AU-EC meeting 2 Oct 2006 AU HQ Addis Ababa

Copy of press release published at africa-union.org:

Addis-Ababa, 29 September 2006 - The European Commission and the Commission of the African Union will meet for a joint working session at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa on 2 October 2006.

Both Commissions will meet in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia for their third joint session within three years. This meeting is the latest testimony of an ever growing partnership between the two continental executive bodies: the European and the African Union Commissions.

For this occasion, the European Commission will hold its first ever meeting on another continent than Europe, travelling to Ethiopia with no less than 10 European Commissioners including President Barroso, all three vice Presidents Wallström (Communication), Frattini (justice) and Kallas (administration), the Commissioners Michel (development), Mandelson (trade), Gribauskaite (budget), Potocnik (research), Kyprianou (health), Kovaks (taxation), Spidla (employment) and Piebalgs (energy). The agenda of the meeting focuses on institutional partnership and development.

Almost one year after the adoption of the EU Strategy for Africa, both sides will review the progress in its implementation and decide on new steps to take. They will look at the implementation of the EU-Africa Partnership of Infrastructure. They will discuss how to manage better migration flows for the benefit of both continents. They will agree on how to exchange experience when it comes to their respective areas of responsibility such as employment, science and technology or health.

The European and African Union Commission will also strengthen their institutional ties. Both institutions will agree on a first large support programme of 55 million Euros for the African Unions operational and institutional development to be implemented as from 1 January 2007 and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to structure the exchange of officials and trainees between the two institutions.

Contact info:
Ms. Habiba Mejri - Cheikh, Spokesperson, CUA (+251- 11) 5514555
E-Mail: HabibaM@africa-union.org
Mr Amadeu ALTAFAJ, spokesman's service of the European Commission 0032 2 29526 58
Website:..http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/conferences/Past/2006/October/EUAU/AU-EU-meeting-en.htm

EU funding saved Darfur peacekeeping mission - AU

The AU's Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said Europe had been instrumental in funding AU operations across the continent.

"This is particularly true with the current efforts at peacekeeping in the Darfur region which enabled the AU to extend the mandate of the mission in Sudan by three months as a result of the contribution of 30 million euro by the EU," Djinnit said. - Reuters

Note, the EU is responsible for establishing and supporting the AU to enable African solutions for African problems.

Ramstein team aids peacekeeping mission in Darfur

By Capt. Erin Dorrance, 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Sep 29, 2006, US Air Force



Photo: Ramstein Airmen assist Ugandan civil police with their baggage while transfering at Kigali International Airport, Rwanda. The Ugandan civil police are returning home after a one-year deployment to the Darfur region. Airmen from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, are deployed to Kigali, Rwanda, to provide airlift support for the African Union peacekeeping mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Capt. Erin Dorrance)



Photo: Ugandan civil police prepare to board a Botswana C-130 at the airport in Kigali, Rwanda. They were returning home after a one-year deployment to the Darfur region where they were part of the African Union peacekeeping mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Capt. Erin Dorrance)

Full story Blackanthem.com Military News 29 Sep 2006.

See Sep 26 2006 US Air Force news: Ramstein crew flies with Botswana into Darfur.

Sudanese govt and rebels must resume Darfur peace talks (Alex de Waal)

"There is still a chance to protect Darfur's civilians but only if government and rebels resume peace negotiations ... this means stepping back from rhetorical confrontation and empty threats of military action," writes Alex de Waal in the Guardian's CiF 29 Sep 2006. The piece, entitled "The book was closed too soon on peace in Dafur" received an insightful comment from BriscoRant, saying:

"Peace agreements seem to work in Sudan. They stopped the war in southern Sudan a few years back. If peace negotiations are working, we need to hear about that. Otherwise all we hear is our own government's pro-military propaganda. It makes us think, the military, are the only answer. Please keep us informed."

