Sudan's VP Kiir: Darfur crisis solution possible by year's end

Sudanese vice president Salva Kiir Mayardit, himself a former rebel, said Friday that he believes a solution to the Darfur conflict can be found by the end of the year, maybe sooner, reports AP 10 March 2006.

Note the report makes no mention of Sudanese rebels in eastern Sudan fighting for a share of power and wealth for their region. Darfur is in western Sudan.

Sudan's pyramids of Kush on US bills - Oriental Institute brings ancient Nubia to Chicago

The pyramids represented on the US bills are the pyramids of Kush, in Northen Sudan. These were built around 500BC, by the Nubians who eventually became Pharos of Upper and Lower Egypt.



Image courtesy Sudan Embassy at The Hague, Netherlands plus:

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement - now in sidebar here at Sudan Watch.
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Oriental Institute brings ancient Nubia to Chicago, USA

Some of the world's most significant artifacts from Nubia, an ancient African civilization that had important connections to Egypt, will go on display Saturday, 25 Feb 2006 at the Museum of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. Click here for more details.



Photo: Excavated at Qustul, the incense burner found in a ruler's tomb is distinctively Nubian, though its design is similar to objects associated with early Egyptian rulers. (University of Chicago Chronicle)

Ex-Milosevic ally kills himself - Milosevic found dead in cell

March 6, 2006 BBC report Ex-Milosevic ally kills himself says the former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic committed suicide in his prison cell in The Hague Sunday March 5, 2006. Excerpt:

Babic, 50, was serving a 13-year prison term for crimes against humanity, after admitting persecuting the non-Serb population in Croatia's Krajina region.

He was a key ally of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic but later testified against him at the tribunal. He was found dead on Sunday evening, the UN war crimes tribunal said in a statement.

Today, March 11, BBC reports Milosevic found dead in his cell. Excerpt:

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has died in the detention centre at The Hague tribunal.

The tribunal said he was found dead in his cell on Saturday morning and that although the cause was not yet clear, there was no indication of suicide.

Mr Milosevic, 64, had been on trial at the UN war crimes tribunal for genocide and other war crimes since 2001.

Mr Milosevic faced charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged central role in the wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo during the 1990s.

He also faced genocide charges over the 1992-95 Bosnia war, in which 200,000 people died. Mr Milosevic was in office for 13 years until 2000.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he hoped his death would help Serbia to come to terms with its past and allow it to look to the future.

Both the former Serbian leader's parents committed suicide.

Note, Babic had expressed shame and remorse but Milosevic never did.

World donors pledge 4.5-billion-dollar aid for Sudan

Representatives of Sudan's donors meeting in Paris on Friday confirmed a 4.5-billion-dollar aid package to Sudan over the next three years, which they had promised in April, 2005 in Oslo.

This two-day meeting, which highlighted the Darfur issue, brought together Sudan's first deputy president, Salva Kiir, and representatives from European states, the United States, the African Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. - via Xinhua 10 Mar 2006.

AU mediation maintains SLM's Nour in spite of rebels split

Following the latest split within the Darfur rebel group SLM, the African Union mediation team said it will not "interfere in the internal problems" of the rebels groups and maintain al-Nour and Minawi as representative of the SLM in the peace talks.

Full report (Sudan Tribune) Mar 10, 2006.



Photo: AU negotiator Sam Ibok, and AU chief mediator Salim Ahmed Salim

UN to take Darfur peacekeeping role after peace deal

Emerging from an AU meeting today, Taye Zerihon, deputy UN representative to the AU, stood alongside Sudanese FM Liam Akol at a briefing for reporters and said of the transfer from AU to UN troops in Darfur:

"It looks like a transfer will happen at the appropriate time."

He said the UN may need up to nine months to prepare a mission to Darfur and added he will advise UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to begin contingency planning. Full article (AP/ST) 10 Mar 2006.

AU proposes 9 month Darfur mission - Sudan ready to reinforce it with 10,000 troops - half SPLA - within 3 wks

An unsourced news article from Khartoum 14 January 2006, claims Sudan proposed in meetings of the AU's Peace and Security Council the formation of an army representing Sudan government, the AU and the armed groups in Darfur.

Next day, AFP reported Sudan proposed a tripartite force for Darfur. An IOL report on the same day said such a proposal was likely to be fiercely opposed by rebel movements who want Western troops to take over from the AU peacekeepers.

