SLA's Minnawi arrives in Egypt to meet with AL chief

Darfur's SLA rebel leader Minni Minawi arrived in Cairo Wednesday leading a delegation of his movement on a visit to Egypt. Ambassador Masum Marzuq, the director of Sudan Department at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, welcomed Minnawi at Cairo airport.

In statements upon arrival, Minnawi underlined the importance of the Arab League's role together with that of Egypt in establishing stability in Darfur. During his several days' visit, the first of its kind, he is to meet with Arab League chief Amr Musa and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit. - Sudan Tribune 6 July 2006.

Sudanese Embassy in Washington calls for UN and AU to impose sanctions on JEM/NFR leaders for attack on Hamrat AlSheikh, N Kordofan

Following is a release from the Embassy of Sudan - via U.S. Newswire July 5:

In a flagrant aggression and total disregard of human lives, a joint group of the non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement, i.e., Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and elements of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), carried out an attack outside the region, on Hamrat AlSheikh, a town about 250 miles from Khartoum in the State of North Kordofan. The outlaws attacked the town with 50 trucks armed with heavy weapons. As a result of the attacks, 12 people died and almost the entire population of the town fled their homes. Justification made by the rebels for the attack was to show their ability to hit wherever they like! They are bragging about their ability to create human tragedies by killing and displacing innocent people.

Ambassador Khidir Haroun Ahmed, Chief of Mission, said that the attack is reminiscent to what they did in 2003 in Darfur. He added, "They destroyed the Sudan Telecommunication headquarters, schools and the only hospital in town." Ambassador Ahmed welcomed the U.S. Administration's condemnation of the attack saying that the U.S. Congress, religious and civic organizations should follow suit. He said the U.N. as well as AU should impose sanctions on the leaders of the perpetrators of the attack and urge neighboring countries to respect their commitment for peace making in Sudan.

I find it difficult to understand why sanctions have not been imposed on rebel group leaders. Even law abiding citizens experience difficulty in obtaining permits to enter the US and UK. Why are outlaws free to come and go as they please?

Six killed in attack on German aid vehicle in southern Sudan

At least six people were killed and 11 wounded when gunmen ambushed a German aid agency vehicle in southern Sudan Monday, AFP reported today.

IRIN says unconfirmed reports blamed the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) for the attack -- if true, this would prove embarrassing for the south Sudanese government, which is mediating talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government, an observer said.

See related story: 'UGANDA: LRA leader must be arrested, ICC insists' at:
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54405]

Sudan summons Eritrean envoy to ask why Eritrea hosts JEM/NRF rebel leadership based in Asmara, Eritrea

Sudan has summoned the Eritrean ambassador to ask why Eritrea is playing host to a Darfur rebel alliance that attacked a town, the Sudanese foreign minister said on Wednesday. Reuters report by Opheera McDoom via WP July 5, 2006 - excerpt:

The National Redemption Front (NRF) is an alliance of Darfur rebels and political parties who reject a May 5 peace deal. It was formed in the Eritrean capital Asmara last week and attacked Hamrat al-Sheikh, 200 km (120 miles) from Khartoum, on Monday.

"If they form a movement in Asmara and come and fight against Sudan and we have asked Asmara to mediate in problems in the east then that does not augur well for peace," Foreign Minister Lam Akol told Reuters.

He said he had summoned the Eritrean ambassador on Tuesday to send a message to Asmara asking for clarification as to why they were "hosting" the rebel alliance.

The rebel leadership is based in the Eritrean capital Asmara, with the knowledge of the government.

Eritrean-Sudanese relations have substantially warmed in recent months and Asmara sent an ambassador to Khartoum in June. Asmara is mediating in talks intended to end a simmering decade-old conflict in Sudan's arid east.

Previously the two countries had no diplomatic relations because an array of Sudanese opposition parties and military movements had a presence on Eritrean territory, and Khartoum accused Asmara of running training camps for rebels.

Most of the opposition groups have since either signed agreements with Khartoum or are in peace negotiations.

ERITREAN MEDIATION

But Eritrea's hosting of the new rebel alliance has raised a question over its ability to mediate neutrally, Akol said.