Yes Mr de Waal, please keep us informed as most other pundits and activists on Sudan (especially Americans) who vainly think we can be manipulated to promote their self serving agendas, are feeding us nonsense.

Geldof concerned for Sudan

Activist-singer Sir Bob Geldof says: 'I think we really have a right to insist upon an intervention through the United Nations.' - India News 29 Sep 2006.

Misleading the World on the Darfur Conflict - Salvato

By using their commercial to single out President Bush on the matter of Darfur, the folks at Save Darfur have injected an air of political partisanship to their message. They have effectively cast a shadow of suspicion over their motives and intentions. Then again, that shadow was born when they selected George Clooney to be their spokesman. - Opinion - Salvato 29 Sep 2006.

NATO to continue to aid Darfur peacekeepers - official

The African Union can continue to rely on NATO to provide airlifts and training for its peacekeepers in Darfur, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday.

"Darfur will, as far as NATO is concerned, continue to see a continuation of what we are now giving to the African Union," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters after talks with North Atlantic Treaty Organization defence ministers. - AP report via ST 29 Sep 2006.

UN's Malloch Brown: AU peacekeeping force in Darfur, the only game in town, isn't properly financed

Sep 29 2006 Independent - excerpt from interview with UN Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown:

Nowhere are the new limitations of US power today more exposed than over Darfur, where Washington has used the word "genocide" to condemn the scorched earth policies of the Sudanese government against the people of Darfur and the rebel groups who hide among them. But, says Malloch Brown, in their outrage the US and the UK are, "out there alone and it's counter-productive almost".

"Sudan doesn't see a united international community. It doesn't see its oil customers [China and Russia] or its neighbours in that front row. And that allows it to characterise themselves as the victims of the next crusade after Iraq and Afghanistan. So Tony Blair and George Bush need to get beyond this posturing and grandstanding. The megaphone diplomacy coming out of Washington and London: 'you damn well are going to let the UN deploy and if you don't beware the consequences' isn't plausible. The Sudanese know we don't have troops to go in against a hostile Khartoum government; if Sudan opposes us there's no peace to keep anyway; you're in there to fight a war. It's just not a credible threat."

What is needed instead is two things: "a carefully-modulated set of incentives and sanctions which Sudan needs to understand" and a diplomatic coalition to back them.

Khartoum wants four things: "the normalisation of their relations with the US, UK and others; an opportunity to deploy their new oil wealth and exercise global diplomatic and economic influence; a UN deployment that will increase their authority as the national government of Sudan and not undermine it; and a way of handling the International Criminal Court indictments laid against members of the Khartoum government which they all feel very threatened by. Those are the kind of issues which the Sudanese need to hear a positive message on.

"But in the other pocket there need to be the sanctions. And those pluses and minuses need to be echoed not just by a group of Western leaders but by a much broader cross-section of countries that Sudan respects and trusts. That's what we're now trying to orchestrate. We've been working very hard on getting China to be part of the next set of diplomatic demarches to put pressure on the Sudanese. We're working on how can we bring the major states within the Arab League and the African Union more into frontline diplomacy."

Meantime, he says, the West could do with matching its moral indignation with cash. The food aid pipeline to three million hungry people in Darfur is still $300m short of what is needed. And the African Union peacekeeping forces in the region - inadequate but the only game in town - isn't properly financed till the end of the year. Western governments, he says, "have really taken their eye off the ball on this".

IMPORTANT: UN's Pronk calls for AU force to be extended indefinitely

Important news from UN SRSG Jan Pronk in Sudan. Mr Pronk is probably the only Westerner who knows exactly what's going on in Darfur and the rest of Sudan. Mr Pronk is extremely honest and open. He works hard in the best interests of everybody in Sudan. Not only does he have a great intellect, nerves of steel and amazing diplomacy skills but guts too.

AP report - UN chief in Sudan says UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur unlikely, calls for strategy change - via IHT 28 Sep 2006:

Sending UN peacekeepers to Darfur is unlikely to take place soon, and the international community should instead push for the existing African Union mission to remain in the war-torn region indefinitely, the head of the U.N. in Sudan said Thursday.

