Sudan Tribune article Mar 4, 2006 quotes UN envoy Jan Pronk as saying UN force in Darfur will only be upon AU request. Excerpt:

In a press statement after his meeting with the head of the government delegation in Abuja, Majdhub al-Khalifah, Pronk said talks on whether to hand over the AU's mission in Darfur to the UN should be held after the African Peace and Security Council meeting on 10 March.

Pronk said his meeting with Majzoub al-Khalifah tackled the importance of an all-inclusive Darfur conference, which required the participation of all the sons of Darfur, including the armed movements, the civil administrations and political parties.

Pronk said the meeting also discussed ways to stop militias attacking civilians pointing out that attacks were still continuing.

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.