Nonsensical Bin Laden calls for jihad in Sudan's Darfur

Just as the final round of Darfur peace talks nears April 30 deadline set by the AU Peace and Security Council, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urges his followers to prepare for a long war against "Western would-be occupiers in Darfur", according to an audiotape attributed to him and aired on Sunday, Reuters reported Apr 23, 2006.

See text of nonsensical audio statement, purportedly from bin Laden, aired on Al Jazeera. The Telegraph reported:

In the tape broadcast on the Arabic TV station this afternoon, bin Laden calls on his followers in Sudan to fight a proposed UN force in Darfur.

"I call on Mujahedin and their supporters, especially in Sudan and the Arab peninsula, to prepare for long war again the crusader plunderers in Western Sudan," said bin Laden, who was based in Sudan before it expelled him under threats from the US.

Apr 23 2006 Aljazeera Hamas distances itself from Bin Laden - "It's natural that this tension is going to create an impression that there is a Western-Israeli alliance working against the Palestinians" Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman.

Apr 23 2006 BBC - 'Bin Laden' accuses West - excerpts

Apr 23 2006 ST AP - "We are aware of the tape and a technical analysis of the recording is being conducted," a US intelligence official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The Al-Jazeera news reader said bin Laden, in a portion of the tape not aired by the Qatar-based broadcaster, scoffed at Saudi King Abdullah for his calls for a "dialogue among civilizations" and blasted liberal-minded Arab writers for taking part in the Western cultural invasion of Muslim lands.

Apr 23 2006 New Sudan Vision Bin Laden rejects CPA saying "Let (Sudanese President Omar Hassan) al-Bashir and (US President George W Bush) Bush know that this agreement is not worth the ink in which it was written with and does not oblige us in the least."

Apr 23 2006 Guardian AP - "It's when people have kind of forgotten about him, when he's not been on the news, that the tapes emerge," Ayers said. "It's kind of his way of thumbing his nose at the US and saying, 'Hey, I'm still out here, and you haven't caught me and you can't.' That's what he's saying."

Apr 24 2006 Olberlin Times Prophet cartoon offenders must be killed - bin Laden: "Heretics and atheists, who denigrate religion and transgress against God and His Prophet, will not stop their enmity toward Islam except by being killed," the Saudi-born militant said.

Apr 24 2006 BBC Bin Laden call falls on deaf ears - A call attributed to Osama Bin Laden for Islamic holy war in Sudan and other Muslim states has been disowned by the Sudanese government and Hamas. Jamal Mohammed Ibrahim, Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman is quoted as saying: "We are not concerned with any mujahideen or any Crusade or any war with the international community."



Photo: Archival Footage of Osama bin Laden in Sudan - see Mar 26 2006 Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal says Sudanese government call to arms is carried out through tribal leaders

FUC, RaFD, SCUD - Chadian rebels had good contacts in W Darfur

The situation in Chad, Sudan's neighbour, is getting out of control, writes Jan Pronk, UN Secretary-General's Special Represenative in the Sudan, in his blog entry April 18, 2006. Excerpt:

There are various rebel movements with different interests, different tribal affiliations and with regional backgrounds.

One of them is the Front Uni pour le Changement et la Democratie (FUC), led by Mahamat Nour Abdelkrim, a Tama.

Another one is the Rassemblement des Forces Democratiques (RaFD), getting its support in particular from the Zaghawa.

A third is the Socle pour le Changement et l'Unite Democratique (SCUD), which started in Eastern Chad. It received the support from quite a few defectors from the Deby regime and got a base in Darfur as well. The various movements are not yet united and compete with each other. But together they form a serious challenge to the present regime.

Note, Mr Pronk explains Chadian rebels had good contacts in West Darfur - in both Darfur as well as in Chad, the root causes are domestic, rebel movements in Chad exist since many years.

Canadian Mounties heading to Sudan for UN mission

Two Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) members are heading to Sudan to assist the UN mission in southern Sudan, Canadian Press reported April 21, 2006.

RCMP Sgt. Richard Davis and Cpl. Barry Meyer are expected to arrive in Khartoum in late April, when they will begin training and supporting Sudanese police and, where possible, advising them on policing methods.