"I don't expect the government to accept a U.N. transition any time soon," Jan Pronk told The Associated Press.

"The international community should instead push for the African Union's mission to be prolonged and reinforced," Pronk said in an interview at the U.N. headquarters in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

He called for the AU force to be extended indefinitely to prevent jeopardizing humanitarian work in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in three years of fighting.

Pronk said he was confident the Sudanese government would allow the African troops to stay on in Darfur, though for now Khartoum only has agreed to keeping them an extra three months.

He also urged the international community to change strategy and guarantee more funds to the AU, so it can implement peacekeeping without the constant pressure of diplomatic deadlines.

"Otherwise, we're shooting ourselves in the foot each time," he said. "Our first priority must be to help the people of Darfur."

The current 7,000-strong AU force was due to leave Darfur at the end of September but recently prolonged its mission until the end of the year. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton called it a temporary measure as the international community builds up pressure on Sudan to accept the blue helmets.

But Pronk said he didn't expect the Sudanese government to agree to that soon and said there was "no possibility" that the Security Council would pass a new resolution allowing U.N. peacekeepers to invade.

Earlier this week, Sudan's top official for Darfur said the government was willing to let a trickle of U.N. military advisers join the AU forces, describing it as "a third way" that could resolve the stand off between Khartoum and the United Nations.

Pronk said these discussions were now being settled and the first batch of 105 U.N. military advisers and dozens of police could be sent to Darfur "very soon." He hinted that their numbers could be increased "in a step by step process."

Meanwhile, the AU has pledged to boost its force by up to 4,000 troops. Some of the African soldiers would be immediately available, but the AU says it doesn't have the cash to send them in.

Pronk said there were reports that the AU force was so strapped for cash that some soldiers in Darfur were not being fed, and that patrols weren't going out because there was no gasoline for their armored vehicles.

The U.N. chief maintained that the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May between the government and one rebel faction was "in a coma," an assessment that angers Khartoum but that Pronk says reflects the worsening humanitarian situation.

Both government forces and rebels have violated the cease-fire more than 70 times between May and August, and there were new violations in September since Khartoum launched a large scale offensive in northern Darfur, Pronk said.

The government has announced it created the Darfur Transitional Regional Authority, a makeshift organization meant to provide some of the power sharing demanded by rebels. But Pronk said both Khartoum and rebels were in "total noncompliance" with the peace deal.

He said that Khartoum and the rebels who signed the deal were barring other factions from joining the commission meant to monitor the cease-fire, and that the U.N. was barely granted an observer's status.

"We are being silenced, which is preposterous," Pronk said.

He also said Khartoum was making little effort at disarming the Janjaweed, a pro-goverment militia of Arab tribes accused of most of the atrocities against ethnic African villagers.

Pronk said he was skeptical that U.N. troops would manage to enforce peace if a broader political solution to salvage the peace agreement was not found soon.

Even the rebel group that signed the peace remains on critical terms with the government. On Thursday, tensions degenerated into an open shootout in Omdurman, an affluent neighborhood of Khartoum. Rebel leaders say they took three police officers hostage in retaliation to the arrest of two of their members.

Pronk said one man was killed during the shooting. "That (the conflict) has now reached Khartoum is just another proof of how bad things are," Pronk said.

At least 350,000 people are cut off from any aid in North Darfur because of the intensified fighting there, the U.N. says. At least another 100,000 people have fled their homes.

The U.N. says it has reports that Janjaweed are holding some 7,000 people hostage in a detention camp in South Darfur, including women and children, asking for a ransom to let them leave safely. Other militia attacks on refugee camps have been reported across Darfur this week.

