Sudanese govt and janjaweed stepping up activities- BBC

Note, the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says the six agencies call for all sides to observe a ceasefire, allowing a full resumption of aid activities, is likely to fall on deaf ears as the Sudanese government and its partners in the Janjaweed militia appear to be stepping up their activities.

Full story BBC Darfur violence 'preventing aid' 15 Dec 2006.

Rwanda Redux? (ComingAnarchy.com)

See 19 responses ComingAnarchy.com - Rwanda Redux?

Sapa lifted quotes from Werner's blog - SA troops adapt to peacekeeping

What a cheek. Dec 15 2006 Sapa news reporter Louis Oelofse (via Mail & Guardian Online) lifted captions from Werner's blog entries at Soldier of Africa without linking to it or giving the blog credit. Excerpt from Sapa's report:

South Africans and the African peacekeeping operation in Sudan's embattled Darfur region are facing an uphill battle.

"Things are definitely escalating ... the question is, when and where will it peak and how bad will it be," writes Captain Werner Klokow.

He is a military observer in El Fasher and said in the past week tensions were taken to a new level.

"Tonight an Amis (peacekeeping contingent) vehicle was hijacked close to our house and the night has seen a moderate volume of gunfire. It has prompted us to rehearse our emergency plan and we are constantly observing," he wrote last Sunday.

Skimming through the above report might give one the impression Werner talked to the reporter. I know it's a nit pick but people quoting from a blog, ought to credit the blog by name.

EU calls for troops in Darfur

EU officials say a sanction such as a no-fly zone would first need a UN Security Council resolution.

Full story by ITN (via Channel4.com) 15 Dec 2006 EU calls for troops in Darfur .

Rebels in Darfur keep thousands from getting food

True story. Rebels in Darfur keep thousands from getting food (AP report by Alfred de Montesquiou 14 Dec 2006 via WS). Excerpt:

Violence has been increasing. Last month, in the worst looting yet, Arab tribal fighters known as janjaweed ripped apart a WFP warehouse and took 800 tons of food in the rebel stronghold of Bir Maza as government forces assaulted the town.

More than 200 U.N. and aid workers have had to leave remote outposts, and refugee camps and some of the region's main towns - like the North Darfur capital of El Fasher, which last week was also looted by janjaweed.

Meanwhile, some 200 World Food Program trucks are being blocked by the government from reaching Darfur, said Kenro Oshidari, the Sudan director for the U.N. agency.

"Food security is one of the most basic human rights, and it's constantly being challenged in Darfur," Oshidari said.

What's happening at Kalma camp Farah Mustafa?

Surely these two men must know why the Sudanese government continuously stops Norwegian Refugee Council from coordinating Kalma camp in South Darfur. If NRC are no longer running Kalma camp in South Darfur, who is?



Farah Mustafa, left, deputy governor of the southern Sudan region of Darfur, delivers his speech as Sudanese Ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Margani Ibrahim, right, listens during the special session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Darfur, at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore di Nolfi)

New Al-Fatih hotel in Khartoum

Al-Fatih, the name of a new five star hotel in Khartoum, is Arabic for 'September'.



Photo: An old yellow taxi sits parked outside the new Libyan-funded Al-Fatih five star hotel in the capital Khartoum, Sudan Friday, Dec. 8, 2006. Sudan is enjoying an oil-fueled economic boom even as its wartorn Darfur region suffers through brutal violence, with some calling the boom a hopeful sign that the famine-prone African country is pulling itself together. Al-Fatih is Arabic for 'September'. (AP Dec 15 2006 Photo/Alfred de Montesquiou)

ICC Prosecutor: First Darfur cases almost ready

Dec 14 2006 UN Press Release (via Scoop) - ICC Prosecutor: First Darfur Cases Almost Ready - excerpt:

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) informed the Security Council today that he is almost ready to bring cases about some of the worst war crimes committed in the Sudanese region of Darfur during the past three years.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he will submit evidence to ICC judges by February at the latest and, ahead of that step, he is now introducing measures to protect victims and witnesses.

According to the text of his statement to the closed-door Council meeting, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said that his first case will focus on a series of incidents in 2003 and 2004, when conflict emerged in Darfur as Government forces and allied militia clashes with rebel groups seeking greater autonomy.

