Next few weeks to be 'make or break' for millions with lives at stake in Darfur, Chad, Under-Secretary-General Egeland

IRIN report on today's UN Security Council briefing. Excerpt:

In his presentation to the UN Security Council following a recent visit to Sudan and Chad, Egeland outlined five goals that needed to be achieved immediately: implementing the Darfur peace agreement; bringing on board those who have not signed it; substantially strengthening the African Union Mission in Sudan [AMIS]; accelerating the transition of AMIS to a UN operation; and securing and funding the humanitarian lifeline to more than three million people.

In Darfur and Eastern Chad, humanitarian relief constitutes a lifeline for close to 4 million people

UN Security Council report on today's briefing by Jan Egeland:

The Governor of South Darfur had agreed that the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) could return to Kalma as camp coordinator, a decision also confirmed by Second Vice-President Taha.

Regarding access restrictions, both the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Mr Kosti, and Vice-President Taha had provided assurances that the moratorium on humanitarian access restrictions for Darfur would be fully implemented.

The Vice-President had issued a policy statement, declaring the Government's intention to ensure full humanitarian access to Darfur, he said. Also, NGOs were invited to work with the Government in drafting the rules and regulations to ensure that national and international NGOs could carry out their activities freely and effectively, and in accordance with international human rights standards.

He [Jan Egeland] said he returned from his mission with an even greater sense of admiration for the thousands of humanitarian and AMIS personnel on the ground. "Their commitment to work in the most difficult conditions, and under constant threat to their personal safety, is truly awe-inspiring."

In Darfur and Eastern Chad, humanitarian relief constituted a lifeline for close to 4 million people, he said.

Annan dispatches Brahimi and Annabi to Khartoum

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to dispatch Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister who stepped down from active UN service last December, to Khartoum next week to press Sudan's government to allow UN military planners into Darfur, UN officials said on Friday.

Mr Brahimi is to be accompanied on the trip by senior UN peacekeeping official Hedi Annabi, UN chief spokesman Stephanie Dujarric told Reuters today.



Photo: Lakhdar Brahimi (AFP/Prakash Singh)

May 19 2006 UN News Centre: UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland has said that once host country approval is given, it would take up to six months or more to get a more numerous UN force fully operational. Meanwhile, it was vital that the AU force receive a more robust mandate to protect the civilian population and that its number at least double, he added.

Accidental fire sparks explosions at Juba, Sudan arms dump

A fire at a munitions dump sparked a wave of explosions outside the southern Sudanese capital of Juba on Friday, injuring several people and rattling nerves in the region that suffered two decades of civil war. 10 injured. Reuters.

Bono in Africa blog

Reuters has a Bono in Africa newsblog. [via PSD Blog]

Surprisingly, Darfur is a place in Sudan as well as a rhetorical device (Daniel Davies)

Copy of a blog entry by Chris in Boston at Left Center Left May 3, 2006:

"Daniel Davies echoes my sentiments on Darfur,

Demanding "action" without ever saying what that "action" might be is the height of irresponsibility, and is almost always a marker of someone who has not troubled themselves to spend five minutes reading Sudan Watch to find out what is actually going on.

...only makes the more specific point (above and here that events on the ground have shifted to the point that diplomacy is nearing success and that it's quite probably the Stop Darfur voices in the West who are destabilizing that right now."

[Thanks chaps. Note, Daniel's blog entry at Crooked Timber (link above) has attracted some 50 comments]

Trocaire: Relief workers arrested in Darfur

Staff from a relief organisation in Darfur which is supported by Trocaire have been arrested and are being detained without charge by Sudanese security services.

Trocaire is very concerned for the health and safety of the two human rights workers, and fears that they may be subjected to torture and ill treatment.

The two men are Mossaad Mohamed Ali and Adam Mohammed Sharief, and they work at the AMEL Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims in Nyala in South Darfur.

They were arrested for the second time this week on Tuesday, and their families and UN staff have been unable to see them since then.

Full report Reuters 19 May 2006.

Sudan's Turabi calls for overthrow of Khartoum regime

Leader of Sudanese opposition Popular Congress, Hassan al Turabi, is calling for the overthrow of the Sudanese regime through popular resistance, Sudan Tribune reported May 18, 2006:

Turabi said the Darfur Peace Agreement, signed on Friday 5 May lacks a legitimate basis.