Sep 29 2006 ST - Sudanese policemen held hostage by ex-Darfur rebels in Khartoum

Sep 28 2006 (Khartoum) via ST Sep 29: Sudanese authorities, Ex-Darfur rebels clash in Khartoum

Sep 29 2006 AP report By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU - U.N. Peacekeepers in Darfur Unlikely: Pronk said one man was killed during the clashes.

Air Assault



Photo and caption via Soldier of Africa blog, authored by a SA soldier in Darfur: "The soldiers of 6 SAI Bn are Air Assault trained and love helicopters. Unfortunately in Sudan the elements working with us were not and the mission was observation. Air Assault tactics would have been perfect to track down and neutralise beligerants who maim and kill innocent civilians in Darfur. Very few ever get away from a good tracker and helicopter-bourne reaction force." Sep 2006

Training



Photo and caption via Soldier of Africa blog, authored by a SA soldier in Darfur: "One of the reasons why we are the best in Africa is because we do constant training. Here the South Africans do musketry training in Sector 6. South African soldiers are trained to fire well-aimed shots. With the R 4 rifle a South African soldier is a world class fighting man." Sep 2006

South African Patrol Preparation



Photo and caption via Soldier of Africa blog, authored by a SA soldier in Darfur: "Before a patrol the South Africans in Sector 6 do an organised and structured final inspection before going. Sector 6 is currently still the most dangerous sector in Darfur." Sep 2006

Kutum



Photo and caption via Soldier of Africa blog, authored by a SA soldier in Darfur: "This is a photo of Kutum base in Sector 6. The vehicles in the foreground are the South African Army's new Mamba Mk III's." Sep 2006

Casspir



Photo and caption via Soldier of Africa blog, authored by a SA soldier in Darfur: "These Casspirs were stationed at Kutum. These are armed with twin 7,62mm FN MAG general purpose machine guns, although in South Africa we call them Light Machine Guns. Casspirs have been faithful servants to many South African soldiers in the past and have ensured the safety of many fighting men. The conditions in Sector 6 are ideal for the rugged high-speed cross-country abilities of the Casspir." Sep 2006

South African Soldiers



Photo and caption via Soldier of Africa blog, authored by a SA soldier in Darfur: "I got this photo from Arrie Burger taken in Kutum, Sector 6, just to indicate the morale and discipline of our soldiers over there. They have done well and Arrie's platoon was involved in a contact about four weeks ago. At least five rebels or militia were killed and only one of ours wounded through both legs. Now these guys are back in South Africa. Well done, boys." Sep 2006 

Chirac: Sudanese government has no choice but to accept UN peacekeepers

Sep 28 2006 AP report via IHT - excerpt:

French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that he fears Darfur is on the brink of a new humanitarian crisis, and he insisted that the Sudanese government has no choice but to accept UN peacekeepers.

Chirac said he deplored Sudan's military operation in the remote western region of Darfur. But he also said the international community should not threaten Sudan, and instead should work to convince it to change its stance.

"I don't think we should use threats in this affair," Chirac told RFI radio and TV5 television. "I think we should try to convince them, and I think we must work to help Arab countries that were tempted to support the position of (Sudanese President Omar) el-Bashir to realize that there are consequences, and that we have to do everything to find a political solution that clearly allows the Sudanese president to accept UN troops," Chirac said. "There is no alternative to that."

Sudan, eastern rebels sign security deal

The Sudanese government and eastern rebels signed a draft security protocol on Thursday, raising the prospects for an end to the low-level revolt in the economically important region, state news agency SUNA reported. - Reuters 28 Sep 2006.

Egypt blames Darfur rebels for deteriorating security

Sep 28 2006 Reuters by Jonathan Wright:

"The parties which did not sign the agreement (are) those primarily responsible for the current deterioration of the security situation," the [Egypt] Foreign Ministry statement said.

"Egypt thinks the Sudanese government has a share of responsibility and they are advising them not to get into a confrontation of the kind with (former Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein," said one diplomat, who asked not to be named.