"This is why we are seeking clarification so we can get an answer to that question -- we told them we need an immediate answer," he added. The Eritrean embassy in Khartoum declined to immediately comment.

Monday's attack in North Kordofan, which neighbors Darfur, forced a hasty response from Sudan's armed forces, who dispatched bombers to repulse the offensive.

The NRF said an April 2004 humanitarian ceasefire was dead, the first time a rebel group has openly denounced the truce, although it has been largely ignored by all parties.

Sudanese presidential adviser Majzoub al-Khalifa on Wednesday also accused its western neighbor Chad of supporting the NRF, in comments carried in state-owned press.

Chad has played host to many of the rebel commanders involved in Monday's attack. Sudan has also been home to Chadian insurgents bent on overthrowing President Idriss Deby.

JEM/NRF attack on Kordofan kills 12: JEM's Ahmed Hussein phoned Al-Jazeera TV from London - Why are JEM/NRF permitted in England?

The Sudanese government said Tuesday it had protested to the U.N. Security Council, the AU and the Arab League over an attack by rebels from Darfur on a town in a neighboring region where at least a dozen people were killed. July 5 2006 AP report by Mohamed Osman via Times Daily - excerpt:

The Sudanese army said the raid Monday on the town of Hamarat Sheikh in the Kordofan region was carried out by rebel groups that have refused to sign on to a May 5 peace agreement to end more than three years of fighting in Darfur.

"The attack on the town was carried out by a Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement," army spokesman Brig. Osman Mohamed al-Aghbash said. "Most of the civilians in the town have fled the area to save their lives." The rebels killed civilians and police, the army said. The Foreign Ministry said the Justice and Equality Movement and dissident groups from the Sudan Liberation Movement "conceded to having committed this heinous crime against their homeland."

A spokesman for the JEM claimed his group had acted in self-defense. "The aggression was on our people. We just want to defend ourselves because within recent days, there was an attack carried out by the Sudanese army ... our people were thrown out of their homes in Darfur," JEM spokesman Ahmed Hussein told Al-Jazeera television by telephone from London.

Hamarat Sheikh is about half way between El Fasher, the capital of remote Darfur, and the Sudanese capital Khartoum about 250 miles to the east. The desert town is inhabited mostly by Arab tribal groups that trade camels and food with neighboring Libya and Egypt.

An eyewitness told The Associated Press Monday that a group of rebels in more than 50 cars attacked the town. "They began by occupying government building and making much noise ... then we heard shootings," said the witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "Then they confiscated all trucks and cars belonging to private citizens and to the government."

The region's governor, Faisal Hassan Ibrahim, told local media Monday that 10 police officers and several civilians were killed in the raid. The governor, who had fled the town, confirmed eyewitness reports that rebels destroyed almost every government building in the zone.

Authorities said they were chasing the rebel troops into the desert Tuesday and other reports indicated that sporadic fighting continued to erupt around Hamarat Sheikh.

[Note JEM spokesman Ahmed Hussein contacted Al-Jazeera television by telephone from London. What are Darfur guerrillas doing in London? What is their residency status? I strongly object to the fact that they are permitted to operate out of the UK]

Sudanese ex rebel FVP Salva Kiir to visit Washington 18 July

Sudanese First Vice President Salva Kiir, a former rebel, will visit Washington to discuss peace implementation and US aid to the southern Sudan besides related questions as the economic sanctions. Full story at Sudan Tribune 5 July 2006.



Kiir's visit to Washington will be the second since he took over the SPLM in August following the death of First Vice President John Garang in a helicopter crash. Photo: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice walks with Sudanese Vice President Salva Kiir after their meeting at the State Department in Washington, Nov 1 2005. (AP)

Ireland urges Sudan to stay firm on Darfur deal

The Irish minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, arrived in Khartoum yesterday to urge the Sudanese government not to falter in efforts to end the three-year conflict in Darfur at a time when a shaky peace deal shows signs of fracturing. Ahern spent the day meeting government officials, UN reps and aid agencies in Khartoum and was due to fly to Darfur today, Irish Times reported 4 July [via Sudan Tribune] 5 July. Excerpt:

Raymond Jordan, emergency co-ordinator for Goal, said the deal had splintered rebel groups, making it difficult to know which commander controlled which region, and whether they could guarantee the safety of aid workers.

