TEXT- Conclusions of UN-AU meeting on Darfur crisis

TEXT treats three points (1) to fix the rules of the expected Darfur peace talks (2) to strengthen the ceasefire (3) to deploy a peacekeeping force in Darfur. - via ST 18 Nov 2006.

A hollow 'breakthrough' (David Blair)

The new agreement signed in Addis Ababa for a Darfur peacekeeping force has been hailed as a "breakthrough" by Tony Blair, among others. I fear it is nothing of the sort. The full text of this deal is very illuminating.

Read more at Telegraph Blogs: David Blair: November 2006: A hollow 'breakthrough'

NGO's and UN's Egeland blocked in Darfur by government

Nov 17 2006 Reuters report via ST - excerpt:

Witnesses said the eight camps around el-Geneina town have been infiltrated by armed men terrorising residents who fled their homes three years ago to seek refuge from violence.

"There are NGOs here who have half their staff sitting in Khartoum ... they have no travel permit, they do not get a visa, they have to spend more of their time doing paperwork than helping the people," he [UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland] said.

"The Sudanese should help us help their people, not prevent us helping their people," he said.

Note, the report reminds us there are an estimated 2.5 million refugees in camps in Darfur and across the border in Chad.

Welthungerhilfe pulling staff out of Darfur

Nov 18 2006 via The Daily Star - Agencies report - excerpt:

The German relief organization Welthungerhilfe said on Friday it was pulling its staff out of Sudan's Darfur region for safety reasons as fighting flared along the country's border with Chad.

Eighteen aid workers have been running a feeding scheme for 300,000 refugees in Birmaza near the border. "Renewed cross-border fighting is threatening to destabilize the whole region," Joerg Heinrich, the organization's project leader for Sudan, said. "We can no longer leave our colleagues in this danger."

Sudan's UN ambassador: "There will be no UN peacekeepers in Darfur"

Nov 17 2006 AFP report Questions emerge about Sudan's stance on mixed Darfur force - excerpt:

Questions have emerged about UN chief Kofi Annan's announcement that Sudan had accepted in principle a hybrid African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission for its troubled Darfur region.

The late Thursday announcement here took many by surprise as Khartoum has repeatedly and vehemently rejected any UN role in Darfur and insisted that only the current AU force can operate there.

Diplomats and observers who attended the Annan-led talks that led to the apparent compromise said Khartoum's stance was not entirely clear, as Sudanese officials repeated that no UN peacekeepers would be allowed on the ground.

One diplomat said Sudan had succeeded in preventing the world body from playing a significant role by agreeing to UN logistical and technical support for the AU mission known as AMIS but ruling out all but African personnel.

"It was a victory for Sudan, which has won a commitment that the command of the peacekeeping force will never be with the UN," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "Sudan remains in a position of force."

"For the moment, there is no guarantee of any major progress, except that everyone, even the Chinese and the South Africans, support it," the diplomat said, referring to the "hybrid" force concept promoted by Annan.

"The whole question is what the Sudanese want: either they want peace and should accept this since we're no longer talking about a UN operation or they are stalling, hoping AMIS will leave and give them a military option," he said.

The compromise proposal is to be presented soon to the UN Security Council and will also be discussed at a summit of leaders from the 15 members of the AU Peace and Security Council set for November 24 in Congo-Brazzaville.

The three-phase plan aims to boost the cash-strapped and undermanned AMIS with major UN support while the third phase envisions merging the force with a UN mission that will be predominantly African, according to the agreement.

In his announcement, Annan made clear that Khartoum had agreed only "in principle" to phase three, "pending clarification of the size of the force."

Sudanese officials firmly insist that no UN peacekeepers will be deployed in Darfur, where some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced in three years of fighting between local rebels and government-backed militia.

"The whole approach is to support AMIS with logistic support," said Sudan's UN ambassador Abdulmahmoud Abduhaleem. "The UN is saying they want to deploy 17,000 troops, we say it should be less, and only African troops under an African command.

"There will be no UN peacekeepers in Darfur," he said.

One international observer who was at Thursday's meeting in Addis Ababa said the Sudanese would likely take a great deal of time in determining an acceptable force level, possibly waiting for Annan's year-end departure.

"The Sudanese have no interest in conceding knowing that Kofi Annan is about to leave," the observer said on condition of anonymity. "They are playing for show."

Still, AU Peace and Security Council commissioner Said Djinnit said the African Union was pleased that a potential solution to its mission's funding and manpower woes had been reached.

"All the parties fell into agreement on the compromise formula, except for Sudan on certain points," he said.

"Through this plan we will now be able to ensure lasting and appropriate financing for AMIS without which it would not have been able to work if we waited much longer," Djinnit said. "The credibility of Africa goes from there."