Military confrontation with UN forces in Darfur could cause NCP to cancel South Sudan's peace agreement

Sep 27 2006 Sudan Tribune excerpt:

For the first time since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on 9 January 2005, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement accused its partner in the government of the national unity, the ruling National Congress Party, of violating the peace deal.

This development comes after a statement made by Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, a leading member of the National Congress Party, saying if there is a military confrontation with the UN forces in Darfur, the NCP would cancel the CPA.

According to the Satellite TV al-Jazeera, Omar also condemned the SPLM stance in favor of the UN takeover from the African Union forces in Sudan's troubled region of Darfur.

Al-Jazeera broadcasted a photocopy of the SPLM's statement in Arabic language.

Darfur's Chairman Minnawi will announce the establishment of the first Darfur government in next few days

Sep 27 2006 Xinhua excerpt:

Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir issued on Wednesday a presidential decree on setting up an interim authority in the western region of Darfur.

The decree stipulated that a regional interim authority of Darfur should be established in accordance with the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA)

The interim authority will be chaired by Minawi, who was appointed as the senior assistant of the president following the signing of the DPA, and will include governors of three states in Darfur.

Minawi will announce the establishment of the first Darfur government in the next few days, according to the decree.

Abdelwahid al-Nur is in Asmara, Eritrea

Sep 26 2006 Sudan Tribune excerpt:

The former leader of the SLM who is currently based in Asmara after his dismissal from the SLM last July, Abdelwahid al-Nur told Alayam newspaper that the solution to the problem of Darfur would be achieved by recognizing Darfur as one state, ruled by a majority of the sons of the region, and for Darfurians to be represented fairly in the central government according to their population quota. In addition, individual compensation should be paid to the region's IDPs who had been affected by the war based on the principle of positive discrimination.

AU to expand its peacekeeping strength in Darfur from some 7,800 to 10,500 troops

The African Union (AU) is to expand its peacekeeping strength in Darfur from some 7,800 to 10,500 troops, spokesman of AU mission in Sudan Nouredinne Mezni told Xinhua on Wednesday:

The expansion of the African forces was prescribed in a peace agreement signed by the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels in the Nigerian capital Abuja on May 5, Mezni said, adding that the mission currently stands at some 7,800 soldiers and civilian policemen.

"The Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) has given the AU forces new tasks in the framework of its security arrangements, including safeguarding the refugee camps, disarming militia fighters and setting up nonmilitary areas," Mezni told Xinhua.

The present African forces could not carry out these new tasks without reinforcing their strength, Mezni stressed.

The spokesman added that six fresh battalions would arrive soon in Darfur, and every battalion would consist of 500 to 650 troops.

Note the time wasted calling for UN troops. AMIS should have had 12,500 personnel in Darfur by now.

US's Schwarzenegger signs Pension Fund Bill to stop investing in Sudan

E Canada news report says a bill banning California's state pension funds from investing in companies with interests in Sudan went into effect Tuesday with the signature of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Excerpt:

The move comes a day after US Congress passed a bill imposing sanctions on the Sudanese government. The new California law could provoke protests and suits by trade organizations who claim that individual states do not have authority to intervene in international diplomacy.



Schwarzenegger said his bill would send a message to strife-torn Darfur that California "does not stand for murder and genocide."

"We cannot watch from the sidelines and be content to mourn this atrocity as it passes into history," Schwarzenegger said with actor and political activist George Clooney at his side.

"We must act and that is exactly why we will divest from the Sudan. Divesting will show our defiance against the murderers and their inhumanity."

What a load of dopey Hollywood twaddle. How would sanctions and divestment help the poor people of Sudan and its development? Sudan is poverty stricken and up to its eyeballs in debt. If misguided activists had not pushed out Western companies from Sudan, we might have been able to pressure oil companies like British Petroleum to help the locals and get drinking water piped and pumped where needed. I say, the more Western companies do business with Sudan and invest in the country's infrastructure, the better. Sudan needs technology know-how, skills and education. Don't pave the way for unscrupulous ruthless opportunists to fill the gap!