Vehicles used by NGOs are also being deliberately targeted for hijack. The result, he said, was that Goal had suspended three-quarters of its operations, leaving tens of thousands of people without aid.

"It has always been difficult to work in Darfur but now it is simply not possible to work in the vast majority of our areas. The peace agreement is not working on the ground for women, children and the most vulnerable people, and that's the reality."

Ahern also met Pronk to hear his concerns that the peace agreement needed more provisions for security, disarmament and compensation for victims.

Dafur rebels are a squabbling rabble costing lives

The key political battle in Darfur is now being waged inside the SLA, writes Telegraph Correspondent David Blair in his blog entry July 3. Excerpt:

Minni Minawi, the leader of the rebel faction who signed the deal, is embroiled in a power struggle with Abdul Wahid al-Nur, the standard bearer of the SLA's rejectionist wing. Tribalism lies at the heart of this bitter rivalry. Minawi is from the Zaghawa tribe while Nur is from the much larger Fur tribe.

This struggle between these two men is costing lives. Most of the fighting in Darfur is now taking place within the ranks of the SLA, where tribal antagonism between Fur and Zaghawa is acute. The clash between Minawi and Nur is also polarising the refugee camps, where many of their followers live.

Full story. [hat tip POTP]

Increased radicalisation of youth inside Kalma camp, South Darfur - Nighttime AU soldiers needed inside camp

Violent attacks have increased in the largest camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur according to observers, IRIN reported 4 July 2006. Excerpt:

In Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, an analyst said the security situation in nearby Kalma camp had worsened since the signing of the Darfur peace deal on 5 May, adding that the worst attacks were taking place at night.

"There has been an increased radicalisation of youth inside the camp," he said. "Many people don't accept the Darfur Peace Agreement [DPA] or the security mechanisms of the DPA."

"The violence seems politically motivated, but it is not clear whether the perpetrators are coming from inside the camp or enter from the outside," he added.

On Friday, unknown gunmen killed the watchman of an international nongovernmental organisation inside Kalma camp. The following two nights, the compounds of other NGOs were robbed as well.

In separate incidents on Friday, two IDPs were shot by armed men; both were wounded in the attacks. In previous attacks last week, an IDP shelter was looted and six armed men unsuccessfully attempted to steal a pumping machine at a water point.

A nighttime presence of African Union (AU) soldiers inside the camp was urgently needed, a regional observer said, but so far the cash-strapped peacekeepers were only undertaking daytime patrols.

[More on the security situation in UN Situation Report recently posted here at Sudan Watch. Note, the AU undertake daytime patrols because Khartoum imposed a curfew, not allowing AU patrols after 6pm - see reports here below]

Feb 21 2006 UK urges lifting of Sudan curfew - AU says curfew hinders Darfur peacekeepers

Feb 22 2006 Important BBC Four Radio Interview with Hilary Benn: Sudan's curfew hinders Darfur peacekeepers and aid workers

Khartoum says it will present, within a month from July 2, a clear working plan on UN, AU roles

Sudanese FM Lam Akol said Monday that the Sudanese government will present a clear working plan to what the UN and the AU roles would be in helping bring peace and stability in Darfur, Kuna reported July 3, 2006:

Akol added the plan will be ready within a month from yesterday's meeting between Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in the African summit.

Akol said in a press release the meeting resulted in an agreement to support AU's troops in Darfur and helping them do what they are supposed to do based on Darfur peace accord, adding to put pressure on groups refusing to abide by agreements and who try to stall the peace process.

The Sudanese Minister added Annan and Al-Bashir stressed importance on the immediate execution of Abuja peace accord which was under the African Union sponsorship.

July 3 2006 UN envoy Jan Pronk welcomes announcement by GoS to present plan for disarmament of Janjaweed in Darfur

Dinkas poignant return home for first time since 1991 when Khartoum sent the Nuer to massacre 2,000 Dinkas in Bor

Copy of report by BBC correspondent Jane Standley 1 July 2006:

Fifteen years ago in Bor in southern Sudan, militia allied to the government in far-off Khartoum carried out a massacre killing an estimated 2,000 people, mostly ethnic Dinkas. Now the people who fled the massacre are returning, hoping to reclaim the land of their ancestors.