Sudan accepts UN 'help' in Darfur but no talk about a mixed force or UN taking command

Nov 17 2006 BBC report - excerpt:

Sudan says it welcomes the United Nations' support for the African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur but denies the UN will take command.

On Thursday, UN chief Kofi Annan had said a compromise had been reached for a hybrid UN-AU force, to break the deadlock over the Darfur mission.

President Omar al-Bashir told state TV: "The government of Sudan welcomes all financial, material, logistic or technical assistance from the UN in order to strengthen the AU mission in Darfur."

His Foreign Minister Lam Akol specified that "there should be no talk about a mixed force".

He told the BBC there would be no UN troops.

Following a meeting on Darfur in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Mr Annan had said: "The troops should be sourced from Africa as far as possible and the command and control structure would be provided by the UN."

UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland has cut short his trip to Darfur after Sudan's government told him it would be too dangerous for him to travel outside the region's major towns.

A further possible area of disagreement on the peacekeeping mission is the size of the new force.

The UN also wants a force of 17,000 troops, while Sudan says 12,000 would be enough.

There are currently some 7,000 AU troops in Darfur.

Note, 12,000 AU peacekeepers were always on the cards for next year.

A man holds a bow and machete

Photo and caption from Sudan Tribune article 17 Nov 2006 Darfur refugees in Chad risk water shortages.



A man holds a bow and a machete for defence after fleeing the conflict in the east, near Goz-Beida, on the border with Sudan.

Darfur to be "invaders' graveyard" - Sudan defence minister

Xinhua report via ST 17 Nov 2006 - excerpt:

While addressing officers and soldiers of the western military area in Niyala, south Darfur, Sudanese Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein said that "Darfur will be the invaders' graveyard if the (United Nations) Security Council thinks about implementing Resolution 1706," the official SUNA news agency reported.

The defense minister stressed the capability of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to impose the security and defend the nation and its citizens, adding that the slogan of the SAF in Darfur was to "wipe out the rebellion and spread the dignity of the country".

He said that Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir was confident of the command of the SAF and its ability to carry out its duties without making pretexts for foreign interference.

The Sudanese defense minister made the remarks on the same day that the African Union (AU) and the UN were holding a joint meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to reconsider the best way of terminating the bloody conflicts in Darfur.

Links: Dr Gloria White-Hammond

Excellent set of links re Dr Gloria White-Hammond. See Mount Holyoke College: Migrations - Resources.

Oxfam: Darfur refugees in Chad risk water shortages

Nov 17 2006 AFP report via ST - Darfur refugees in Chad risk water shortages - excerpt:

Roland Van Hauwermeiren, head of Oxfam's operations in eastern Chad, said in a statement that Oxfam's pumping station in Goz Beida, where many displaced are arriving, is already working at full capacity for the refugee camp.

Following a visit Tuesday to Goz Beida, where more than 4,000 Chadians have arrived since last week, he warned that rations would have to be slashed if there is no more water in the ground.

"As we cannot deprive these new arrivals of water, we will have to find other solutions, such as reducing the water available every day or trucking in water, until the security situation stabilizes and people are comfortable going home," Van Hauwermeiren said.

The state of the Chadian displaced was alarming, Van Hauwermeiren said.

"Many have arrived with nothing, and are camping under trees in a state of shock,' he said.

"People I have spoken with say that in all of their years, they cannot remember things being this bad, with such hatred and destruction choking them out of their homes," said Van Hauwermeiren.

"Everyone wants to go home to their crops and to their regular lives but are too afraid to even consider it. The feelings of desperation among the people are overwhelming," he said.

News and Blogs from Sudan

Just found this great blog ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::: linking to news and blogs from Sudan.

UN Annan: Sudan 'backs' Darfur force plan

Mr Annan told reporters: 'It is agreed in principle that, pending clarification of the size of the force, we should be able to take it forward.'

UN'S THREE-STEP DARFUR PLAN

1) AU $21m support package
2) Deploy several hundred soldiers and police
3) Hybrid force with substantial UN command and control

Full story BBC 17 Nov 2006.
- - -

Nov 14 2006 AP report via ST - UN Darfur proposal could mean joint UN/AU operation: But whether Khartoum would approve the U.N.'s third step - "an A.U.-U.N. hybrid operation" with both organizations jointly appointing key decision-makers including the force commander - remains to be seen.

Nov 16 2006 AFP report via ST - Sudan supports 'hybrid' UN-AU Darfur force - Annan.

Nov 17 2006 AFP report via ST - US welcomes Sudan agreement on Darfur: "This agreement paves the way for a joint AU/UN peacekeeping force for Darfur composed primarily of and led by Africans, and commanded, supported and funded by the UN," Johndroe said.