Photo: Constables of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, dressed in their traditional scarlet uniforms, stand their horses in parade formation in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1873 to maintain peace in the Canadian west, the Mounties became a cultural symbol of Canada. Nowadays they usually travel by car, boat, airplane, or snowmobile rather than on horseback. Paul Souders/CORBIS-BETTMANN

500 displaced Dinkas set to return home to southern Sudan from Darfur's Beliel camp

International Organization for Migration (IOM) news report 21 Apr 2006 says IOM is to organise over the next six weeks the voluntary, safe and orderly return of some 10,000 internally displaced Dinkas from three sites in South Darfur to their homes in Northern Bahr El Ghazal province. Excerpt:

A first group of some 500 displaced Dinkas is scheduled leave Beliel camp for the nearby state capital town of Nyala, where they will board an IOM chartered train on 24 April. The 100-mile journey east to El Daein will be the first leg of their long journey home. Other groups of displaced Dinkas are scheduled to leave Nyala town and the nearby Saman Al Naga camp over the coming weeks.

Upon arrival in El Daein, the returnees will overnight at a rest station before starting the second leg of their journey by bus to Samaha, where IOM has recently opened a way station to provide basic facilities such as water, sanitation, and shelter for the returning Dinkas. Health facilities are being provided by the NGO, Cordaid.

The displaced will then cross the river Kiir on board two boats chartered by the NGO Concern to arrive in Kiir Galama, a locality on the southern banks of the river. From there, the returnees will be transported by IOM to their final destinations in Northern Bahr El Ghazal province.

IOM and partners have recently provided emergency assistance to another group of some 2,300 displaced Dinkas who were stranded in Kiir Galama to help them return to their places of origin in the central highlands of Northern Bahr El Ghazal.

Note, the article tells us the Dinkas are part of a much larger group of tens of thousands of fellow tribes people who were displaced by conflict and drought in South Sudan to South Darfur 19 years ago and who were again displaced by the fighting in Darfur in 2003.

For further information, please contact: Louis Hoffmann IOM Juba Tel: +882 16433 38260 Email: lhoffmann@iom.int Anne Marie Linde IOM Khartoum Tel: +249 912 141 757 Email: amlinde@iom.int



Photo: IOM assists displaced Dinkas in Kiir Galama, Northern Bahr El Ghaszl province (Louis Hoffman/IOM 2006).

See Apr 13 2006 Difficult journey for displaced Dinkas in Darfur returning home to Sudan's Northern Bahr El Ghazal province



Photo: Doctors from the Bangladesh Contingent Medical Company treating patients from the local community. Juba, Bahr el-Jabel State, Sudan. UNMIS Photo/Arpan Munier, 21 February 2006

AU mission in Chad to probe Sudan role in attacks

An African Union delegation flew in to Chad on Friday to probe President Idriss Deby's accusations that neighbour Sudan is backing rebels bent on ending his nearly 16-year rule, Reuters report 21 Apr 2006 - excerpt:

Deby has accused Sudan of attacking his country and his government says it has abundant proof Khartoum equipped and armed the rebels, some of whom were captured and who residents say had to ask their way round N'Djamena when they arrived. Khartoum denies the charges.

"It is an information mission to ascertain where the responsibilities lie in the current crisis," Chad's Foreign Minister Ahmat Allam-Mi told Reuters. "We're ready to show them the prisoners we took and show them the equipment we seized during the fighting," he said.

African Union Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare, one of the continent's top diplomats, said this week the mission would have to establish the facts before the 53-member continental body could make any condemnation of "the aggressor".

Former colonial power France, which has more than 1,000 soldiers in Chad, has been flying reconnaissance missions across the vast country in what officials say are efforts to get to the bottom of Chad's accusations of Sudanese involvement.

Foreign diplomats said many of those captured during the fighting appeared not to speak Chadian dialects, while the arms seized and shown to journalists after the raid included Chinese munitions, which analysts said were likely to be from Sudan.

Libya funding AU observers to monitor Sudan-Chad border

African Union security experts have arrived in Darfur to monitor the border with Chad after N'Djamena accused Khartoum of supporting Chadian rebels.

