Uganda Sudan Border Project - Stephen Alvarez photos

Excerpt from The Uganda Sudan Border Project:

For the past four years, photographer Stephen Alvarez has journeyed to the Uganda Sudan border area to document the effects of civil war and rebel insurgencies and the plight of refugees, night commuters, and civilians attempting to rebuild their lives.

Prints are available for purchase, all proceeds will suport the education of children at Amazing Grace Orphanage in Adjumani, Uganda and its sister orphanage, St Bartholomew's, in Kajo Keji, Sudan.

Susan Tabi founded Amazing Grace Orphanage in Adjumani, Uganda in 1994 to care for orphans of the Sudanese civil war. Ebzon Wudu joined her to help with admin of the orphanage.

Amazing Grace cares for over 30 children. The facility has 5 dorms, an office, kitchen and bathrooms. The team of 7 caretakers has created livestock and agricultural projects to help support themselves and the children.

Uganda: ICC still calling for Kony's arrest

Take this report and change the name of Kony to Bashir (and Uganda to Sudan) to get an idea of what Khartoum regime and its followers must be thinking when it comes to Darfur rebels getting UN troops onside.

Aug 28 2006 Reuters/CFD ICC Still Calling for Kony's Arrest:

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors said on Monday they still hoped for the arrest of leaders of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) despite an offer of amnesty by Uganda under the terms of a truce.

Leaders of the cult-like rebels, who are infamous for massacring civilians, mutilating survivors and kidnapping thousands of children, are wanted by the Hague-based Court to face war crimes charges.

"We believe that the countries or the states which have an obligation to execute the arrest warrant will do so," the court's deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told journalists.

"We still maintain that because we think those persons who bear the greatest responsibility should not go unpunished."

He was speaking at a news conference called to discuss a separate case and reiterating the Court's position.

The ICC issued arrest warrants against LRA leader Joseph Kony and his deputies last year but has no police force to hunt down its targets, so must rely on Ugandan, Sudanese and former southern Sudanese rebel troops to bring them to justice.

Under the terms of a truce agreed on Saturday, Uganda has offered amnesty to LRA leaders, including those hunted by the ICC, if they abandon their hideouts and assemble at two Sudanese camps within the next three weeks to thrash out a final deal.

The LRA said all leaders including the ICC indictees would come to the camps.

Asked about Uganda's truce offer, Bensouda said: "We certainly hope that they will execute the warrant that has been issued against the top leaders of the LRA."

Uganda begins ceasefire with LRA

Excerpt from BBC report today:

A ceasefire between Uganda's government and the Lord's Resistance Army rebels has come into force.

The truce, signed on Saturday, gives rebels three weeks to assemble at points in southern Sudan where the regional government will protect them.

Comprehensive peace talks are then meant to start. Uganda has pledged that it will not try to attack the rebels.

Thousands have died during the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda, and more than one million have fled their homes.

The ceasefire took effect at 0600 local time (0300 GMT) on Tuesday.

Ugandan army spokesman Maj Felix Kulayigye told the BBC that so far the truce was holding.

UN's Jan Egeland warns of looming catastrophe in Darfur

The United Nations' most senior humanitarian official issued a dire warning today about the situation in Darfur, stating that "a man-made catastrophe of an unprecedented scale" looms within weeks unless the Security Council acts immediately to deal with the spiralling violence, looting and internal displacement. Full story at UN News Centre 28 Aug 2006.

Dark Clouds Over Darfur

This may be symbolic for AMIS. The NRF and certain breakaway factions of JEM has threatened to target AMIS. They do not agree with what the DPA stands for. (Photo and caption courtesy Werner, Soldier of Africa 27 Aug 2006)

Changing of the Guard in Darfur



Changing of the guard. This is the first time I have really photographed this daily occurrence in our base. (Photo and caption by Werner of Soldier of Africa 27 Aug 2006)

Dinner Time in Darfur



We asked the protection force to prepare the dinner for last night and they did a real good job of it. Not only was the food very good, but the catering staff also dressed very nicely. I believe that the food makes any function good or bad. (Photo and caption by Werner of Soldier of Africa 27 Aug 2006)

SLM faction says Sudan Mujahideen are transported to camps in Darfur's Sarf, Omrah and Kabkabya janjaweed controlled zones

Sudan Tribune Aug 25, 2006 (PARIS):

A Darfur rebel group accused the Sudanese government of transporting Islamists Arab groups to Darfur region in order to train them to face the eventual arrival of United Nations force to the region.