The regime will not fall "unless the people will replace it - not to the benefit of any regime or party, but to the benefit of all," al-Turabi told reporters yesterday.

Note, Drima in Malaysia has some insightful thoughts on this news in his latest blog entry at Sudanese Thinker.

JEM rebel commanders in South Darfur back peace deal

South Darfur province commanders from the rebel JEM said today they fully supported the Darfur Peace Agreement, Xinhua (via COMTEX and ReliefWeb) reported - excerpt:

In a letter to AU Commission Chair Konare and chief mediator for the Darfur peace talks, Salim Ahmed Salim, they expressed belief that the peace agreement "has satisfied the aspirations of our people of Darfur."

"Therefore we have chosen to fully support the DPA and ready to implement its political, military, humanitarian and security requirements and arrangements, and to sign this document anytime anywhere we requested to do so," the letter quoted Abdullrahiem Adam Abdullrahiem Abu Reeshah, JEM secretary for South Darfur, as saying.

"We believe that war is only a means that leads eventually to peace, and not a goal in itself."

JEM leader will have to leave Chad if he does not sign Darfur peace deal by May 31

Darfur rebels face bleak future without peace deal, Reuters' Estelle Shirbon reported May 18, 2006 - excerpt:

SLA faction leader Nur has spent much of the past two years in the Nigerian capital Abuja, where the peace accord was negotiated, but on Thursday he and his advisers were dispersing and had no clear strategy from now until May 31.

"He really should realise that he has everything to gain by signing, and if he doesn't he'll find he has no friends, no money and nowhere to go," said one diplomat who has been closely involved in the push to persuade Nur to sign.

The other holdout leader is Khalil Ibrahim of the JEM, and his position appears even more precarious. Ibrahim has few fighters and his support in Darfur has dwindled. The movement survives mainly on funding from Islamist networks.

Ibrahim has used Chad, where President Idriss Deby is a tribal ally, as a base, but that could be about to change.

"Deby told Khalil that if he does not sign by May 31, he must leave Chad because the AU and UN are sanctioning non-signatories. Khalil was surprised," said a Western diplomat in the Chadian capital N'Djamena.

Sudan's militias violating ceasefire pact in Darfur - UN, AU

Armed militias have repeatedly broken a cease-fire in Darfur since a Sudanese peace agreement was signed a week and a half ago, the AU and the UN said Tuesday - Sudan Tribune - report May 17:

Arab militias known as the Janjaweed on Monday attacked at least two villages in the north of this vast, arid region of western Sudan, the AU said.

An unidentified armed group launched a separate attack Sunday in southern Darfur, the UN said.

Photo: Waiting for peace: Children are pictured at Abu Shouk camp, located 7km north-west of Al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. (AFP/Ramzi Haidar/Yahoo)

Attacks on 7 villages around Kutum town, North Darfur

May 17 2006 Sudan Tribune - Janjaweed militia attacks villagers despite peace deal - The Janjawid militia have launched a widespread attack against the villages of Kori, Karbi and Lari Kangra on the outskirts of Kutum in North Darfur.

May 18 ST/AP report - Militia have killed 11 people in Darfur says UN - The attacks, which violated the May 5 peace agreement, occurred in seven villages around the town of Kutum in north Darfur on Monday, the UN said. The UN did not blame any specific group for the attacks, but the AU has said the raids were carried out by the Janjaweed - an Arab militia allegedly backed by the government.

After peace, Darfur's rebel forces turn on each other and fight for Tawilla, North Darfur making it one of the most insecure regions of Darfur

With Darfur's remaining rebels still refusing to sign a peace deal, fighters that were united against the Sudanese government have turned on each other, UK Guardian reported May 17, 2006. Excerpt:

Around Tawilla thousands of civilians have been displaced since the beginning of the year following deadly violence between two ethnically-divided factions of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), Darfur's largest rebel movement.

In what has become a turf war for control of rebel-held territory, gunmen on pick-up trucks and horseback have been burning huts, killing, looting, and even raping women, in raids just as deadly as those of the Arab "Janjaweed" militia.



Photo: Members of the Sudanese Liberation Army north Darfur province, May 15, 2006. (Candace Feit/Reuters)

Villages that had been emptied due to raids by government forces are once again deserted. Camps for displaced people on the outskirts of town lie abandoned, their terrified former residents having barricaded themselves in makeshift shelters against the razor wire surrounding the African Union peacekeepers' base. All but one international NGO have left.