AU observers are to set up posts along the border towns of Tina, Kulbus, Gineina, Khur Bernagah and Wadi Sair.

Libya, which has been a mediator in the conflict, had agreed to foot the bill for the operation.

Libyan Minister of African Affairs Ali al-Triki held talks with leaders in Khartoum on Monday in a bid to ease tensions with Chad, which broke off diplomatic ties with Sudan on Friday, a day after a rebel attack on N'Djamena.

Full report ST 21 Apr 2006.

Chad expels JEM rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim after occupation of Sudanese embassy

According to an unsourced report at the Sudan Tribune Apr 21, the Chadian authorities expelled the chairman of the rebel JEM, Khalil Ibrahim, and his group after they occupied the Sudanese embassy in the Chadian capital, N’djamena, for some hours and looted the properties of the embassy.

Note the report says Khalil Ibrahim has political asylum in France and that it seems he went to Libya after his forced departure from Chad. Full report.

AU chief mediator briefs UN Security Council on Darfur

Peace agreement for Darfur close Alarab Online report Apr 19 - excerpt:

"We are working full steam to meet this deadline," Salim Ahmed Salim, the AU special envoy and chief mediator for the inter-Sudanese talks in Abuja, said on Tuesday in his first Council briefing since January.

"As we enter the home stretch of this marathon negotiating session," he cautioned, however, "the anxieties of the parties are understandably intensifying." Concessions still need to be made on the sharing of wealth and power, security arrangements and other issues, he said.

The security arrangements will make or break the negotiations, he said, underscoring the complexity of both an immediate ceasefire and long-term final status arrangements.

"Darfur is home to a myriad of armed and dangerous militia, included the Janjaweed, the armed movements that are fragmenting, bandits of sorts, foreign combatants and tribal forces," he observed.

The mediation team, he said, had made proposals on the disengagement of forces, disarmament of the Janjaweed, the control and neutralization of militias, protection of displaced persons, security of nomadic migration corridors and the demilitarization of humanitarian supply routes.

The proposed Enhanced Ceasefire Agreement stipulates that the neutralization of the Janjaweed and "undisciplined militia" is a prerequisite for any peace agreement, he said.

As this, and all such steps, will have to be monitored by the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), he stressed that it was crucial to follow up any peace agreement, once signed, with maximum support to those forces, which are not even adequate to fulfil their current mandate.

"My plea to you in this esteemed Council is that you do not wait for the transition to take place from AMIS to a UN Force before strengthening the implementation mechanism of any agreement to be reached in Abuja," he said.

Militia in Darfur must be controlled to ensure peace, says AU

(IRIN Apr 20) Neutralisation of the Janjawid and "undisciplined militia" - stipulated under the "Enhanced Ceasefire Agreement" as put forward by the AU mediation team at negotiations in the Nigerian capital, Abuja - was a prerequisite for any peace agreement, AU chief mediator, Salim Ahmed Salim said. Security arrangements would make or break the negotiations:

The proposals included the disengagement and redeployment of the forces, disarmament of the Janjawid, the control and neutralisation of militias, protection of displaced persons, security of nomadic migration corridors and the demilitarisation of humanitarian supply routes, he said.

Despite these difficulties, Salim was optimistic about the recent progress the Sudanese government and the two main Darfurian rebel groups had made. He expressed hope that a deal could be reached by the 30 April deadline set by the AU. "We are working full-steam to meet this deadline," he said.

AU says Sudan negotiators progressing in peace talks

"We are in the final stretch of concluding the Darfur peace agreement. The mediation is ready, and we believe the time is right for the parties to move beyond arguments to decisions," the top African Union mediator said April 19.

Here's lighting a candle in hope of an enhanced ceasefire agreement being signed for the long suffering people of Darfur by April 30.



Image courtesy of a new blog Bloggers for Darfur.

Note another new blog Darfur - Call to Action.

Sanctions delay on two rebel commanders, Janjaweed leader and Sudan Air Force commander in Darfur

Both the US and Britain said none of the four men facing sanctions were involved in the two-year Darfur peace talks in Abuja.