Salva Kiir fears war return to S. Sudan if Darfur crisis continues

See full text TALKS WITH BRITISH OFFICIALS - Asharq Al-Awsat Interviews Sudan's First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit 13/11/2006 - By Mohammed al-Hassan Ahmad and Mustafa Sirri in London.



Photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair shakes hands with Sudanese Vice-President Salva Kiir Mayardit in London Oct 31, 2006. (Sudan Tribune)

Sudan Man: Rumours of exploding radios and bicycles!

Rob of Sudan Man's blogging rumours of exploding radios and bicycles!

Darfur rebels welcome Nuer "courageous" support

Nov 14 2006 NRF Press Release says "NRF Welcomes Courageous Support offered by Nuer Community in North America."

I stopped reading it after the first paragraph because it crows about victory. Darfur is one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Everyone is a loser.

See Nov 13 2006 Nuer elders call for peaceful resolution of Darfur conflict.

UN Annan calls crisis meeting on Darfur

Nov 14 2006 Bloomberg report by Ed Johnson - excerpt:

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has invited the Security Council's five permanent members to meet this week with the Sudanese government to address the crisis in Darfur.

The League of Arab States, the European Union and representatives from Congo, Gabon and Egypt have also been invited to the talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Nov 16, to be hosted by Annan and the African Union, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York yesterday.

Security in the western Sudanese region remains "volatile" with at least 37 people killed in recent days by Arab militiamen, some of whom were backed by Sudanese military vehicles, Dujarric said, according to a statement on the UN's Web site.

At the weekend, about 300 armed militiamen backed by 18 Sudanese military vehicles attacked a refugee camp in the village of Sirba in west Darfur, killing 31 people and injuring 18 others, the UN said. Arab militias attacked three villages in north Darfur on Nov. 10 killing six civilians, including four children, the UN said.

The talks in the Ethiopian capital aim to "move the peace process decisively forward," Dujarric said. The five permanent members of the Security Council are the U.S. U.K., Russia, China and France.

The Anglo-Zulu war - A Lesson Learned?

To mark Remembrance Day 11 Nov 2006. See great blog entry by the Telegraph's Africa Correspondent David Blair 13 Nov 2006 The Anglo-Zulu war - the stuff of legends. In the comments, a reader replies:

"A Lesson Not Learned. The lesson of Islandlwana is that a modern, well armed, military force, if ineptly led, can be defeated, even destroyed, by a motivated, well led, yet primitively armed native force. This lesson was again taught in Viet Nam."

Another comment says:

"Isandlwana was in one respect not an extaordinary battle. The Zulu warrior was superior at close quarters to the British infantryman. This in turn makes the defence of Rorke's Drift an even more amazing achievement. Remembrance Day may be a commemoration of wars fought since 1914 but we do well to remember the soliders of both sides who perished in the Anglo-Zulu Wars."

Note, David Blair's commentary mentions Rorke's Drift. Zulu is one of my favourite films. As a child (and military dependent) I spent three years living in the jungle outside Nairobi during the Mau Mau war. Last year, a Sudan Watch reader (and ex soldier, British Army) emailed me saying, quote:

"In 1983 I drove to Rorke's Drift as I was in [the area] Natal and it changed my life in many ways. I spent a whole day sitting in the camp where it really all took place, a very moving experience. The crickets were singing and the ground crackling as it only can in Africa. Totally deserted and on my own, I walked around and remembered the film, found old cartridge boxes broken and rotten in shallow scrapes in the ground broken down walls and litter. You might imagine no one had been there since it happened, eventually I found the remnants, the building with scraps of rotten linen hanging at window, roofs long since gone, and sat and cried, Ah memories see your perception changes but not with memories as strong as these.

Ten years later I was passing again and wanted to revisit this time with my ex wife and found it turned into a tourist attraction with stuffed dummies with bayonets and a curio shop, and I went ballistic at the sacrilege of destroying something so precious and was thrown out for a raving lunatic Englishman. It still brings a lump to my throat.

Picture: This Heroic Little Garrison, Defence of Rorke's Drift. By Chris Collingwood. Men of the 24th of foot, or 2nd Warwickshire regiment (later in 1881 to become the South Wales Borderers) repel the massed Zulus attempting to smash through the mealie bag entrenchment. http://www.war-art.com/defence_of_rorkes_drift.htm

Defence of Rorke's Drift

After the British Defeat and the Zulu victory at isandhlwana. Zulu Chief Cetawayo entered northern Natal that night. On a tributary of the Tugela River stood the British garrison of 140 troops under the command of Lt Chard at Rorke's Drift. the Zulu force of 4,000 attacked the garrison repeatedly, using their assagais, (also with Rifles form the hillside, taken form the dead British troops at isandhlwana.) The attacks lasted all night through 22nd into the 23rd. in the morning the Zulu withdrew, but only having lost 400 dead in the fighting. The British suffered 25 casualties. for this achievement of holding rorkes drift a total of 11 Victoria Crosses were received.