Bor is a place consumed in wrenching sadness.

It is remote and, in the rainy season - cut off.

The red dirt of what passes for roads becomes a soup of mud and landmines, the craterous airstrips, unusable.

In the early 1990s, after the massacre, it was occupied by the forces of Sudan's Islamist government and run as a garrison outpost for its Arab troops.

They were fighting the long-running civil war against the Christians and animists of the southern rebel movements.

But now there is peace at last, the rebels are in control of the south and the town is open to visitors.

The first sight for me and for many of the people now going home to Bor after 15 years or more, is the port.

There is no dock here, no jetty, just the banks of the River Nile, littered with rubbish and sewage. Home to large crocodiles and a place where cholera is rampant.



Coming home

James Anyang came back last year.

He had heard, while in a refugee camp in neighbouring Uganda, that his mother had been killed in the massacre.

Then he found out that his eldest brother was also dead. His father, strong and well when he left, is now an old man - weakened by the struggle to survive while Bor was under brutal occupation.

James showed me the lush spots along the river banks where people from the garrison used to dump the bodies of those they had killed. Everyone in Bor knows what lies under the reeds.

James is an elder at the ramshackle Anglican church which is actually Bor Cathedral. There is a Bishop here. The cathedral reopened in the last few months.

Today, the sun streams through the bullet holes in the roof, dancing circles of light illuminate the faces of the worshippers.

Like James they are Dinka - the largest ethnic group in southern Sudan - and the founders and the backbone of the rebel movement which now governs the region.

Bor is the Dinka heartland - the tall, willowy, ebony black people live lives centred around cattle, as they have done for thousands of years.

Dirty work

In 1991, the Khartoum government peeled off the disgruntled leaders of a smaller tribe - the Nuer - from the rebel movement and sent them in to do its dirty work in Bor.

The killers went from hut to hut, slaughtering all who tried to run away - cutting them down with spears, machetes and the classic weapon of African warfare - the AK-47.

Those who could not run fast enough - the old, the disabled, the sick, the young - were crammed into huts - which were set on fire.

Their beloved cattle were not spared either. They were either stolen or shot. Their corpses left for the vultures to pick over when they had tired of human flesh.

The dirt tracks leading out of Bor were crammed with Dinka trying to flee. Some carrying the scant possessions they could snatch up, others with nothing - naked and hungry.

In the years which followed, tens of thousands died from famine. They had no cows any more and the fighting had displaced them from the land they had once cultivated.

There is little record of the massacre. As far as I know, just one shaky and rushed videotape.

It was filmed by an Irish priest turned aid worker who stumbled on the immediate aftermath of the slaughter and then took his film to journalists, begging them to bring attention to the killings.

I remembered the tape from my first stint working in Africa and have just watched it again.

Lost people

Time has not made it easier viewing.

There is a shot of the twisted body of a middle-aged man which makes me think of a woman I have just met in Bor named Rebecca Agok.

She managed to flee at the height of the killings, but her father-in-law had his throat cut in front of her.

How can people like her rebuild their lives here? There is literally nothing - no clean water, little food, no work and a very poor hospital.

There will surely be conflict over these scarce resources.

But James Anyang - determinedly - says no. "Neighbours will rub along," he maintains. "They have to. We have come back to reclaim our home, to venerate and live in the land of our ancestors, our lost people."

Then, he points to a second crowd of worshippers waiting to go inside Bor Cathedral, after the Anglican service has ended.

"They're the Nuer people," he says with a smile, "the Presbyterian missionaries got to them first!"

"But they're the ones who committed the massacre," I said.

"It was politics," James tells me, "not people. You know, we have to forgive. We can't be held captive by the massacre forever. We cannot ever forget, but we can forgive."
- - -

THE DINKA'S EPIC TREK ACROSS SOUTH SUDAN

This story and photos always bring a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes.



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



Photo: Feb 9 2006 The Dinka's epic trek across South Sudan continues - 250,000 cattle have arrived so far in 34 cattle camps around Bor.

Please switch on your computer's sound and take a few minutes to watch a powerful National Geographic video report: Shattered Sudan - Drilling for Oil, Hoping for Peace.