[Links to the reports can be found in Sudan Watch blog entry: Sudan proposes formation of joint army force of GOS/Rebel/AU troops for Darfur and offers to partly finance AU troops in Darfur]

Note, Reuters report today by C. Bryson Hull and T. Tadesse - excerpt:

AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare recommended extending the AU mission in Sudan (AMIS), suggesting that the AU may try to push for more time to persuade Sudan to accept a U.N. presence in its vast western region.

"In the meantime, the AMIS operation should continue and be enhanced. I recommend that the (AU's) Peace and Security Council renew the mandate of the mission for a period of nine months, until December 31," Konare said in a report released before a meeting of the council.

That would be predicated on firm funding commitments from AU partners, intensified efforts to push the Darfur parties to agreement at peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, and on finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis between Chad and Sudan, the report said.

The cost of extending the mission from April through December would be $218 million (125 million pounds) the report said. AMIS still needs an additional $4.6 million just to reach the end of March, it said.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said an AU decision to turn over its Darfur peacekeeping mission to the United Nations would spell the end of peace talks in Nigeria and any AU role in security in Darfur.

"It is imperative to underline the fact that the AU has absolutely no legal authority to transfer its mission to the U.N. or any other body," Akol said in a statement to the AU.

"As much as the government of Sudan would want AMIS to continue, should the AU choose to terminate its mandate in Darfur it is free to do so, and this will include all aspects of its involvement in security and the peace processes."

Friday's ministerial level AU meeting follows two days of intensive negotiations between the European Union, which has provided the bulk of the funding for the mission, the United States and Sudan's government.

Washington and the EU tried unsuccessfully to persuade Sudan to accept a U.N. force, the possibility of which prompted government-led protests in Khartoum this week and promises of jihad against any U.N. troops.

SUDAN READY TO REINFORCE

Sudan said however, that it would accept an extension of the AU mission and would reinforce the AU in Darfur with 10,000 troops -- half of them Sudanese armed forces and half former southern Sudanese rebel SPLA soldiers who have been integrated into the Sudanese army.

"This force can be deployed in Darfur within three weeks," Sudan said in a presentation to the council.
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Sudan says sending foreign forces to Darfur would encourage rebels

Mar 10, 2006 AP report via Sudan Tribune: As AU debates UN takeover in Darfur, Sudan FM calls to maintain African force - "The transition of the mission to the UN will represent a serious setback for the AU," Lam Akol told African foreign ministers gathered at AU HQ in Ethiopia to discuss the proposed hand-over. "Sending any foreign and non-African forces to Darfur would encourage the rebel movements to adopt more intransigent positions in the Abuja peace talks," he added.

Sudan's head of intelligence Sala Gosh given entry to UK

On March 1, 2006 the Guardian reported the UN was to impose sanctions on 10 members of Sudanese government and a UN 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.

Note, the report revealed 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.

Also, it stated "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."

Today (March 10) a BBC report tells us one of those officials suspected of involvement in mass killings in Darfur has been on a secret visit to London. Excerpt:

Officials revealed Salah Abdallah Gosh, head of Sudan's national security and intelligence service, was given a visa. He came to get medical treatment and has now left, they said.

Mr Gosh is said to be the third in command in the Sudanese hierarchy dealing with Darfur. He is one of a number of officials reported to have been named in a confidential report from a United Nations panel of experts as people who should be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court.

An annex to the report says he should be charged with failure to "neutralise and disarm non-state armed militia groups in Darfur; and command responsibility for acts of arbitrary detention, harassment [and] torture".

BBC world affairs correspondent Chris Morris says he also had close links with Western intelligence agencies, particularly with the US Central Intelligence Agency.

The US embassy in London declined to comment last night on whether any US officials had met Mr Gosh during his stay in London.

Photo: Maj. Gen. Salah Abdallah Gosh, Sudan's intelligence chief

Further reading:

Apr 29 2005 Reuters excerpt: The chief of Sudan's Mukhabarat intelligence agency, Maj. Gen. Salah Abdallah Gosh, told the [LA] Times: "We have a strong partnership with the CIA. The information we have provided has been very useful to the United States." Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail acknowledged in an interview that the Mukhabarat already had served as the eyes and ears of the CIA in neighboring countries, including Somalia, a sanctuary for Islamic militants

Jun 17, 2005 Sudan Tribune Sudanese intelligence visitor split US officials - LAT

Jun 17 2005 Washington Times report by Bill Gertz: US probes reported Sudan link to terror - U.S. intelligence and security agencies are investigating reports that Sudan's government has renewed its covert support for al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists

Jun 20 2005 Sudan Watch (Further reading) Al-Qaeda said angry at Sudan for passing data to US

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

Dec 25 2005 Sudanese official nominated as Arab League envoy in Iraq - ICC has list of 51 names of suspected Darfur war criminals

Feb 21 2006 List of top wanted Janjaweed leaders - Who's who on Darfur (African Confidential)

Feb 22 2006 Financial Times Sudan ministers named in leaked UN Darfur list



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

UN to halve Darfur refugee aid

"In view of the limited access to some areas and a reduced number of field staff, UNHCR has been compelled to downsize its operation in Darfur by almost half, while attempting to keep a certain level of flexibility," the Geneva-based agency said. Full story CNN 9 March 2006.

Khartoum and AU will have little choice but to accept a bigger and more robust UN mission in Darfur

According to a report by the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum March 9, 2006, Western diplomats are convinced that in the long-term, Khartoum and the AU will have little choice but to accept a bigger and more robust UN mission in Darfur. Also, any UN takeover is likely to take between six and nine months - and the transfer would initially involve little more than a change of hat colour for the soldiers, from green to blue.

The report notes that "having regularly criticised the AU mission throughout its one-and-a-half years in Darfur the Khartoum government has suddenly become its biggest supporter."

Maybe this is all part of the international community's strategy to get Khartoum to agree an expanded mandate for AU troops in Darfur to act as peacekeepers not just truce monitors - while at the same time putting pressure on the Darfur rebels to reach agreement at the peace talks. Khartoum has agreed to consider UN forces when a peace agreement is reached. All along, the Darfur rebels pushed for UN troops in Darfur - another reason why Khartoum is so against a UN force in Darfur. Whatever, a peace agreement will be reached eventually, after which UN peacekeepers will be in Darfur as part of the deal.

Next thing that will happen is trouble flaring up by Sudanese rebels in eastern Sudan who feel as marginalised as those in Darfur, western Sudan. Eastern Sudan is not yet part of any wealth and power sharing deal. And so it is likely to go on, for years.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in the government's accounts but few new buildings in southern Sudan's capital, Juba

March 9, 2006 BBC report says little of the 4.5bn US dollars pledged a year ago for reconstruction by donors has so far reached the southern Sudanese people:

UN envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, has told donors in Paris that setting up systems to oversee spending in an area devastated by war took time.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Sudan says frustration is growing that Sudan's peace deal has yet to deliver badly needed improvements in basic services.

He says oil revenues are available, but the capacity to deliver remains low.

There are hundreds of millions of dollars in the government's accounts but few new buildings in southern Sudan's capital, Juba.

Major projects to create schools, hospitals and roads have yet to begin and teachers, soldiers and civil servants have not been paid.

The delays are blamed on the slow implementation of the peace deal that ended 21 years of war in the south; the teething problems of the new southern administration and conditions attached to aid to prevent corruption.

At the Paris meeting, the vice-president of Sudan, Salva Kiir, who comes from the south, made a point of asking the donors not to make funding for redevelopment contingent on progress to resolve the three-year conflict in the western region of Darfur.

World Bank hosts meeting on Sudan aid

Pravda March 9, 2006 reports the World Bank met Thursday with Sudanese leaders and international donors to review development aid amid continuing conflict between the government and rebels in Darfur. Excerpt:

The north-south conflict was separate from the continuing violence in Darfur in the west. Pronk insisted that aid to southern Sudan should not depend on progress on talks over Darfur.

US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, however, said before the World Bank donor talks: "We cannot consider the (funding plan) without addressing the ongoing conflict in Darfur."

In meetings Thursday and Friday, officials from the World Bank, the United Nations, the United States and other donor countries were meeting with representatives of Sudan's north and south to discuss that aid and reconstruction and development efforts, reports the AP.
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Mar 9 2006 (UK DIFD) Benn calls for immediate aid for Africa food crisis from new Humanitarian Fund

South Sudan land mine blast prompts threat of UN team expulsion by Sudanese authorities

Reuters March 9, 2006 reports a land mine has killed one child and injured four in the town of Malakal, south Sudan, the latest in a string of blasts prompting Sudanese authorities to threaten UN mine clearers with expulsion from the area, officials said.

"We have ordered them (deminers) to either start their work and finish it as soon as possible, or they leave the town immediately," deputy governor of the large town of Malakal, Dok Jok Dok, said late on Wednesday.

The mine explosion on Saturday was the 11th incident in Malakal town in the past eight months, where most of the victims have been children. Fifteen have been killed and more than 20 have had limbs amputated.