Photo: U.S. actor Don Cheadle (L) speaks as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger listens before signing legislation to divest state pension money from Sudan in Los Angeles, California. USA Sep 25, 2006. Activists have been pressuring companies and governments to divest from Sudan. (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)

UPDATE; More on the Sudan divestment thingy at The Sudanese Thinker.

Peacekeeping non-existent peace in Darfur - Why can't the African Union do it?

Channel 4 gets blogging with J.J. King's review on what bloggers are saying about Darfur 21 Sep 2006. It links to this blog Sudan Watch and the Guardian's CiF where there's more brilliant commentary by British economist Daniel Davies whose blog is called D-squared Digest. See CiF's Demonstrate for Darfur and the following comment by Daniel:

[Why can't the African Union do it? ]

A good question; the answer is that the AU simply does not have the money to finance AMIS unless the UN were to keep its promises about funding. All sorts of solutions would be better than UNMIS, but the brute facts of the matter are that this is a genuine and imminent humanitarian crisis and UNMIS is the only genuinely politically possible peacekeeping force solution.

I personally think it's an absolute scandal that the UN has nickel-and-dimed AMIS into the ground in order to promote its own proposal but these are the facts and a humanitarian emergency is no time to stand on one's dignity.

Well said Daniel! Mainstream media ought to pay Daniel for educating readers on the facts of matters in Sudan. He tells it like it is and has a nice way with words that makes for easy reading. His commentary appears easy to do. It's not.

UK's Beckett: Future of Africa linked to climate change

Interesting comments, especially by UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown (note he reminds us that in Darfur there is no peace for peackeepers to keep), in this article atBlack information Link 28 Sep 2006:

The problems of international development and climate change were interlinked, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett stated yesterday.

Speaking at a Fringe event organised by IPPR, Channel Four, Amnesty, Oxfam and Safer World, a number of issues, including Darfur, climate change, Uganda and Zimbabwe were raised.

Ms Beckett was joined on the panel by International Development Secretary Hilary Benn MP, Tidjane Thiam, Commission for Africa, Monica Naggaga, Oxfam, Mark Malloch Brown, United Nations and David Mepham, IPPR who chaired the event.

Mr Mepham began the session by raising the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett highlighted that the United Nations extended the mandate of the Africa Union last week, ensuring that a security vacuum was not allowed to develop.

However, this move was stepping away from the brink and was not a positive move forward, she asserted. The Africa Union should work with all sides in the conflict and receive back-up and support from all other nations.

International Development Secretary Hilary Benn added that the Africa Union was dealing with the symptoms of the problem and a political solution was needed. Moreover, a way of bringing groups together to begin a move to some form of regional Government was needed.

Indeed, UN troops were already in Sudan following the civil war there, making it unusual that the country now opposed a UN force in Darfur, he argued. Monica Naggaga stressed that the Africa Union needed support to provide protection to people in Darfur, in particular the 200 women raped every month.

Elsewhere, Mark Malloch Brown asserted that Darfur was by far the biggest problem in the world today. The UK, United States and many in Europe wanted to do more, he added, applauding the UK's efforts in this since 2003.

Tidjane Thiam reiterated calls for a political solution, highlighting that minority rights had to be protected in the country.Mr Mepham asked whether the imposition of a no-fly zone across the north of the country was an option.

In response, Mark Malloch Brown argued that countries were reluctant to deploy troops to Darfur, partly because of the size of the country and scale of the task at hand, and peacekeeping was about having a peace to keep, a situation missing in Sudan.

A representative of Crisis Action asked whether the ministers could confirm the carrots and sticks deployed to enforce peace in Darfur. In the same round of questions, the subject of trade embargos against Sudan was raised.

Hilary Benn asserted that it was best not to discuss the carrot and sticks to be offered as negotiations were still on-going.However, the people of Sudan had an incentive to aim for a peaceful solution as the country had generous oil reserves, he stressed.