"Actions would be against individuals responsible for gross violations of human rights or violations of the ceasefire, Deputy British Ambassador Adam Thomson said.

"It would have the incidental benefit of sending an indirect message to Abuja that the council is absolutely serious about returning peace to Darfur," he said.

The four Sudanese include two rebel commanders, a pro-government militia leader and a Sudan Air Force commander who had been in Darfur.

Full report (Reuters) 20 Apr 2006.

Russian peacekeepers join UN mission in south Sudan

Photo ITAR-TASS news agency - an advance team of the Russian helicopter group is on its way to Sudan 20 Apr 2006 to operate as part of the UN mission in south Sudan:

"An Il-76 aircraft will deliver about 30 people as well as munitions and over 10 tons of outfits and property necessary for deploying the helicopter team at the place of location," the Air Force spokesman said.

General Sergei Shevchenko, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, told Itar-Tass that up to 200 servicemen as well as four Mi-8 helicopters with a full set of equipment and ammunitions and more than 100 tons of various cargoes onboard would be airlifted to Sudan.

The An-24, An-22 and Il-76 military transport planes will make nearly 40 flights.

Sudan denies visas to Darfur for UN military group

Sudan's president refused to grant visas to Darfur for a UN military assessment mission that wanted to plan for a UN peacekeeping mission, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.

"They felt this was not the time for a UN assessment mission to go into Darfur until the Abuja process was completed," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "We have a clear political line from the Sudanese at this point."

Full report by Evelyn Leopold (Reuters) 19 Apr 2006.

French President Chirac to seek Egypt's Mubarak's help as regional mediator

French President Jacques Chirac heads to Egypt on Wednesday for a two-day visit. Along with several other issues, Chirac and Mubarak are also set to address the continuing bloodshed in Darfur, AFP/DS reported April 19, 2006.

Libyan envoy Abdel Salam el-Treiki arrives in Khartoum to try to defuse tensions between Sudan and Chad

(AlRai AlAam - 18 Apr Khartoum via UNMIS) Talks in Khartoum yesterday between President Bashir and an envoy of the Libyan leader focused on Libya's efforts to defuse the tension between Sudan and Chad.

Libyan envoy Abdel Salam el-Treiki said he delivered a letter to President Bashir from the Libyan leader and revealed that he was in Chad before coming to Sudan and held talks along the same lines with the Chadian leader.

The envoy said the two leaders have agreed that the Monitoring Committee formed by virtue of the Tripoli Agreement and the border monitors continue their work. He said he felt the Sudan and Chad were committed to improving relations and expressed hopes that a meeting will soon be held between the two countries at ministerial levels.

The envoy also held talks with Sudan's foreign minister who said that Sudan had tried to send an envoy to Chad recently but Chad was not welcoming. "We will not try again," said the minister. Minister Akol further said that the AU Peace and Security Council turned down Chad's accusations on Sudan.
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Darfur rebels briefly occupy Sudan embassy in Chad

Apr 18 2006Reuters report excerpt:

JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim earlier said he had taken control of the embassy. "We are speaking from within the embassy of Sudan," he told Reuters in Cairo by telephone. "It's under my full control."

A member of Sudanese government delegation in Abuja, said the rebels had attacked the embassy and that they had stolen equipment including mobile phones. "They assaulted the building and attacked the charge d'affaires ... Then the Libyan authorities came to the embassy and took control. They've raised the Libyan flag on the embassy because they are representing Sudanese interests," he said.

Sudan's Taha holds closed-door meeting with SLM's Menawi

Sudan Tribune article April 17, 2006 says Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha continued his closed-door meetings with leaders of the rebel movements where he met Sunday Meni Arko Menawi, the chairman of one of the SLM factions. Excerpt:

The State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Al-Samani Al-Wasila, said in a press statement that this is the fifth meeting between Taha and Menawi, pointing out that the focus now is on the security arrangements axis. Al-Wasila added that there are now no outstanding issues in the file of the security arrangements.

The spokesperson of the AU in Abuja talks, Noureddine Mezni, said to SUNA that the AU mediator, Salim Ahmed Salim, left for New York where he is expected to submit on Tuesday a report to the UN Security Council on the latest developments of the Darfur peace talks.