PHR: email or fax AU Chair Konare to help civilians in Darfur - International Women's Day not observed by Sudan's New Government of Unity

On International Women's Day [read Janjaweed rape babies] 8 March 2006, Irish aid agency GOAL Sudan team helped some rural Sudanese women to gain more respect and autonomy from the men in the community.

GOAL's schooling for girls and adult education for women has proved a winning combination in improving the position of women in a rural village in north Sudan.

In Rumbek, the South Sudan government together with NGOs, UN agencies and other institutions took the opportunity of International Women's Day to press for the observance of women's rights in Sudanese liberated areas of SPLM/A, reports Sudan Tribune but, sadly, the article makes no mention of the rest of Sudan.

Contact the AU chairman, Mr Alpha Oumar Konare, and urge him to support an expanded peacekeeping force in Darfur

Here is a message to us all from Physicians for Human Rights March 8, 2006:

On International Women's Day: Take action to help civilians in Darfur

As we celebrate International Women's Day, tens of thousands of Sudanese women are at risk of being raped, both in Darfurand in refugee camps in Chad. Government-sponsored militias continue to kill civilians in the Darfur region, and now the violence is spilling over into neighboring Chad. Yet there are only 7,000 African Union soldiers patrolling this region, which is the size of France.

At the United Nations there is growing momentum to transition the under-resourced African Union force into a United Nations peacekeeping force. On March 10, leaders of the African Union will meet to decide whether to invite a United Nations peacekeeping mission to join or supplant the current AU mission. This is a critical opportunity to call for a UN force large enough to protect civilians under threat in Darfur.

On International Women's Day, please join PHR in taking action to help civilians in Darfur!

What you can do:

Please contact the AU chairman, Mr. Alpha Oumar Konare, and urge him to support an expanded peacekeeping force in Darfur.

See our website to learn more:
http://www.phrusa.org/research/sudan/

[Note link leads to a sample letter urging Mr Konare to exercise his leadership by formally requesting from the UN Security Council an effective transition of the AU forces to a Chapter 7 UN peacekeeping operation. I have now emailed Mr Konare and signed it with my full name and link to this blog entry]

What You Can Do Now

E-Mail or Fax Mr Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairman of the African Union Commission

Declare your support for this vital intervention as the only way to adequately protect the lives and safety of civilians in Darfur.

Contact information for Chairman Konare:
E-mail: KonareAO@africa-union.org
Fax: (251) 11 5513036
Tel: (251) 11 5514554 / (251) 11 551 77 00 ext. 120
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Mar 8 2006 Press Release by Darfur-Canadian Women Association
E-mail: darfurwomen@yahoo.ca
Telephone: (403) 217-9121
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Statement by the Women Delegates to the Darfur Peace Talks, in Abuja, Nigeria, on the Occasion Of the International Women’s Day March 8, 2006.
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Mar 8 2006 From the UN website, this early history of International Women's Day - with thanks to DSTPFW.

Chief editor of Khartoum's al-Watan newspaper arrested

Local media in Khartoum reported a bounty of 100,000 US dollars placed on the head of the UN special envoy Jan Pronk by the leader of the Sudanese General Students' Union, Mohamed Abdallah Sheikh Idris.

In reaction to threats made against Mr Pronk by militant youth, Sudanese police arrested the chief editor of al-Watan newspaper Sidahmed al-Khalifa to investigate the announcement made by the islamist student organisation.

Full article (ST Khartoum) March 8, 2006.

Update Mar 9: Al-Azaim was also detained.

US hopes Libya could expand its mediation efforts for peaceful solution to Darfur conflict

China View March 8, 2006 reports US Special Assistant to the President on African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said the US supports the African Union's efforts to help restore peace in Darfur, according to the reports from Libyan capital Tripoli. Excerpt:

Frazer, who arrived in Tripoli on Tuesday for a two-day visit, said at a press conference that the US supports the AU's actions in Darfur and would like to see an extension of AU peacekeeping mission's mandate in the region with the logistic and financial assistance of the UN.

Frazer said her Libya tour is for the purpose of holding talks with Libyan and African leaders to seek effective cooperation in building a good future for the people in Darfur. She also praised Libya for its efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to the conflict in Darfur and expressed hopes that Libya could further expand its mediation efforts.

On US-Libyan ties, Frazer said the two countries enjoy sound relations that are growing ever better.