"Initially the trouble here was the government forces," said an AU military observer based in Tawilla, two hours' drive west of the state capital, El Fasher. "But now these different SLA groups fighting each other have become the problem."



Photo: A soldier with the Government of Sudan sits next to weapons and ammunition at an outpost in Sudan's northern Darfur town of Tawilla May 17, 2006. (Reuters/Candace Feit)

Fighting between the rebels reached its peak before the peace agreement was signed on May 5 by Sudan's government and the larger faction of the SLA, which was desperate to make territorial gains before the ceasefire.

Hopes of an end to the rebels' mutual enmity, which has added another layer to an already muddled conflict, were dashed again on Monday when the SLA faction led by Abdel Wahid ignored an extended deadline to accept the Darfur peace agreement. A third, smaller, group, the Justice and Equality Movement, is also holding out. Mr Wahid is demanding more detailed provisions on compensation for the war's victims and disarmament of the Janjaweed militia. There are serious doubts as to whether the peace accord can hold. Negotiators have again extended the deadline for the rebel groups to join the agreement to May 31.

Yesterday the UN security council passed a resolution to speed up planning for a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur and threatened sanctions against anyone who opposed the May 5 accord. On Monday the African Union agreed to transfer authority for its 7,300 strong peacekeeping force to the UN by the end of September.

The latest twist in the Darfur crisis follows a major falling out late last year in the leadership of the SLA, a broad-based guerrilla movement formed to protest against the region's marginalisation by the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum.

Minni Arcua Minnawi, the group's secretary-general, took with him the larger share of the fighters and weapons. Most of his men are Zaghawa, a cattle-herding tribe. Mr Wahid, the SLA chairman, and a member of the sedentary Fur, Darfur's largest tribe, was left with a smaller force but a large support base.

"We thought we would meet up in Khartoum, as we still had the same objectives," said Commander "Tiger" Mohamed, from the Wahid faction, who arrived in the deserted village of Tina yesterday with several dozen of his fighters.

Some of his men, a motley gang wearing turbans and leather amulets, took part in the 2003 attack on government forces in El Fasher that helped spark the Darfur conflict. Retribution came quickly to Tawilla, where the vast expanse of desert gives way to rocky foothills to the west, as government forces attacked African tribes.



Photo: An armed member of a faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) led by Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur walks in Tina, north Darfur province of Sudan, May 16, 2006. (Reuters/Candace Feit)

The SLA "liberated" the area more than a year ago, bringing a degree of stability. Civilians began returning to their fields to plant crops. Some even returned to their villages near the town. But since February this year Tawilla has become one of the most insecure regions of Darfur as rebels under Mr Minnawi sought to capture territory from their rival faction. Civilians were caught in the crossfire. The initial attack, at Korma, left 12 of Mr Wahid's fighters dead, along with numerous bystanders. Attacks on villages continued throughout the next two months. On April 19 the Minni rebels attacked the village of Tina, forcing all the inhabitants to Tawilla and looting their property.

"When you see the suffering around Tawilla, it is because of Minni," said Mohamed, a thin man wearing military fatigues. "He has a secret agenda of wanting to create a big 'Zaghawaland' but we are fighting for all the people of Darfur."



Photo: An African Union peacekeeper patrols Shok Shok village after an attack by a rebel faction in Sudan's northern Darfur province, May 14, 2006. (Reuters/Candace Feit)

US's Zoellick phoned Save Darfur Coalition to express his thanks for level of US activisim

Copy of email just in from David Rubenstein of Save Darfur.org in New York:

Dear Supporter,

Thanks to your efforts and the efforts of many others working to create a lasting peace in Darfur, I am pleased to report we have seen significant progress in recent weeks.

On May 5, the Sudanese government and Darfur's largest rebel faction signed the Darfur Peace Agreement, laying out a plan to end three years of violence and raising hopes for a lasting peace in Darfur. There is a much more to do, however, before that hope is realized.

In the next two weeks, the Sudanese government and the two remaining rebel factions must come to terms in order to ensure a strong building block for a lasting peace. With or without additional signers, it is imperative that the parties live up to their commitments to end the genocide and rebuild Darfur.