And note, A prayer for the janjaweed rape babies.

UN envoy Jan Pronk welcomes announcement by GoS to present plan for disarmament of Janjaweed in Darfur

July 3, 2006 UN News Centre report excerpt:

"While welcoming the recent announcement by the Sudanese Government to present a plan for the disarmament of the Janjaweed militiamen in Darfur, Mr Pronk warned that continued militia attacks on internally displaced persons in Darfur were hampering implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement," a UN spokesperson told reporters in New York.

In his latest report to the Security Council on the region, which covers the month of May and which was issued today, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan states that "disarming the Janjaweed, improving civilian protection and strengthening ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanisms are absolute priorities."

Another "serious concern" he highlights is that the "work of United Nations agencies and NGOs continues to be hindered by banditry targeting humanitarian personnel and assets."

"Young people have really been at the centre of this conflict. Children have really been hit harder than anyone else. The camps are 90 per cent women and children. That's a population of 2 million people now," said UNICEF spokesperson Ronan Farrow.

Chad army fights FUC rebel attack in Ade near Sudan border

Chadian rebels attacked an eastern town near the border with Sudan on Monday but the government said its soldiers had put down the assault, killing several insurgents and taking a number of prisoners. In turn, the rebels said they had entered the town of Ade and claimed victory for their fighters, saying they were chasing off fleeing remnants of the government force. It was not immediately possible to verify either version of events.

"After violent clashes, forces under the command of Colonel Mahamat Hassane Al-inghaz have just entered the town of Ade," Albissaty Saleh Allazam, spokesman for the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC), told Reuters. "These forces ... are chasing government troops who are fleeing," he said.

Ade lies some 750 km (470 miles) east of the capital N'Djamena. - Reuters July 3, 2006. [Note how the rebels use Reuters]



Photo: Members of the JEM (Justice Equality Movement) speak on radios near the village of Tere in the Mestre area of western Sudan near to the border with Chad, August 19, 2004. A new alliance of Darfur rebel commanders and political parties have attacked a town on the road to the capital Khartoum, declaring a 27-month-old truce dead, rebels and officials said on Monday. (Reuters/Luc Gnago/Yahoo News)

U.N.'s 3 steps to activate Darfur accord - Jan Pronk sought to activate the DPA not reformulate it to include parties who opposed it

Just in from UPI - U.N.'s 3 steps to activate Darfur accord:

The U.N. representative in Sudan refuted claims that he sought to reformulate a Darfur peace agreement, stressing the urgent need for immediate implementation.

Jan Pronk said in a statement Monday "the peace agreement over Darfur reached in Abuja (Nigeria) is still facing resistance on the ground, especially by refugees, mainly due to wrong interpretations which limit the accord's effectiveness in restoring security and stability to the province."

He argued that three steps should be taken urgently in order to deal with the situation, which is becoming more complex with delays in implementation of the accord.

"The first step is to implement what was agreed upon at the right time because delays in implementation will strengthen the stance of those opposing the agreement," Pronk said.

The second step stipulates gaining larger support for the accord, securing genuine international guarantees and disarming clearly and seriously the Arab Janjaweed militias accused of committing racial cleansing in the war-torn province in west Sudan.

The third step, Pronk said, will be to secure more funds for compensation and reconstruction of areas inhabited by the displaced and the refugees before they are driven further away.

"These steps should be implemented immediately in order to transform Abuja's accord into a sustained treaty," he added.

Pronk denied reports that he had called for rectifying the accord over Darfur in order to include the parties who opposed it, stressing that what he proposed last week was misinterpreted and that he sought to activate the agreement and not reformulate it.

Pronk had said the agreement needed international guarantees and a clearer plan for disarming Arab militias and paying compensation to the victims of war.

- - -

May 21 2006 Jan Pronk's Weblog: "What about the Janjaweed? Will the peace agreement stop them?" - UN SGSR Jan Pronk in his blog entry May 19, 2006 points out that despite the fact that Abdul Wahid did not yet sign the Abuja peace agreement, he had signed earlier cease fire agreements, he is still bound by his signature and can be taken to task ... Note also this excerpt [edit] The people behind Minie Minawi and Abdul Wahid will only believe in the peace agreement if they see that the government and the international community together are serious and successful in stopping the Janjaweed. Then they might press their leaders to reconcile. This also may be the most effective way to bring Abdul Wahid aboard.