Furthermore, the Sudanese claim that they were not consulted over the role of the Africa Union was untrue, the Minister proclaimed. The Africa Union, the Arab League, China and many others had an important role to play, Mr Benn maintained. Margaret Beckett added that the Sudanese had appealed to the Arab League and fellow African nations for support on the premise that the measures to secure peace in Darfur were merely imperialist mechanisms being deployed by the UK and others.

Mr Malloch Brown stated that the Sudan conflict was not on the BBC every night, ensuring that its profile was not constant. Therefore it was crucial for people to keep up the pressure on Governments, he argued.

Indeed, many multi-national corporations could be pressured into ceasing oil extraction from the country, he asserted. On questions on climate change from the audience, a representative of Christian Aid raised the suggestion that African nations could be compensated for the detrimental effects they faced from climate change.

Elsewhere, a representative from Manchester Friends of the Earth asked how useful it was to Africa, if the UK cut carbon emissions year on year. Additionally, a question on the exportation of flowers from Africa was raised. In response, Mark Malloch Brown stated that a real investment strategy for Africa was needed.

On the export of flowers, he asserted that the initial positive benefits had now led to unintended consequences that had to be addressed. Margaret Beckett argued that climate change and development were intrinsically linked issues.

Indeed, an increase in global temperatures was estimated to result in a four per cent decline in the GDP of African nations. A partnership between developed and undeveloped countries, including technology transfer, would highlight how climate change and development were not mutually exclusive, she maintained.

Moreover, the UK was responsible for only two per cent of world carbon emissions, she claimed, making a global, and not just individual, agreement on climate change imperative. Mr Benn added that the issue of climate change also involved individual choices, raising the problem of how such environmental measures are enforced.

Moreover, if people believed that the scale of the problem was impossible to remedy, support for measures would be lost. The Government had pressed the World Bank for an energy investment framework to address the issue of developing countries creating larger capacities for electricity generation, Mr Benn went on to say.

It was essential to help countries like China invest in electricity generation without the consequences of global warming, he argued. Labour MP Kerry McCarthy asked a question on aiding people of Uganda to return to their homes after fighting. A further question on the country related to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The issue of Western Sahara and the Morocco backed block on the UN resolution on the conflict was also raised. Monica Naggaga stressed that the UK should support the resettlement of Ugandan refugees. Mark Malloch Brown stated that ICC rulings could not be taken away but could be suspended, a useful bargaining tool in negotiations with the LRA in Uganda, he maintained.

On Western Sahara, he highlighted that UN resolution after UN resolution had been passed but to no avail.Tidjane Thiam asserted that minority rights had to be protected, highlighting South Africa as a good example of a constitution that ensured this.

Hilary Benn asserted that the UK Government had helped to fund Mega FM in Uganda, a project that was proving an important tool in getting people to feel safer and move back home following positive news reports.In the final round of questions, Tidjane Thiam asserted that China had an increasingly important role to play in international development.

Moreover, a new scramble for African resources may be about to begin, Mark Malloch Brown asserted. He argued that the problem of Zimbabwe, including the illegal immigration into South Africa, had tried to be addressed by the UN and South Africa but to no avail. This had to be addressed, he concluded.

AMIS should have had 12,500 personnel in Darfur by now

Note this excerpt from a report last year by Refugees International 11/9/2005 - No Power to Protect: The African Union Mission in Sudan:

AMIS needs more troops on the ground to effectively fulfill their mandate. With a strengthened mandate, they will need even more troops. AMIS also needs to receive more training to be able to respond effectively to the challenges of their mission.

According to planning from earlier this year, AMIS was to get to a mandated level of a little over 7,700 personnel (Phase II) by September 2005, with a decision on increasing personnel to 12,500 (Phase III) to be made that same month. Because of a series of delays, including problems with accommodations and fuel, AMIS still has not reached its 7,700 target, which is to include 6,171 soldiers (protection forces and Military Observers) and 1,586 unarmed Civilian Police.