Another significant step forward was taken just yesterday, as the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution demanding strict observance of the peace agreement, and calling for a quick transition from the current African Union peacekeeping force to a stronger UN force. Prior to the signing of the peace agreement, Sudanese President Bashir opposed a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur by saying that there was no peace to keep. With this peace agreement, however, that argument has been rendered moot.

Soon there will be a joint UN-African Union assessment mission dispatched to Darfur to assess the situation. Following their return, the stage will be set for UN Security Council consideration of a second resolution to actually authorize the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force.

These are real, substantive steps forward, and you helped make them happen.

In fact, just one day after over 50,000 rallied on the National Mall in Washington, DC, and thousands more rallied at events across the country, President Bush dispatched Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick to the peace talks to make sure that an agreement was reached.

Upon his return, Deputy Secretary Zoellick personally called the Save Darfur Coalition to express his thanks for the level of U.S. activism which helped make the peace deal possible. In an interview last week, he said that "of all I've dealt with in foreign policy over some 20 years that I'm not sure I've ever seen as much broad support from churches, from communities and universities."

Your collective voices have helped accomplish amazing results thus far!

But much more still remains to be done. Work at the UN is far from over, funding for humanitarian aid and peacekeeping falls short and puts millions of lives at risk. And above all, the people of Darfur still must contend with the dual threats of violence and starvation every day.

As we continue the fight, there will be many more opportunities for you take action and help make a difference.

Best regards,

David Rubenstein
Save Darfur Coalition

Oxfam worker in Sudan says problems in Darfur are only going to be resolved by a political process

VOA interview with Alun McDonald who works for Oxfam in Sudan - by Angel Tabe, via Blogger News Network - excerpt:

McDonald says because the problems in Dafur are only going to be resolved by a political process, the peace agreement is a very positive move. "It's definitely a move in the right direction, but the history of agreements on Dafur means that we have to be cautious, take steps to ensure that what is agreed is actually implemented and there is an improvement on the ground, for example strengthening the AU force that is in Dafur at the moment ... just seven thousand troops to secure this whole area, they have hardly any funding, a mandate that doesn't allow them to protect civilians, so we need more troops, more funding and a stronger mandate."

As some speculate that the displaced may go home by the rainy season, McDonald says, "We are not at the stage when we can start talking about return.. People going short distances to the market, collect firewood, short distances outside the camps, are still risking their lives, so they are certainly not ready to travel dozens of miles. What needs to be done is strengthening the AU force so that patrols are carried out in rural areas."

McDonald says the threat of attacks by Al Quaeda is serious, but, "We are not letting it affect our work. There are more than three million people who need humanitarian assistance, so organisations generally are committed to providing that."

African Union force faces grim obstacles in Darfur

"Colonel Muraina Raji, the commander of about 800 troops based in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, said peacekeeping here is possible, but not with the resources he now has at his disposal," writes Lydia Polgreen (NYT/IHT May 17, 2006) from Menawashei, Sudan:

"If they had given us the resources, we could do this," he said. "My sector is very big but I have only one battalion. If I had three battalions, I would be fine."

As it is, his officers just make do with what they have.

Armed only with a thick notebook, Kadangha, the Togolese military observer who has been here for 10 months, marched into the South Darfur village of Menawashei to assess the security situation. He has been here many times before, and the story is always the same - Arab bandits on camels and horseback attacking non-Arab villages. Sometimes they only steal; sometimes they rape and kill. That day he received a grim report of both.

Kadangha listened and carefully took notes as villagers described the vicious attack by Arab militants last week. The militants killed one woman, shot six others and raped 15 women, witnesses said.

The village sheik, Omar Muhammad Abakar, was not happy to see the major.

"I don't want to talk to you," he said. "I have given you so many reports, but you did nothing. Many rape cases were reported and you conduct many patrols. But you have done nothing."

This is something Kadangha hears every day. He takes dozens of reports and sends them to the cease-fire commission, made up of representatives of the warring factions, but nothing ever happens to the violators.

Taking reports and making patrols is nearly all the African Union is mandated to do. Since arriving in 2004, the African Union force has been here to monitor - but not enforce - the ceasefire agreement signed between the rebels and the government that year in Ndjamena, Chad's capital.

Note, the report points out such sensitive issues as the disarmament of pro-government janjaweed militias, scheduled to be complete by October, will take place under the auspices of the African Union force, which is ill- equipped to handle its current, limited mandate, never mind potentially explosive new duties. Also,

Because of financial problems, the African Union soldiers are paid irregularly. Many have not received their pay in two or three months.

