UN inspectors uncover plane-load of Ethiopian weapons at Juba Airport, S. Sudan - Pirates still holding shipload of Russian tanks destined for GOSS

According to Gulf News today, Wednesday, 15 October 2008, UN inspectors said that an Ethiopian DC130 cargo plane, carrying 40 tonnes of ammunition and light armaments, was seized at Juba Airport, South Sudan for illegal trade in arms. Reuters says it happened on Friday, October 10.

Also today, the Scotsman reported that American warships continue to monitor the hijacked vessel MV Faina which is anchored near the Somali port of Hobyo.

The Ukrainian ship, carrying 33 Russian tanks, is still being held by pirates demanding an $8m (BBC and The Scotsman say $20m) ransom. Associated Press reported that on Tuesday before last, various news reports said that the demand had dropped from $20 to $8 million.

On Friday, 10 October 2008, several news reports said that the pirates threatened to blow it all up, themselves included, by Monday, October 13, if an $8m ransom was not paid within three days. Today, the Scotsman says the US navy said the deadline passed without incident.

BBC says Kieve is being urged to pay ransom and relatives say they will try to raise the ransom money themselves.

Sources: Selection of news reports, featured here below. Also, see previous reports re hijacked Ukrainian ship: Sudan Watch Thursday, 9 October 2008 - MV Faina cargo was for Ethiopia? NATO agrees to join anti-piracy operations off coast of Somalia: seven of its frigates will arrive within two weeks
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Snapshot of Google's newsreel re $8m ransom:

Somali pirates release Iranian ship
Persian Journal, Iran - Oct 10, 2008
... demanded a $20 million ransom, but reports Tuesday said the demand had dropped to $8 million. A half-dozen US Navy warships have surrounded the MV Faina.

Somalia:Pirates deny talks with owners to release Ukranian ship
Mareeg, UK - Oct 10, 2008
The capture of the MV Faina has sparked controversy over the destination of its cargo and thrown a spotlight on rampant piracy in one of the world's busiest ...

US navy continues to monitor hijacked vessel
The Mercury (subscription), South Africa - Oct 9, 2008
Lt Nathan Christensen, a spokesman from the United States fifth fleet in Bahrain, said that the navy was in regular contact with the crew of the MV Faina. ...

UN calls for action to fight pirates off Somalia
The Associated Press - Oct 9, 2008
... but reports Tuesday said the demand had dropped to $8 million. A half-dozen US Navy warships have surrounded the MV Faina. The resolution only applies ...

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Pirates threaten to blow up MV Faina unless ransom was paid by Monday night - US navy said the deadline passed without incident - Pirates still holding shipload of Russian tanks destined for GOSS

From BBC Tuesday, 14 October 2008 -
Kiev urged to pay pirate ransom:

Relatives of crew members on a seized Ukrainian ship have urged Ukraine to pay a multi-million ransom to pirates holding the vessel off Somalia's coast. The relatives held a rally in Kiev, accusing the authorities of inaction in the crisis, which began last month. The Somali pirates earlier said they would blow up the MV Faina, which has a cargo of tanks, unless a $20m (£12m) ransom was paid by Monday night. A pirate spokesman later said the deadline may be extended [following requests from the ship's owner and other officials].

From The Scotsman Wednesday, 15 October 2008 by Mohamed Sheikh Nor -
Troops free ship's crew in a blow for pirates:

"...the US navy said the deadline passed without incident. Relatives of the crew members demanded on Monday that the Ukrainian government stop delaying and just pay the ransom. Ukraine's government says it opposes the use of force against the pirates, but as a matter of policy it will not negotiate with terrorists. American warships continue to monitor the Faina, which is anchored near the Somali port of Hobyo. Nato ministers have agreed to send seven ships to the area within two weeks.

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UN inspectors uncover plane-load of Ethiopian weapons at Juba Airport, South Sudan

From Gulf News Wednesday, 15 October 2008 by Duraid Al Baik -
Arms smuggling worries Sudan:

The Sudanese Government is in a state of shock following the accidental discovery of two consignments of arms that were allegedly on its way to the southern army.