The majority of the protection forces are from Nigeria and Rwanda. Gambia, Senegal, and South Africa, have also contributed troops, with Kenya contributing a few dozen Military Police. No other member country of the African Union has sent combat troops to Darfur, although 25 countries have contributed Military Observers. Fifteen countries have contributed Civilian Police.

As of October 21, AMIS had deployed 4,890 protection forces, 686 Military Observers, and 1,176 Civilian Police. According to AMIS, around 120 of these Civilian Police are women; less than 1% of the protection forces and Military Observers are women, which is similar to the percentage normally found on a UN mission. AMIS Military Observers and protection forces are deployed evenly across eight Sectors; the Civilian Police are concentrated around IDP camps. According to AU officials, discussion about Phase III won't start until after a joint donor/UN/AU assessment mission, scheduled to take place by the end of 2005.

US tells Sudan: cooperate or expect confrontation

Expect confrontation? Music to the rebels' ears. Note how the flaming Americans love to be combatitive. They have no intention of sending their own troops to Darfur. Which countries do they expect would be willing to carry out the 'confrontation'? Why don't they support Africa's peacekeepers? There should have been at least 12,500 in Darfur by now but the US and EU didn't cough up the funds and Africa (conveniently) couldn't find troops to send. Nobody appears to have followed through on Libya's offer of 100,000 troops. Reportedly, AMIS costs $1 billion a year and yet their troops have not been paid for eight months. What is going on, does anybody know? Who is funding the rebels? Mainstream media and activists sure are feeding us a lot of garbage. See Sept 27, 2006 VOA - and this Reuters excerpt:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Sudan in firm terms on Wednesday it must choose between "cooperation and confrontation" with the rest of the world and accept a UN force for Darfur.

"We are not going to sit by and watch this kind of death and destruction continue and we will use whatever tools are necessary, through the U.N., to be able to stop that" she said, without specifying what these tools might be.

"The Sudanese government faces a clear and consequential decision," said Rice, adding, "This is the choice between cooperation and confrontation."

When asked what Rice meant by this, U.S. special envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, also declined to provide specifics, saying it was more diplomatic to leave the consequences vague. "But we never make idle statements," said Natsios, who plans to travel to Sudan in the next few weeks.

"If the government of Sudan chooses cooperation - if it works with the United Nations and welcomes the U.N. force into Darfur, then it will find a dedicated partner in the United States," said Rice.

Note, the report says The Save Darfur Coalition ran a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Wednesday, showing mass graves in Darfur. "When all the bodies have been buried in Darfur, how will history judge us?" said the headline on the advertisement. I wonder how much the ad cost. If I had donated to savedarfur.org, I'd feel conned. Maybe the NYT published it without charge.

Heh. Here's an amusing comment from a reader south of azania at Aljazeera's Shedding crocodile tears over Darfur plight:

Condi Rice needs to be told that the ONLY "FORK" in the road is her FORKED TONGUE AND THAT OF HER BOSS GWBUSH!...they NEVER TALK staright simple English but in "FORKED TERMS" and with hypocrisy written all over thair faces and speech.What exactly can they do about DARFUR ...ZULCH!! SWEET ZERO NOTHING!! JUST LIKE LEBANON, RICE left the troublede mideast region during the israeli war with hisbollah/ lebanon with tail betwwen her LEGS! Khartoum will NEVER ALLOW ZIONISTS AND USA MARINES TO BE DEPLOYED IN THE DISGUISE OF U.N.FORCES In darfur or part of Sudan. Dont look far, just look at RICEY face and you can see the incarnation of IBLIS*.

*Iblis is the name for the devil in the Qur'an.

Note, Al-Ahram Weekly Interview - America goes too far - Historian Paul Kennedy tells that the great wheel of history is turning against the United States: "We are making very slow progress in terms of sending UN forces to Darfur because the Chinese government has a lot of reservations on it."