"Zulu", Col. John Chard V.C. defender of Rorkes Drift

I need to double check details in below caption. It's difficult to believe Col Chard was so young. Sorry caption does not tell us the location of Col Chard's grave, pictured here - found on internet)



Photo: Lieutenant John Rouse Merlot Chard, VC, Royal Engineers.
Born 21st December 1879, died 1st November 1897.
Col Chard won his Victoria Cross at Rorke's Drift, immortalised in the film "Zulu"
The battle of Rorke's Drift started at 4.20 pm on the 22nd January 1879, and finished at 4.00 am the following morning.
It is recorded that the defenders of Rorke's Drift fired more than 21,000 rounds of ammunition. (Source: Bob Cooper)



The Remembrance Day Poppy & In Flanders Fields Poem

Inspiration for the Poem. On 2 May, 1915, in the second week of fighting during the Second Battle of Ypres Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed by a German artillery shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae. It is believed that John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' that evening.

In Flanders Fields

John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.



The poppy is the recognized symbol of remembrance for war dead. The flower owes its significance to the poem In Flanders Fields, written by Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) John McCrae, a doctor with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, in the midst of the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium, in May 1915.

The poppy references in the first and last stanzas of the most widely read and oft-quoted poem of the war contributed to the flower's status as an emblem of remembrance and a symbol of new growth amidst the devastation of war.

Two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month because that was the time (in Britain) when the armistice became effective. The two minutes recall World War I and World War II. Before 1945 the silence was for one minute, and today some ceremonies still only have one minute of silence despite this.

In the United Kingdom, although two minutes' silence is observed on November 11 itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday. - Wikipedia

UPDATE: David Blair, in Robbed of remembrance, tells us:

As far as I know, the dead of the Battle of Isandlwana were never individually identified. There are no headstones for each fallen soldier.

Instead, the bones of the dead – British and Zulu alike - were interred in 269 stone cairns scattered about the battlefield. These cairns were repainted quite recently and looked in good enough condition to me.

Chad declares state of emergency

Chad's government has declared a state of emergency in most of the country, following a series of ethnic clashes.

At least 300 people have been killed this month, in violence between Arabs and black Africans, officials say. - BBC

UN to give African troops in Sudan $77 mln

Good news. Reuters report via ST - excerpt:

"We have agreed on two packages of support worth around $77 million for the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS)," Hedi Annabi, a U.N. assistant secretary general for peace-keeping operations, told reporters after a meeting of UN, AU and Sudanese officials at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Annabi said $22 million would go towards funding military staff officers, police advisers and civilian personnel to strengthen the chain of command of AMIS.

A second tranche of $55 million go towards equipment and personnel and a specialised support unit.

"The government of Sudan has agreed to the deployment of the two packages," he added.

Nuer elders call for peaceful resolution of Darfur conflict

Nov 11 2006 Press Release (via ST) by Nuer elders in Europe, Canada, U.S. and Australia. Excerpt:

We call on both the GONU and the NRF to demonstrate statesmanship by rising above parochial and personal differences to resolve the problem so that the international aid agencies would have an opportunity to avert the ongoing humanitarian crisis. The Nuer elders are more than willing to mediate between both sides if officially invited. The need to end the flight of innocent civilians in Darfur is a concern of every Sudanese.

We also require both GONU and NRF to respect basic human rights enshrined in international treaties signed by the state of Sudan. Commission of crimes against humanity by any group in Darfur runs contrary to international treaties and leads to violations of the right to life, security of the person and pursuit of happiness.

We therefore call upon all ethnic communities in the Sudan to resolve their differences via peaceful means in order to transform the country from a failed state to a peaceful one that is capable of resolving political and socio-economic conditions, which caused most conflicts in Sudan.

For Contact:

Eng. Daniel Koat Mathews,

Chair person of Nuer elders in Diaspora, Former Governor of greater Upper Nile, (Unity, Jonglei & the Upper Nile States), Former Commander & Secretary for Peace, SSIM/A, Former representative of SPLM/A in Scandinavia based in Sweden prior to the Nasir Declaration, Former mediator between Anya-Nya II and the SPLM/A (1987).

Email: turial37@hotmail.com

Tel +46 218 142, cell phone +46 768003362