The sensitivity of the issue stems from the fact that the fragile truce between North and South Sudan might collapse if the allegation proves true, a source from the Information and Communication Ministry told Gulf News on Tuesday.

The first consignment of 35 Russian tanks and artillery guns was intercepted by Somali pirates when they hijacked an Ukrainian ship off the coast of Somalia. The pirates said that the consignment, purchased by Kenya, was on its way to the south of Sudan.

The second incident of illegal armament was uncovered by the UN inspectors who said that an Ethiopian DC130 cargo plane, which was carrying 40 tonnes of ammunition and light armaments, was seized at the Juba Airport in the south for illegal trade in arms.

The UN inspectors who are entrusted with the enforcement of the 2005 peace treaty informed the Sudanese government, earlier this week, about the consignment and called the authority in Khartoum to take action.

Bakri Al Mulah, Secretary General of the Exterior Information Council in Khartoum, said the government is willing to find a peaceful end to the two arm smuggling cases before they snowball into a major crisis and sweep the 2005 peace treaty away.

"The ministry of foreign affairs is collecting information about the two consignments for which the ambassadors of both Kenya and Ethiopia were summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain Khartoum's concerns about the two incidents," Al Mulah told Gulf News.

Meanwhile, Kenya denied the accusation of the Somali pirates and said the tanks were meant for Kenya and not for the Southern Sudan army. Ali Abdo, Ethiopia's ambassador to Sudan told reporters in Khartoum that the load of the DC130 is part of commercial goods which was meant to be put on display at a local trade exhibition to be held in Juba.

The two ambassadors were summoned by Sudan's foreign ministry on Monday and were asked to come up with a written statement from their governments.

Mohey Deen Jebril, a political analyst in Khartoum, told Gulf News that the National Congress Party is concerned about a series of violations committed by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement Army, a partner of the ruling coalition government.

"Under the peace treaty signed by South and North Sudan in 2005, which ended a two-decade civil war, both sides are not allowed to upgrade their army in the ceasefire zones without the approval of the other partner," he said.

Assessing

Jebril said Khartoum is assessing what it can do with its southern partner and with its neighbours who seems to have helped the southern army to violate the peace treaty.

"Sudanese in the North could not trust the referendum on unity to be held in 2011 as it would not reflect the free choice of people in the south, as its partner is not sincere," he added.

The ambassadors of both Kenya and Ethiopia were summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain Khartoum's concerns.

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From BBC News Tuesday, 14 October 2008 -
Sudan summons envoys over weapons

Sudan has summoned the ambassadors of Kenya and Ethiopia over what it says are illegal deliveries of weapons to the country's semi-autonomous south.

The summons came after Somali pirates seized a Ukrainian ship last month carrying 33 tanks bought by Kenya.

The cargo's manifest appeared to show the tanks were destined for South Sudan, though Kenya has denied this.

Sudan's Suna news agency said the foreign ministry also complained about a plane-load of weapons from Ethiopia.

The weapons had arrived in the South Sudanese capital of Juba on Friday, Suna said.

But officials from Ethiopia and the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) said the weapons were meant for a previously planned trade fair.

'Violations'

Under the terms of a 2005 peace agreement that ended more than two decades of civil war, any build-up of military equipment has to be approved by a north-south Joint Defence Board.

Suna said that "against the backdrop" of the arms deliveries, the foreign ministry had asked the ambassadors to "inform their governments of its protest at these violations".

Authorities in northern and southern Sudan are reported to be building up their forces ahead of a referendum on independence for the South in 2011.

Ethiopia's Consul General Negash Legesse told Reuters news agency that some weapons from the Ethiopian delivery had been taken to the SPLA for inspection.

"They are samples," he said. "Some Kalashnikovs. Some others that Ethiopia is producing."