Darfur summit in Egypt to host leaders from Sudan and Libya

UPI report March 8, 2006 confirms Egypt will host leaders from Sudan and Libya in a three-way summit next week to address the ongoing crisis in Darfur ahead of the upcoming Arab summit to be held in Khartoum on March 28-29.

Leaders from the three north African countries met one month ago in Libya where they voiced collective opposition against plans to replace the current 7,800-strong African Union peacekeeping force with a U.N. mission.

Egyptian President on European Tour

Cairo, March 9, 2006 (BNA) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak left today for Rome within his European tour that will take him to Italy, Austria and Germany.

This tour came to contain important issues at the Arab and international levels. Mubarak will discuss during his tour the situation in Iraq and Palestine in addition to the developments in Darfur.

Khartoum to consider UN role in Darfur once peace agreement reached

News just in from Reuters says Sudan may consider allowing a UN mission into Darfur once a political settlement to the conflict in the area is reached, Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha said on Wednesday.

"If there is a political settlement then by way of providing guarantees to make the settlement hold, then we can look into the role of the UN," he told Reuters.

Update: Mar 9 2006 Reuters - Taha said Sudan could consider an unspecified UN role if peace talks with rebels being held in the Nigerian capital Abuja yielded a political settlement to the conflict. But Solana said that was too limited. "That goes a little bit too far, because that means he only will accept after the Abuja talks have given a result, but we cannot risk not to start with the planning if necessary in case the Abuja talks take longer," Solana told Reuters.

Dr Rod Pullen appointed as UK's Special Representative at Darfur peace talks in addition to Dr Alan Goulty

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Press Release March 8, 2006 reveals the Foreign Secretary today announced in a written statement to the Houses of Parliament that Dr Rod Pullen, a senior grade diplomat and experienced Ambassador who has spent much time in Africa, has been appointed as the UK's Special Representative at the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on Darfur. He took up his position on 6 March.

This appointment is a further indication of the British Government's commitment on this issue. It is in addition to that of Dr Alan Goulty, HMA Tunis, who will continue as the UK's Special Representative for Darfur. Dr Goulty will continue to focus primarily on pushing the parties to reach a comprehensive and viable agreement and on getting key regional players (especially Eritrea, Libya) and the international community on-side. He will continue to visit Sudan as necessary, in consultation with HMA Khartoum. He will also be expected to pay occasional visits to the Abuja talks, in consultation with Rod Pullen, if there is a particular requirement.

The Darfur Peace Talks are held under African Union mediation. The UK is a key international partner to the talks, and has maintained an observer at the talks in support of the AU since the beginning. In response to the unacceptably slow progress made by the parties to the Peace Talks, the UK has appointed Dr Pullen as its Special Representative.

Darfur: EU and partners will give AU all the support they need and produce a road map for their peace process

This sounds like good news. IRNA reports that European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana told reporters after a series of meetings held in Brussels today that, quote:

"We cannot maintain the situation in Darfur as it is now. We have to give to the African Union all the support they need. We have to produce a road map for their peace process."

Photo: Alpha Oumar Konare, Javier Solana and Louis Michel address a joint news conference after discussing the situation in Sudan, in Brussels March 8, 2006. (Reuters/ST).

Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, Vice-President of Sudan, Robert B. Zoellick, US Deputy Secretary of State, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations attended the meetings.

Konare said he was very satisfied to see "that our partners will support the political process and the establishment of the road map."

Note, the meetings come a day ahead of the multi-national Sudan Consortium meeting to be hosted by the World Bank on Thursday in Paris to discuss the financial needs caused by the conflicts in Sudan.



Photo: Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairman of the African Union Commission is seen prior a meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday 8 March 2006. The havoc in Darfur, in western Sudan, where some 400,000 people are reported to have been killed and more than two million displaced, is worsening at an alarming rate. The chaos has been spreading west into neighboring Chad for the past few years as more than 200,000 Sudanese have fled across the border from Darfur into eastern Chad. (EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET)

Sudan Tribune reports today that the above discussions were notably to focus on plans to the transfer to UN control of an African Union-run peacekeeping mission in the western region, torn by ethnic conflict since 2003.

"We are going ... to get very serious on Sudan," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on the eve of the talks.



As well as the continuing violence in Darfur, they were also discussing problems with Sudan's North-South peace agreement, in particular discord over oil revenues, as well as relations between Sudan and Chad.

"Peace in the whole of Sudan is vital, not only for this big country - the biggest in Africa - but also for the entire African continent and the Arab world," said Solana.

Update: VOA news - EU Offers Support to African Peace Efforts in Darfur.