Mainstream media misinterpreted says Pronk

Note, when I first read Jan Pronk's blog entry, I interpreted it as great suggestions on How to put new life into Darfur's Peace Agreement which is why I chose to use those words in the title as I felt it conveyed the report as positive and constructive.

It took mainstream media journalists three days to pick up on Mr Pronks blog entry. Here is a snapshot from a few headlines at Google news. Most of the other reporters used the same or similar headlines as those listed below. Flaming sheep. Hardly any of them got it right. Best ones are UPI (see above) "U.N.'s 3 steps to activate Darfur accord"; International Herald Tribune, France: "Darfur pact needs help, UN aide says"; Independent Online South Africa: "Darfur peace deal can be saved, says Pronk"

UN chief in Sudan says Darfur peace deal on brink of collapse
Lake Sun Leader (subscription) MO - 1 hour ago ...Pronk cited the arrival of UN peacekeepers as one of three steps to save Darfur, along with implementing the peace agreement and broadening support for it. ...

Darfur peace deal can be saved, says Pronk
Independent Online South Africa - 1 hour ago
... said. Pronk said that without the peace agreement's implementation, the humanitarian situation in Darfur was worsening. "The demilitarised ...

Darfur peace deal on brink of collapse
Mail & Guardian Online South Africa - 1 hour ago
... said. Pronk said that without the peace agreement's implementation, the humanitarian situation in Darfur was worsening. "The demilitarised ...

Darfur deal near collapse
Chicago Daily Herald (subscription), IL - 2 hours ago
... Pronk cited the arrival of UN peacekeepers as one of three steps to save Darfur, along with implementing the peace agreement and broadening support for it. ...

Sudan peace deal at risk of collapse, UN envoy warns
Unison.ie Ireland - 5 hours ago
... "There is a significant risk that the Darfur peace agreement will collapse," Mr Pronk wrote in a web blog. "The agreement does not ...

UN chief: Darfur peace deal on brink of collapse
Jerusalem Post Israel - 10 hours ago
The "severely paralyzed" Darfur peace agreement "does not resonate with the people" and ... But Jan Pronk said the pact was still salvageable if revisions were made ...

Darfur pact needs help, UN aide says
International Herald Tribune, France - 20 hours ago
... Pronk cited the arrival of UN peacekeepers as one of three steps necessary to save Darfur, along with implementing the peace agreement and broadening support ...

UN: Darfur Peace Deal on Brink of Collapse
ABC News - 20 hours ago
... time.". Pronk said that without the peace agreement's implementation, the humanitarian situation in Darfur was worsening. "The demilitarized ...

UN envoy calls for changes to Darfur peace plan
Reuters South Africa - Jul 2, 2006
... Pronk also called for a UN takeover of the 7,000-strong AU force currently monitoring the shaky truce in Darfur, saying it was necessary to avoid a return to ...

PRONK ON DARFUR
Special Broadcasting Service Australia - Jul 1, 2006
The head of the United Nations mission in Sudan, Jan Pronk, says the Darfur peace agreement is in danger of collapse and need to be rewritten. ...

UN's Pronk calls for changes to Darfur peace plan
Sudan Tribune, Sudan - Jul 1, 2006
... Pronk also called for a UN takeover of the 7,000-strong AU force currently monitoring the shaky truce in Darfur, saying it was necessary to avoid a return to ...

UN envoy attacks Darfur agreement
BBC News, UK - Jul 1, 2006
... Minnie Minawi, the rebel leader who signed the deal, is not strong in Darfur, Mr Pronk said, calling for an effort to bring rival leader Abdul Wahid on board ...

Darfur agreement is severely paralysed
Sudan Tribune, Sudan - Jul 1, 2006
By Jan Pronk*. June 28, 2006 - There is a significant risk that the Darfur Peace Agreement will collapse. The agreement does not ...