Yet their work is difficult. They patrol under a punishing sun from morning till night, each with just a small bottle of water to drink and no food.

Darfur's nearly 520,000 square kilometers, or 200,000 square miles, are vast and forbidding, crossed by just one major paved road. Going a few dozen miles can be a dusty, bumpy half-day affair. A journey of 120 kilometers, or 75 miles, more usually requires an overnight trip.

The African Union force is small enough that, spread out, each soldier would oversee an area larger than Manhattan.

[They all deserve medals]

UN special envoy Jan Pronk heads to West Darfur

UN SGSR Jan Pronk, headed today for West Darfur to reinforce the efforts exerted to win a large scale support for the Darfur Peace Agreement Bahrain News Agency reported May 17, 2006:

Official Spokesman of the UN delegation to Sudan, Baha Al Kousi, said Pronk will meet West Darfur Governor, the representatives of the African Union, civil society and humanitarian organisations as well as the representatives of the Sudanese armed groups which objected to the peace accord. Pronk hailed the peace accord, stressing the need to back up efforts to implement it and draw more support.

Sudanese driver of kidnapped Arab diplomat dies in Baghdad

"These honest consulates work to help the Iraqi people ... I call on the kidnappers to release him for the benefit of Iraq," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of main bloc representing Iraq's Sunni minority, the Accordance Front. Full report Reuters May 17, 2006.

Sudan says will not open talks on Darfur peace deal

Sudan refused on Wednesday to reopen negotiation on a peace deal signed between the government and a main rebel faction in Darfur May 5, 2006.

"We will not open the negotiation again and there is no problem (in the peace agreement) which should be negotiated any more," Sudan's government delegation to Abuja talks spokesperson Amin Hassan Omer told reporters. Full report ST/Xinhua May 17. 2006.

EU to extend civilian-military training to AU in Darfur plus EUR 50m in addition to EUR 162m already provided

Excerpt from EU Council Conclusions on Sudan at a meeting in Brussels, 15 May 2006:

Full normalisation of relations with Sudan will depend on progress achieved in implementing the CPA and the DPA and on a nationwide political process leading to democratisation and peace in the whole of Sudan.

UK to give $40m to AU mission in Darfur bringing UK contribution to $100m

Following the UN Security Council's adoption of Resolution 1679 - support for the Darfur Peace Agreement; Minister for Africa Lord Triesman announced yesterday that Britain is to give a further GBP 20 million to support its implementation, Black Britain reported May 17, 2006:

The GBP 20 million being donated by the UK to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) brings the total contribution by the UK to over GBP 52 million. Lord Triesman said yesterday that now: "other donors must do their bit."

The Minister for Africa said that a speedy transfer from AMIS to the proposed UN peacekeeping mission is essential. Referring to the continued interference by the Government of Sudan, Lord Triesman said:

"The moment has arrived for the Government of Sudan to drop its objections." Top of the agenda is for the Sudanese government to allow a UN/AU assessment mission into Darfur to asses how the handover will be implemented.

Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, who was present at the final days of the peace talks called on those who had not yet signed up to the peace deal to do so without delay. He said:

"The UK Government is ready to play its part in support of implementation, and we will continue to press for sanctions against those who impede the peace process."

Japan to give $8.7m to AU mission in Darfur + $10m in medical support

The Japanese government on May 16 decided to provide about 8.7 million USD in emergency grant aid to support the activities of the AU aimed at resolving the Darfur conflict in western Sudan, Viet Nam News Agency reported May 17, 2006:

The money will cover costs arising from the activities of the African Union Mission in Sudan such as publicity efforts, humanitarian assistance and peace negotiations, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

It will also support the work of the Darfur integration task force set up within the African Union to oversee the conflict, which erupted in 2003, and to support the mission's activities, according to Japan's Kyodo News.

May 16 2006 Sudan Tribune unsourced article from Tokyo: Japan donates $8,7 mln to AU force in Darfur: The aid, decided by the Cabinet on Tuesday morning, is the first specific step in Japan's contributions to help resolve the conflict, which Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced during his trip to Africa from late April to early May. Koizumi unveiled the Japanese government's plan to contribute about $8.7 million to support activities aimed at resolving the conflict and about $10 million in medical support.