According to a press statement by a faction of rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) signed by Esamedin Al Haj, Sudanese government transports Arab Mujahideen in night flights after the curfew to Nyala and Al-Fasher airports.

Al-Haj added that the Mujahideen are transported to camps in Sarf, Omrah and Kabkabya, areas known as Janjaweed controlled zones.

Sudanese ruling National Congress Party officials renew since several months opposition to UN takeover of the peacekeeping mission in the trouble region of Darfur.

Sudanese Islamist leaders say they will take up arms against United Nations peacekeepers if they deploy to Darfur, and some have warned they will also fight the Khartoum government if it agrees to the force.

President al-Bashir, who swore to lead personally the resistance to a U.N. force, renewed Sudan's rejection to any UN forces in Darfur, considering the draft resolution forwarded by Britain to the Security Council in this regard as a colonial attempt against, a matter which Sudan would not allow.

Despite Sudan's objections, the United States and Britain have introduced a Security Council draft resolution that would deploy up to 17,000 troops and 3,000 police in Darfur, where an overstretched African Union force is monitoring a shaky truce.

The Islamist NCP mobilizes its militias like Popular Defence Forces and Dababin to fight international forces in Darfur.

Leaders of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, have called on Muslims to fight any U.N. force in Darfur and while the diplomatic wrangling continues, Khartoum's many Islamic groups have delivered a clear message.

Sudan hosted bin Laden in the 1990s, relations soured and under U.S. and regional pressure Khartoum asked him to leave in 1996. But it is not excluded that Sudanese security service renewed contacts with Islamist groups.

Sudan reiterates rejection of UN force in Darfur, calling for African peacekeepers to be strengthened

AP report 28 Aug 2006 via Easy bourse - excerpt:

A senior US diplomat Jendayi Frazer left Sudan without meeting President Omar al-Bashir after Khartoum rejected demands that it approve the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in war-torn Darfur.

Frazer departed Sudan late Sunday, a day before the UN Security Council was to discuss a draft resolution on the peacekeepers.

Frazer had been expected to deliver a message from US President George W Bush to al-Bashir.

Sudanese President al-Bashir was unable to meet the American diplomat "due to his crowded schedule," the president's office said.

Instead, Frazer handed the message to presidential adviser Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed, who in turn gave her a message from al-Bashir repeating his rejection of the U.N. force, presidential spokesman Mahjub Badry, told reporters.

Instead of the UN force, al-Bashir has called for the African peacekeepers to be strengthened - and he has said he plans to send Sudanese troops to Darfur to pacify the region.

Ismail: Sudan has proposed to boost the AU force in Darfur

Anything that boosts the African Union force in Darfur is better than nothing. News reports from a year or two ago in Sudan Watch archives, show that the late John Garang proposed to help Darfur by suggesting a joint force of 30,000 troops for Darfur - 10,000 each from SPLM/AU/GoS. I don't understand why what Khartoum is proposing can't be made to work, especially if 2,000 UNMIS monitors were deployed with enough of the right equipment and helicopters. A year or so ago, some pundits said Darfur rebels would never agree to such an arrangement. Too bad. John Garang wouldn't have made such an offer if he didn't think it would work.

Sudan Tribune Aug 27, 2006 (KHARTOUM):

Sudan reiterated its rejection to transfer of the mandate of the African Union troops to an United Nation force, instead Khartoum proposed to boost the AU force in the region.

Presidential Advisor, Mustafa Osman Ismail told the press after a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jenday Frazer that he renewed Sudan's opposition to UN peacekeepers in Darfur.

Ismail further indicated that Sudan has proposed to boost the AU force deployed in Darfur. Further, the government intends to deploy regular troops in the strife-torn Darfur region, besides troops of the former Darfur rebel groups signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA).

The Arab League backed this proposal last week. Sudanese president told UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that Khartoum would deploy 10,500 Sudanese troops to Darfur to provide security. However, Frazer had stressed before its arrival to Khartoum that the Sudanese forces "aren't considered neutral and so we don't feel that the people of Darfur will get any comfort" from such a move.

Ismail said they have informed Frazer that US should gives a chance for the implementation of the PDA signed on 5 May, and to allow the president of the Darfur interim authority, Minni Minawi, to form his administration.