"The evidence provides reasonable grounds to believe that the individuals identified have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the crimes of persecution, torture, murder and rape, during a period in which the gravest crimes occurred in Darfur," he said.

In a press statement released following his briefing, the Prosecutor said "perhaps most significant, the evidence reveals the underlying operational system that enabled the commission of these massive crimes."

New Border Intelligence Forces? - Sudan gov't says Janjaweed are border guards

Are Janjaweed now wearing the dark green uniforms of Sudanese government troops? Dec 14 2006 Reuters report Darfur: Gov't Says Janjaweed Are Border Guards - excerpt:

Pekka Haavisto, the European Union special envoy to Sudan, said he complained about the Janjaweed activities in El Fasher to the government on Thursday.

"The government response was: they are not Janjaweed, we are not calling them Janjaweed, because they are government border guards," he said.

"And my response was that if you recognize (them) as being part of the government, you have even more responsibility for their behavior."

There was no comment from the government, but state-run media has referred to one of the groups involved in the clashes as the "Border Intelligence Forces."

Darfur: France unready to support no-fly zone

Dec 14 2006 Kuna news report (via CFD) France Unready to Support No-Fly Zone - excerpt:

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei remarked that his government had learned of the proposal through the press and that France was not approached by Britain on this subject.

U.S. envoy to fly from Sudan to Brussels after getting OK for forerunners of Darfur force

Dec 14 2006 AP report via International Herald Tribune - excerpt:

[US special envoy to Sudan] Andrew Natsios scrubbed planned visits to Chad, the country just west of Darfur where violence has migrated back and forth from Sudan, and London after he met for two hours with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday at the end of a four-day visit to Sudan.

During the discussions, al-Bashir told Natsios for the first time that Sudan would provide visas for UN logistical experts to join the 7,000 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, McCormack said.

"The Sudanese have previously agreed to these individuals coming in as part of the first step in the deployment of a force, but they had not yet issued the visas for them to come in," McCormack said. "That hurdle had been cleared."

Ali Karti, the Sudanese state minister for foreign affairs, said in Khartoum that al-Bashir had agreed to "technical assistance" for the AU troops.

The U.N. mission in Sudan said it was ready to send 105 military advisers, 33 police officers and 48 civilian staff.

An African Union spokesman, Noureddine Mezni, said the overextended and insufficiently armed AU troops need help urgently, "both financially and in personnel."

McCormack said Natsios would arrive in Brussels on Friday and would meet with technical experts from the European Union as well as Solana and de Hoop Scheffer.

UK Blair tells US Bush they have to deal with Bashir in next 2-3 months

Dec 12 2006 Financial Times Blair backs no-fly zone over Darfur - excerpt:

Mr Blair declared his support for a no-fly zone for the first time during his visit last week to Washington. He told President George W Bush that they had to deal with Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, in the next two to three months.

"If rapid progress is not made, we will need to consider alternative approaches, with international partners," Mr Blair warned on returning to London.

Planning has moved ahead, according to one official, who added: "The Americans mean business."

Bet Khartoum thinks UK is bluffing. Doubt it's now a bluff. Lately, Khartoum's sounding too cocky. When's Bashir retiring?

Sudan despises threats of no-fly zone over Darfur by U.S.,Britain

Dec 15 2006 China's Xinhua - news report excerpt:

Financial Times reported on Wednesday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had backed setting up a no-fly zone over Darfur while U.S. military planners were also developing plans for air strikes and a naval blockade to pressure Khartoum to stop the violence.

Sudanese Envoy to UK Dismisses "No Fly Zone Over Darfur Reports"

BBC Monitoring report via RedOrbit - Text of report by Sudanese radio on 14 December:

The media adviser for Sudanese embassy in London, Mr Sadiq Bakhit, has dismissed media reports which said that the USA and Britain were planning to impose [designate] no fly zone over Darfur airspace if Sudanese government does not accept deployment of UN troops in the region.

In an interview with the Radio Omdurman he said these media reports were denied by both the British and US governments, and up to now it is a mere media leakage.