Libya makes first donation to WFP - for millions at risk in Darfur, Chad

United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed its first ever contribution from the Government of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

The donation of 6.1 million Libyan dinars (US$4.5 million) will help feed 2.7 million people in the Darfur region of western Sudan and 200,000 Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.

Note, among other things since August 2004, Libya has also provided a crucial ground transportation corridor from the Libyan port of Benghazi through the Sahara Desert to eastern Chad. This continues to deliver substantial amounts of WFP food aid. To date, WFP has transported by truck 55,501 tons of food through this corridor.

Pope Benedict includes Darfur in his Easter message

Pope Benedict, in his first Easter message as pontiff, on Sunday lamented that the humanitarian crisis in Darfur was "no longer sustainable." - CBC Apr 16.

Sudan asks Libya's embassy in Chad to take care of its interests

On April 15 Sudan asked the Libyan embassy in N'Djamena to take care of its interests in Chad as Chadian authorities gave Sudanese diplomats in N'Djamena five days to leave Chad, reports Xinhua.

Meanwhile, Chadian president calls Sudan's al-Bashir "traitor". The Chadian leader, who is fighting for his political life after almost 16 years in power, also referred to al-Bashir in Arabic as "a donkey". Heh.
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'Somalisation' of Chad

AFP report Apr 15 says a French diplomat warned on Saturday that if the rebels in Chad toppled the Chadian president, it could create a power vacuum that would destabilise the desperately poor country:

"If Deby goes, there is a risk that Chad will descend into chaos. An anti-Deby coalition does not amount to a real opposition and there is nobody to take over the reins," he said.

This view was backed up by a French geostrategic analyst, who pointed out that the rebel movement was composed of several disparate ethnic groups with different political interests and that it might well fall apart if it actually gained power.

A forced exit for Deby could trigger a situation similar to that Somalia, which has no government and is run by a multitude of armed groups, the analyst said, on condition of anonymity.

The aim is "now to avoid a bloody and violent transition", he said. "Without a peaceful exit from the crisis, the risk is of a 'Somalisation' of Chad."

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Chad's rebel groups FUC and MDJT deny support from Sudan but fail to declare who is funding them.

SLM/JEM want power, position and wealth not ceasefires

Darfur rebel groups SLM and JEM Press Release Apr 14, 2006 claims Sudanese Vice President Taha, in the latest peace talks, stated the same views and positions already presented by the Sudanese Government - that there would be no Vice-President, no Region and no compensations and this was the final position.

SLM/JEM hold the view that the Vice-President's visit at the peace talks brought nothing new and call upon the AU, the Mediators, and the international and regional partners to intervene.

[Note, no mention of the enhanced ceasefire agreement - only power, position and wealth. Shame on them. They seem no different from the regime they're trying to weaken through violence. What makes any of them fit to govern?]

UPDATE: SLM Press Release Apr 15, 2006 re meeting between Abdulwahid Elnur, Chairman of the SLM/A, and Sudanese Vice-President Taha, at the Nicon Hilton, Abuja, Apr 14, 2006 - "Sudan's Taha, SLM’s Nur committed to achieve peace in Darfur"
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AU envoy, Sudanese VP Taha hold talks for second time

AU special envoy and chief Mediator, Salim Ahmed Salim met Sudanese Vice-President Taha at the Darfur peace talks April 14 and discussed a broad range of outstanding issues relating to power and wealth sharing as well as security arrangements, SudanTribune reports April 15, 2006:

Both sides agreed on the need to proceed with deliberate speed. Salim described his discussions with Taha as "very constructive", adding that the presence of the Vice-President in Abuja has been very helpful in terms of building confidence and creating renewed momentum for the Talks.

Photo: Sudan's Taha and AU's Salim at the Darfur peace talks (ST)

Salim said that the talks are moving in the right direction and that the AU Mediation is operating strictly within the mandate given by the AU Peace and Security Council.

"We have spent almost five months continuously in the current Round of the Talks. Now is the time to take decisions. Our hope is to conclude by the end of this month", Salim asserted.