Ismail said he told Frazer that tension would increase if a UN resolution was approved to pave way for an international force in Darfur.

The US assistant secretary of state for African affairs did not get much during two other meetings held with the Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol and Majzoub al-Khalifa who headed the government delegation to Darfur peace talks.

Lam Akol said he discussed with the visiting US official the government position that is opposed to the transition as well as the US vision in favour of the UN takeover of the AU mission in Darfur.

Sudanese presidential advisor Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed said a transfer of authority from African Union to UN troops would "imply lack of confidence by the UN in the African Union," adding that Khartoum continued to back the AU.

He further added "Sudan's decision is to stick with the African Union. As for their demand for a UN role - yes - but only in humanitarian assistance and in the strengthening of the AU forces - participation in strengthening the humanitarian role and support for the African forces so that they can complete their mandate of organizing security."

Sudan's Darfur plan envisages a joint force of 26,500 GoS/SLM-Minnawi troops by year end

Eric Reeves' latest opinion piece [hat tip POTP ] - excerpt:

As it [Sudan gov't] refuses an invitation even to discuss the UN Security Council resolution on security in Darfur, what has Khartoum proposed instead? Our best guide is again the report of Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi (to the Security Council, August 17, 2006):

"the plan does not indicate a willingness on the part of the Government of Sudan to agree to a transition to a United Nations operation in Darfur. In addition, the plan seeks to address the security situation outside the framework of the relevant Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) bodies. In particular, it envisages the combined deployment of 26,500 additional Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM)/Minni Minawi troops to Darfur by the end of the year. As members of this Council will appreciate, this would not only be inconsistent with the DPA's restriction on military deployments outside of agreed areas of control, but would also violate the arms embargo imposed by the Security Council in paragraph 7 of resolution 1591 (2005)." (Paragraph 8)

CHAD: NRF rebels aim to extend in South Darfur & Jebel Marra

Via Sudan Vision and African News Dimension Aug 27, 2006:

Reports from Sudanese-Chadian borders indicate that a Chadian cargo of gasoline and petrol is expected to be delivered to the National Redemption Front which rejects the DPA in the regions of Bahai and Al-Tina inside the Chadian frontiers.

Information obtained by Sudan Vision from Chad asserted that the process is being carried through follow up and coordination by Adam Ali Shogar in N'djamena. They added that the Redemption Front needs those supplies to achieve its objectives of extending in South Darfur and Jebel Marra after it occupied Kalkal and Sabah regions, which are still under their control.

Observers stated that the support processes by Chad for Darfur rebels who reject the DPA are still going despite all the agreement and means of understanding signed between the Sudanese and Chadian governments and despite Chad's pledges of abstaining support for rebels.

A Redemption Front force, led by Hassan Bijo, had recently stopped and robbed (17) tankers which contain Avgas that belonged to the African Union and some organizations on their way between Al-Fashir and Um Kadoda and at about (20) kilometers from Um Kadoda.

Information indicate that the whole cargo arrived at Bir Mazza region where Commander Adam Bakhit is stationed and the cargo is on its way to Chad to be swapped for ordinary fuel, arms or land-cruiser vehicles.

These same observers stated that Chad might be unable or unwilling for some internal or external reasons to stop support for groups rejecting the DPA. They asserted that such support will definitely disturb Darfur as well as regional peace and will violate the agreements and all memos and pledges between the two governments.

It is worth noting that a senior delegation from has arrived in Khartoum headed by the Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Alami. It is believed that the Sudanese government will deliver to him a strong message on the continued Chadian support to rebels, especially at a time when Sudan is striving hard to implement the DPA in accordance to visions of international intervention, which is still rejected by the Sudanese government.

US envoy Frazer gets a chilly welcome and a "NO" from Sudanese president

Sudan has reserved a chilly welcome to US envoy Jendayi Frazer who arrived yesterday to persuade a defiant president to accept the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, Sudan Tribune reported 27 Aug 2006. Excerpt:

After the angry mob at the Khartoum Airport orchestrated by the ruling National Congress Party, Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir said that Frazer's mission would do little to change his country'sposition.

"We will not hand over our country to international forces, whether Frazer comes here or not... Frazer might be accustomed to hearing 'yes' from many leaders but here she'll get a 'no'," Beshir said Sunday.