UN envoy calls for changes to Darfur peace plan
Reuters AlertNet UK - Jul 1, 2006
... Pronk also called for a UN takeover of the 7,000-strong AU force currently monitoring the shaky truce in Darfur, saying it was necessary to avoid a return to ...

Results 71 - 80 of about 204 for DARFUR pronk. (0.22 seconds)

Sudan ready to fund AU peacekeepers in Darfur for 6 months

Sudan's president declared his country is prepared to bear the cost of AU peacekeepers in Darfur as an alternative to a UN force, Sudan's official news agency SUNA reported Sunday - AP/ST reported July 3, 2006 - excerpt:

Al-Bashir made the pledge to Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade during a meeting between the two leaders in Banjul, Gambia, the agency said.

Sudan was prepared to foot the bill for the forces for the next six months during which al-Bashir predicted the security situation would improve and there would be no need to deploy troops under the U.N, SUNA reported.

The Sudanese leader also complained Sunday that the international community was not doing enough to persuade those rebel factions that did not sign the Darfur Peace Agreement to join the process.

"Sudan was expecting to see intensive efforts to boost the peace deal and to exercise pressure on the groups that have refused to sign the deal," SUNA reported al-Bashir as saying.

Note, the current AU Mission in Darfur costs something in the region of $1 billion per annum.

JEM-NRF rebels attack Hamra al-Sheikh town in North Kordofan, Sudanese planes deployed - GoS

Just in from Reuters/Scotsman - Darfur rebels end truce with attack:

A new alliance of Darfur rebel commanders and political parties have attacked a town on the road to the capital Khartoum, declaring a 27-month-old truce dead, rebels and officials said on Monday.

One of three rebel factions signed an African Union-mediated peace deal in May but since then new alliances have been formed among those who reject the deal, saying it des not meet their basic demands.

"The forces of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) attacked a town in North Kordofan called Hamrat al-Sheikh," said a spokesman for the Sudan armed forces. "Sudanese planes have been deployed and the aggression is continuing," he added.

From Reuters.co.za:

Hamrat al-Sheikh is on the road between Khartoum and North Kordofan's main town el-Obeid. It is around 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Sudan's capital.

JEM has little military power on the ground in Darfur, where the other main rebel group, the fractious Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), controls most of the rebel territories.

JEM formed a new alliance last week called the National Redemption Front (NRF) with a few breakaway SLA commanders and a small political party, the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance.

Adam Ali Shogar, one of the SLA commanders in the NRF, told Reuters his forces were still in control of Hamrat al-Sheikh.

"God willing, we will be on our way to Khartoum," he said. "The government has shown it is not committed to the 2004 humanitarian ceasefire so this deal now has no meaning."

It was the first time a rebel group in Darfur openly stated it was disregarding the April 2004 truce, which had in any case been widely ignored by all sides to the conflict.

During the more than three years of revolt in Darfur, rebels often attacked in Kordofan, which neighbours Darfur, saying they were close to the capital. They never reached Khartoum.

- - -

June 30 2006 JEM-Ibrahim expands by forming alliance with SFDA & Darfur rebel holdouts to deal with all the issues of Sudan: National Redemption Front (NRF)

Sudanese FM Lam Akol says only parties to the DPA could agree any changes and amend the deal when reality on ground dictates

Sudan's foreign minister on Monday rejected suggestions by SRSG Jan Pronk to make additions to the Darfur Peace Agreement, Reuters' Opheera McDoom reported today - excerpt:

U.N. special envoy Jan Pronk wrote in his June 28 weblog that many things needed to added to the May 5 peace deal such as more transparency in disarming pro-government militias and international security guarantees, which were key demands of the rebels who refused to sign the deal.

But Foreign Minister Lam Akol dismissed Pronk's statement. "An addition is an amendment," he told reporters in Khartoum, adding only the parties to the deal could agree any changes to the deal. "We will never accept an amendment because Pronk says ... we will amend the peace deal when the reality on the ground dictates (and) it does not," he added.

Pronk called this a "new political fact" that required additions to the deal. But Akol said Pronk was in no position to say that. Calling Pronk "junior", he said: "Do I believe Pronk or do I believe (U.N. Secretary-General) Kofi Annan?" he said, adding Annan had not echoed his envoy's words when he met him on Sunday.