The manifest for the delivery of tanks obtained by the BBC carried the letters "GOSS", widely used to mean the Government Of South Sudan.

Diplomatic sources have also said the cargo - still being held off the Somali coast - was to be delivered to South Sudan. But Kenya's foreign minister said it meant General Ordinance Supplies and Security, and that this was a code for the department of defence.

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From Reuters Tuesday, 14 October 2008, by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum -
Sudan summons Kenyan, Ethiopian envoys over arms:

Sudan summoned the Kenyan and Ethiopian ambassadors on Monday to protest against what it said were illegal shipments of arms to its semi-autonomous south, state media reported.

Khartoum was protesting over "violations" linked to an arms shipment seized by pirates off Somalia's coast that Western diplomats said was bound for south Sudan, and a plane-load of weapons from Addis Ababa, state news agency SUNA reported.

SUNA stopped short of accusing Ethiopia and Kenya of directly supplying the arms to south Sudan, which won its own government and the right to its own army in a 2005 peace deal with Khartoum that ended a two-decade civil war.

But it said that "against the backdrop" of the two shipments, the foreign ministry asked both envoys to "inform their governments of its protest at these violations".

A senior official of the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), speaking on condition of anonymity, denied that the south was buying any new equipment from Ethiopia, Kenya or any other country. "We don't have the resources," he told Reuters.

Khartoum's move raised the heat in a row over the shipment of 33 T-72 tanks and other weapons seized by pirates last month off Somalia that western diplomats said were secretly heading for south Sudan in possible breach of the peace agreement.

The pirates, who are still holding the cargo, said paperwork showed the tanks were heading to south Sudan through Kenya's port of Mombasa. South Sudan has denied ordering the tanks and Kenya has insisted the machines were meant for its own army.

MILITARY PLANE

Sudan's foreign ministry also protested about unspecified weapons that it said had arrived in south Sudan's capital Juba on Friday on an Ethiopian military plane, SUNA said.

Southern officials and army officers on Monday denied the weapons were part of an arms delivery and told Reuters they had been brought in as exhibits in a long-planned trade fair.

The SPLA's Lieutenant General Biar Ajang said that rumours of an Ethiopian delivery of armaments were "confused".

"They are coming to show local products, tents, uniforms, armaments, shells ... like a shop," he said.

Ethiopia's Consul General Negash Legesse told Reuters some of the weapons had been taken to SPLA headquarters for inspection. "They are samples. Some Kalashnikovs. Some others that Ethiopia is producing," he said.

Sudan's foreign ministry said it was surprised at the shipments as both Kenya and Ethiopia had backed the 2005 peace deal that ended the civil war between north and south Sudan, SUNA said.

There are currently no global arms embargoes banning south Sudan from buying arms or supplying the SPLA.

But the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement ban both the north and the south from building up arms without the approval of a north-south Joint Military Board.

Activists have repeatedly accused the north of also re-arming, and of breaching the terms of a U.N. arms embargo covering the warring parties in the separate Darfur conflict.

Sudan Watch Ed: Check out the report's photo of Sudanese President Al-Bashir. Here in the UK, the sticking up of two fingers in such a way says: F-off (In America, although I can't think why, I seem to recall it being referred to as "flipping the bird"*). However, fingers pointing in such a way, but with palm facing outwards signifies: Peace - or, if held higher: Victory. Being a Brit, Andrew Heavens would have chuckled at seeing a photo of Sudan's president saying F-off! Heh. Unfortunately, I can't publish photos at the moment as I am on temporary dial-up while awaiting switchover to broadband. I'll keep the gem of a photo for posting at a later date. Now, if only I could find a photo of Sudanese rebel leaders sticking up two fingers, I could produce a montage of them all sticking their fingers up at each other - and at the peacekeepers and defenceless women and children of Sudan...
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Peace balls

Note Andrew Heavens' blogpost at Meskel Square 22 September 2008 - Peace balls: "Next stop Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo".
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Beware of "thumbs up" gesture

*Correction: I've just remembered: Americans stick middle finger up only, palm inwards. Maybe the two fingered sign is only a British thing?