Bashir was speaking before a meeting with the Sudanese journalist in Diaspora. It was not immediately clear who Frazer would be meeting during her visit.

Reeves: If Khartoum's massive military offensive in N Darfur takes place, there will be massive civilian destruction

Coalition for Darfur points today to an interview with Eric Reeves at Democracy Now! Excerpt:

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about this latest news and the reaction of the Sudanese government?

ERIC REEVES: There are many facets to Khartoum's decision. It's to date paid no real price for its obduracy, its refusal to abide by international norms, either in the North-South conflict, which nominally ended in January 2005, or in its genocidal conduct of war in Darfur. What I am hearing from my sources on the ground and what the Hedi Annabi, the head of U.N. peacekeeping, recently said in a report to the Security Council that I have seen, is that Khartoum is right now planning a massive military offensive in North Darfur, which has been the most violent of the three Darfur states.

If this offensive takes place, there will be massive, massive civilian destruction. I think we're also likely to see a withdrawal of virtually all humanitarian workers. This will leave some 1.2 million people completely dependent on humanitarian aid, without any assistance whatsoever. By my own calculation, some 500,000 people have already died. As many more could die in the coming year if current trends continue.

Only with the deployment of an effective -- and I emphasize effective -- international force can genocidal destruction be brought to a halt. Khartoum gives no sign of capitulating on this, and I'll be very interested to know what Jendayi Frazer, President Bush's envoy to Khartoum, takes with her in the way of sticks and pressures to bring to bear on this recalcitrant regime.

AU and European diplomats say Taha had in private agreed last year to a UN takeover in Darfur

Reuters' Opheera McDoom report 26 Aug 2006 - Pressure Mounts on Sudan to Accept UN Force [via CFD] excerpt:

"... any reported divisions between Bashir and his deputy on a UN presence in Darfur have disappeared with Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha's first direct and public rebuke of the international community.

"Dialogue is maintained with the international community and it is one of the principles of the foreign policy of Sudan, but it does not mean surrender and cancellation of the national identity and the national will," the state news agency SUNA quoted Taha as saying on Thursday.

AU and European diplomats say Taha had in private agreed last year to a UN takeover in Darfur once a peace deal was reached. Since the AU-brokered deal was signed in May, Taha had kept largely quiet on the issue.

In contrast Bashir has made speeches almost daily for the past few weeks, on each occasion making sure to repeat his rejection of the force.

One Western diplomat who declined to be named said: "I think there is little to be positive about at this stage." [edit]

Bashir depicts a U.N. presence in Darfur as a Western attempt to colonise Sudan. But other politicians say his party is worried the troops would be used to arrest officials likely to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigating alleged war crimes in the region.

"(There are some who) don't want to accept the U.N. forces if this at the end will mean the signature of their own death certificates," said Ghazi Suleiman, a member of parliament for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which formed a coalition government with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in 2005.

He said the SPLM would not be part of any confrontation with the international community and said privately Bashir's only worry was about the mandate of the U.N. troops.

"There are reactionary statements but when it comes to real diplomacy real decision-making, the president just wants to be satisfied about the mandate of these forces," Suleiman added.

Sudan's implementing Darfur Peace Agreement with no need for permission or input from UN or anyone else (Polgreen)

Copy of commentary by Lydia Polgreen, New York Times 26 Aug 2006 [US to press Sudan's leader to accept UN Force - hat tip POTP] Excerpt:

Sudan's foreign minister, Lam Akol, said in an interview here [Khartoum] that the plan to use troops to pacify Darfur is already in motion.

"With this plan, we are implementing the Darfur Peace Agreement," Mr Akol said. "We do not need the permission or the input of the United Nations or anyone else." [ ...]

Mr Morrison, who proposed the blueprint that led to United States engagement with Sudan to end its war in the south even before Sept 11, said with little leverage left, the United States should focus on preventing the total collapse of the vast aid effort in Darfur, a lifeline to millions, and on stopping the bloodbath of that the impending onslaught by the Sudanese Army would surely cause.

"I don't mean to pretend there is any fix here," Mr. Morrison said. "What is an option is to face up to a fact that we are in a slide right now and we need to push back and contain the slide to prevent a catastrophe."

Sudanese protesters mob US envoy's car

Angry demonstrators mobbed the car of US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer after she arrived in Sudan, and demanded that she return home.