I say, do you think Mr Pronk would use his personal weblog to suggest how to put new life into Darfur's Peace Agreement, without clearance from his employers? I don't think he would. If you want to break an impasse, float an idea, open up dialogue, start a debate, shake a few trees, use a weblog! I'd like to see President Bashir start one. I'm serious, it would be great to learn more about life in Khartoum and what his colleagues, family and friends think about the millions of Sudanese people without homes, food, water, medics, education and gainful employment. I wonder what Mr Akol means when he says "... we will amend the peace deal when the reality on the ground dictates."



Photo: Sudan's National Assembly. Sudan Tribune article Sudanese parliament ratifies Darfur Peace Agreement July 1, 2006.

Displaced people in Mornei, West Darfur



Photo: Displaced persons rallying in camp Mornei, 30 miles South of El Geneina, West Darfur. The people demonstrate for peace, but against the Darfur Peace Agreement and against the cut in the food rations which had been announced shortly after the signing of the agreement. Caption: Jan Pronk - Weblog June 26, 2006. Photo: Paula Souverijn-Eisenberg

Romeo Dallaire says Darfur "is not a genocide but it is a (case of) massive crimes against humanity"

Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian senator (Liberal) who once commanded the UN mission in Rwanda, says AMIS needs "a second wave of reinforcements" to be able to wait out the arrival of UN troops, which won't be until sometime next year, Ottawa Citizen Laura Payton reported July 3, 2006. Excerpt:

Darfur has been the focus of much of Dallaire's public statements recently, and last week brought him the opportunity to make some progress as part of a UN committee on genocide prevention, which met for the first time to discuss its mandate.

The committee will focus on gathering intelligence and giving advice to the UN secretary general and the Security Council, the body at the UN that decides when to begin military action. Dallaire said the committee hopes to prevent future genocides like the 1994 massacre in Rwanda.

Besides watching out for genocide specifically, the committee wants to look at human rights abuses that don't qualify as genocide, like Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge or the ongoing violence in Sudan. "Cambodia killed a couple of million (people) but it wasn't a genocide because it was politically motivated, (involving people of) the same ethnicity," he said. Likewise, Darfur "is not a genocide but it is a (case of) massive crimes against humanity."

Note, the Canadian government (Conservative) pledged $20 million to the African union mission in Sudan last month. Canada has contributed $190 million to the mission since 2004, including money, equipment and military and civilian experts.

Bashir tells AU summit Chadian officers and soldiers fighting alongside rebels in Darfur and calls for protection of Sudanese refugees in Chad camps

July 3, 2006 Sudan Tribune report - Sudan expresses readiness to normalize bilateral ties with Chad - excerpt:

Addressing the African Summit on Sunday, President Omar al-Bashir stressed that Sudan has no interest to undermine the security of Chad, especially that its was working to boost the security in Darfur, which is related to the conditions in Chad.

He said that the implementation of the recently signed Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) would be difficult, unless comprehensive stability in Chad is achieved. He indicated that Sudan has made several attempts for normalization of its relations with neighbour Chad, despite the Chadian interventions in Darfur.

Al-Bashir denied in his speech Chadian accusations, adding that it was not true to claim that all the incidents in Chad were the creation of Sudan. He said that Chadian officers and soldiers are fighting alongside the rebels in Darfur.

He called for protection of the camps of the Sudanese refugees in Chad and halting the recruitment of children by elements who aim to abort DPA.

Al-Bashir pointed out that Sudan has did its best to implement the Tripoli declaration, which it has signed with Chad, through the concerned mechanisms and committees, but the Chadian government did not dispatch its envoys in accordance with the declaration.

The February 8 agreement signed by Chadian and Sudanese leaders in Tripoli came after N’Djamena declared itself in a state of war with Khartoum in December amid growing violence on the border.

Meanwhile, he stressed the importance of establishing relations between Sudan and Chad, which are to be based on good neighbourliness and cooperation to realize stability at the area and to maintain security at the joint border.

Darfur holdout rebels to meet Libyan leader

Darfur holdout rebels are to meet Libyan leader in the coming days in a bid to explain their position and persuade him to plead their cause with GoS. - ST (unsourced article Khartoum) July 2 2006.