Bakhit said there were several foreign organizations targeting Sudan, and providing baseless propaganda to Western media outlets, which level false allegations and accusation against Sudan, particularly on issues concerning humanitarian affairs in Darfur.

(c) 2006 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

Daily Kos links on Darfur

See Dec 14 2006 Daily Kos Background and Resources: Genocide in Darfur (Just the facts baby).

Plan B for Darfur - Neglected Abbala nomad group in N Darfur

Dec 11 2006 Reuters AlertNet - Plan B for Darfur (Nina Brenjo):

Flint argues that the Arab camel nomad group called Abbala in northern Darfur have been consistently neglected as a community and it's no wonder it's so easy to recruit them into the ranks of the janjaweed. They need the job in order to survive, and this one comes with a monthly wage. Instead, Flint argues, woo them with development projects and livelihood strategies.

Perhaps same could be said of all the outlaws and bandits roaming Sudan. How to quell anarchy?

Sudanese Knights: Aid worker in Sudan

Sudanese Knights' blog entry (claims to be authored by an aid worker in Sudan) entitled Who's calling who a janjaweed? (hat tip Global Voices - Sudan: Janjaweed identity) - excerpt:

Many of those who have moved into the IDP camps go back to their fields in the daytime, on donkeys (they only have donkeys and goats now as their horses and camels have been rustled by janjaweed). At night they return to the safety of the camps. Last week I was out in the villages trying to organise training sessions with the few people who have stayed in the villages, but most people were too busy and worried about bringing in the harvest quickly before the cattle came to eat the crops. I saw fields being eaten up by herds of cows, the remaining wheat stalks still standing taller than the cattle as they munched their way through. Later I saw a group of men in dark green uniforms, (hell, let's be rash and just call them janjaweed), relaxing in the long grass with their guns propped up next to them, as their camels had a good square meal in somebody else's field.

Why be rash and call them janjaweed? See Werner's blog entry from Darfur on Answers to Questions and this excerpt:

Question: How can you tell who is a janjaweed and who is a government soldier?

Answer: Usually the GoS wear distinctive green camouflage uniforms and the Janjaweed do not. Otherwise I would not be able to tell the difference.

Ban Ki-Moon urges UN to work with AU and Sudan govt to tackle Darfur crisis

Dec 14 2006 Ban Ki-Moon Calls Darfur Tragedy "Unacceptable":

During his swearing ceremony as the eighth U.N. secretary-general, Ban called the suffering of people in Darfur "simply unacceptable," but reiterated that there was "no military solution to the crisis," and instead urged the U.N. to work closely with the African Union and the Sudan government to tackle the crisis.

Sudan dismisses Blair threats, welcomes UN mission

Note a 'UN sanctioned' Plan B. SudanTribune article : Sudan dismisses Blair threats, welcomes UN mission - excerpt:

A spokesman for the British prime minister, citing comments made by Blair last week, said on Wednesday Britain would agree to a no-fly zone over the war-ravaged region as part of a United Nations-sanctioned "Plan B" to halt the violence there.

"Statements like this ... do not enhance peace," said Al-Samani al-Wasiyla, the Sudanese state minister for foreign relations. "They prolong the crisis," he told Reuters.

"We do not deal with media statements ... and we do not need threats to deal with the international community," he said.

Sudan gov't minister says 'a million soldiers' could not pacify region

Dec 14 2006 AFP report (via CFD) excerpt:

"Even if you sent a million soldiers to Darfur, that would not solve the problem," Sudan's minister for international cooperation, Al Tigani Salih Fedail, told journalists Thursday.

"That's not the issue. You only have to look at the examples of Afghanistan and Iraq," he said.

"The problem is political. We have to totally respect the agreement and stop those who seek to sabotage it," the minister said.

"Without the implementation of the (peace) agreement, it is very difficult to disarm people," he said.

The minister was in Geneva for the launch of the UN Work Plan for Sudan for 2007, which is targeting 1.8 billion dollars (1.4 billion euros) to fund humanitarian, recovery and development projects in the country.

This represents nearly half of the total 3.7 billion dollars requested by the Secretary General for humanitarian assistance worldwide in 2007, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.