Photo: Dozens of protesters, chanting slogans and raising banners reading "Go Back Home", "You Want War" and "We Want Peace" showed up at the airport, covered her car with banners and blocked her way before police intervened. (AFP) Full story Sudan Tribune 26 Aug 2006.



Photo: Sudanese demonstrators cover the windshield of the official vehicle of U.S. diplomat to Africa, Jendayi Frazer, with placards as she leaves the airport in Khartoum, August 26, 2006. (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdalah)



Photo: U.S. diplomat to Africa, Jendayi Frazer, smiles as she arrives in Khartoum, August 26, 2006. As pressure mounts on Sudan to accept UN troops in Darfur, the Khartoum government is closing ranks in defiance, rising fears of a deadlock that could hasten Darfur's descent into chaos. (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdalah)

US warns of security crisis in Darfur unless UN force deploys

Note the last line of this excerpt (from VOA report 25 Aug 2006) tells us Frazer said she does not expect a Chinese veto of the resolution enabling the new UN force, despite reservations expressed by Beijing:

The U.S. State Department's Africa policy chief warned Friday of a severe deterioration in security conditions in Sudan's western Darfur region, unless a proposed United Nations force is allowed to deploy. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer is heading to Sudan for a new effort to persuade authorities to accept an upgraded peacekeeping presence.

Assistant Secretary Frazer gave the grim assessment as she prepared to depart for Khartoum to deliver a message from President Bush to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, urging him to end delaying tactics and accept a revamped Darfur security force.

She said that with Sudan threatening a new military offensive in Darfur, and local rebel groups apparently making similar plans, the security situation could lurch out of control unless the proposed upgrade of the current African Union monitoring mission into a full-scale U.N. peacekeeping force goes forward:

"We're very concerned. It's not just the government of Sudan that's preparing for an offensive. We also have heard reports that the non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement, the National Resistance Movement and others, are also preparing and rearming themselves and preparing for an offensive. So we think the security environment is deteriorating and deteriorating very quickly and we're extremely concerned about this," she said.

When they signed the Darfur peace accord in Nigeria in May, leaders of the Khartoum government signaled acceptance of the plan to upgrade the current seven-thousand member A.U. mission into a much larger United Nations force.

But they have since reneged, with President Bashir even suggesting that Sudan might forcibly resist the introduction of U.N. soldiers.

Assistant Secretary Frazer said one reason for her hastily arranged mission will be to brief the Sudanese leader on details of the peacekeeping plan, and counter complaints by the Sudanese government that it has not been adequately consulted. "We believe that we have consulted them. But we will go the last mile to make sure that we have been able to directly talk to them about the re-hatting (converting) of this force and what U.S. intentions are. This is, of course coordinated with other international actors who I think are delivering a very similar message. But I think that the key to success in Darfur in terms of getting a credible, non-partisan, as such, peacekeeping force there, is for the international community to act together," she said.

The African Union mission has suffered from logistical and budget problems and its mandate expires at the end of September.

Frazer said the United States and its allies want a Security Council resolution enacted by the end of this month that will authorize the force upgrade.

The State Department official said more than five thousand of the best-trained A.U. troops would form the nucleus of the United Nations force on October first, and at least 12,000 more U.N. soldiers would be phased in later.

She said if the transformation was not to occur until the beginning of next year, as some U.N. officials have proposed, the situation in Darfur could slide back to the level of violence that prevailed in 2004, which the United States termed genocide.

In the talk with reporters which immediately preceded her departure for Khartoum, Frazer said she did not expect a Chinese veto of the resolution enabling the new force, despite reservations expressed by Beijing.

Photo: Assistant Secretary Frazer (Aug. 24): "I will stress the United States commitment to ending the suffering of the people of Darfur. We cannot let the violence and atrocities continue. We cannot let humanitarian workers and peacekeepers continue to come under attack and we cannot let the DPA (Darfur Peace Agreement) fail." [Hat tip POTP]

Aug 25 2006 U.S. Department of State report on Assistant Secretary Frazer: Travel to Khartoum, Sudan.

See Remarks by Frazer 24 Aug 2006.

Aug 25 2006 Reuter's Sue Fleming report: US Says Darfur Is Getting Worse, U.N. Must Go In- "We believe that the time to act is now and that there can't be further delay," Frazer told reporters. "The security environment is deteriorating and deteriorating very quickly."

US says UN force needed to stop Sudan offensive in Darfur

Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer spoke to reporters hours before leaving for Sudan to exhort Sudanese officials to accept the presence of a UN peacekeeping force, Sudan Tribune reported Aug 25, 2006. Excerpt:

Frazer said the people of Darfur wouldn't regard government troops as a neutral force because of Khartoum's record of supporting Janjaweed militias who have terrorized the region.

At the same time, she said, the abuses of anti-government rebel forces in Darfur shouldn't be ignored.

Frazer, who will meet with el-Bashir in the coming days, said she is willing to go the "last mile" to overcome his opposition to a UN force.

The financially strapped 7,000-strong AU force now deployed in Darfur is to cease to exist on Sept. 30. Under a proposal that Frazer says has broad backing in the UN Security Council, the Africans would be "rehatted" as a U.N. force the next day and eventually be joined by other soldiers.

Unless the UN force can be created, there will be no force in place in Darfur "to stop this government from carrying out what has been the genocide," Frazer said.

She predicted that her mission to Khartoum will be successful.

"I'm fully confident there will be a transition to a UN force," she said.

Vatican Radio: Keeping Peace in Darfur

Vatican Radio news report 25 Aug 2006:

Hopes for peace in Darfur have suffered after Sudan rejected a proposal for peacekeepers from the United Nations. Tens of thousands of people have died and 2.5 million been driven from their homes by violence in Darfur since early 2003. Marina Peter is the director of Sudan Focal Point Europe, an international network of mainly church-based organisations working in the region. She said the chances of reaching agreement over a peacekeeping force were bleak...

PHR condemns Sudanese gov't plan

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) strongly condemns the Government of Sudan's plans to send 10,500 of its own troops to quell continuing violence in Darfur, and calls on the UN Security Council instead to pass the resolution expediting the deployment of a robust UN force to the region. Full report via Coalition for Darfur.

I wonder if it could be possible for the proposed 10,500 Sudanese troops being deployed to Darfur to act as a peackeeping force and operate under the same mandate (not Chapter 6 or 7) as that of the African Union mission in Darfur.

Sudanese Islamists threaten to fight UN Darfur force

Reuters' Opheera McDoom report 25 Aug 2006 via ReliefWeb - excerpt:

Khartoum's many Islamic groups have delivered a clear message.

"We categorically refuse U.N. troops in Darfur," said Abdel Wahhab Mohamed Ali Ahmed, head of the Sudanese higher council for the coordination of Islamic groups, formed last year.

"And if they come we will fight them until they leave."

The council is composed of representatives from Sudan's main Islamist movements, including Ansar al-Sunna and the Hizb ut-Tahrir group, outlawed in neighbouring Egypt.

"The colonialists have united all the Muslim groups in Sudan ... and we support the government in this position," said Ahmed Malik, another member of the higher council.

University professor and respected Islamist preacher Sadiq al-Hajj Abu Dafirah said any U.N. troops had to be given the choice to convert to Islam or leave the country.

"We will use dialogue but finally we would be obliged to fight them if they don't see the validity of our arguments," he said. He added talks could last years.

"A Muslim, when he is forced to fight, does so with sorrow."

Al Qaeda's statements on Sudan raise the spectre of a wider conflict, that could draw in foreign fighters. Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri have said their movement would fight in Darfur if U.N. troops deploy.

While Sudan hosted bin Laden in the 1990s, relations soured and under U.S. and regional pressure Khartoum asked him to leave in 1996. In April this year, Bin Laden criticised Sudan for agreeing the U.S.-backed peace deal for the north-south war.

Sudan's Islamists say they are not entirely in agreement with Al Qaeda's methods but Ahmed said they would happily take help from anyone to prevent U.N. troops deploying.

"We have camps here and we are training. We are ready."

Others, like preacher Abu Dafirah, were more circumspect.

"I'm sorry to say that yes (Al Qaeda) would find some support here," he said.

The United Nations is aware of the hostility.

It recently raised its security level in Khartoum, where hundreds of U.N. staff live and work, because of what officials called "credible threats to their security."

Islamist leaders said even Bashir would have cause to fear them if he gave in to international pressure on a Darfur force.

"Bashir cannot give in now, his people would not respect him, even his wife would not respect him if he did," said Malik.

Ahmed sai if Bashir's government agreed to allow U.N. troops in Darfur, "Then we will fight them too."