Update: I've just looked it up at Wikipedia - check out flipping the bird and the Middle-Eastern equivalent - gulp, it's the Western thumbs up sign for great, OK!

Google "unable to permit download of Google Chrome in Cuba, Syria, North Korea, Iran, and Sudan" says Google

But ads still accessible, according to Chris Crum of webpronews.com:

Google is reportedly blocking use of it's Chrome browser (among other applications like Google Talk and Gmail Notifier) in some countries with which the United States has economic sanctions and export controls with. "We are unable to permit the download of Google Chrome in Cuba, Syria, North Korea, Iran, and Sudan," says a Google Spokesperson.

Full story at webpronews.com: Google Blocks Services in Some Countries - Tuesday 14 October 2008. Hat tip Hilium.com
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Update Wednesday, 15 October 2008 - Excerpt from Andrew Heavens' blogpost at Meskel Square September 3, 2008:

Something similar happened with Google Earth - at the time Google said it blocked downloads in Sudan saying it couldn't distribute its software in the blacklisted country.

Darfur militia leader, Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman aka Ali Kushayb, will be tried in Sudan’s courts - Sudan may dismiss Ahmed Haroun

A Sudanese militia leader wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Darfur is in custody, a minister has confirmed.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman - known as Ali Kushayb - in February last year.

Sudanese Justice Minister Abdel Basit Sabderat said an investigation into alleged crimes committed by Ali Kushayb was now drawing to an end.

Ali Kushayb was arrested several months ago, the minister said.

Full story by BBC Mon 13 Oct 2008 - Darfur militia leader in custody.

Related reports

Mon 13 Oct 2008 Sudan Tribune report - Sudan detains militia leader wanted by ICC in preparation for trial - copy:

Oct 12, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government revealed today that a militia leader wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been detained and will stand trial for his alleged role in Darfur war crimes.

The Sudanese justice minister Abdel-Basit Sabdarat told the Associated Press from Cairo that militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb “is in government custody”.

“Kushayb will be tried in Sudan’s domestic courts. He is under investigation. He will be held accountable” Sabdarat said.

The move come almost three months after the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced in mid-July that he requested an arrest warrant against Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.

Following that Sudan has been looking into ways that would allow it to avoid confrontation with the international community over the ICC through conducting trials for lesser suspects.

The judges of the ICC issued arrest warrants last year for Kushayb and Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs on 51 counts of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes. But Khartoum has so far refused to hand them over.

Khartoum had long claimed that Kushayb was in custody since November 2006 for investigations into allegations of violations he committed during the peak of the Darfur conflict in 2004.

Sudan’s former Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi told a news conference in Khartoum in February 2007 that “Ali Kushayb, along with two other individuals, was sent for trial. He was detained as a suspect, questioned, his statements were evaluated and witness statements recorded, and then the decision was taken to refer him to court”.

But in March 2007 Kushayb’s trial was delayed when the defendants filed an appeal with the Justice ministry after which Abu-Zeid told reporters that Kushayb’s appeal was denied that there is “sufficient evidence to proceed with the case”.

Shortly afterwards the Sudanese justice ministry ordered a ban on publishing reports or details relating to criminal cases on Darfur conflict and many observers at the time voiced skepticism over Khartoum’s seriousness to try perpetrators of crimes in the war ravaged region.

In October 2007 Sudan’s former foreign minister Lam Akol told the pro-government daily Al-Rayaam from New York that Kushayb was freed “due to lack of incriminating evidence against him”.

However Al-Mardi issued a quick denial to the Al-Rayaam report describing it as “false” without directly commenting on Akol’s statements.

The former Justice Minister was asked again by Al-Rayaam last November on the whereabouts of Kushayb and he reiterated that the militia leader was “never released” before saying that he refrained from commenting on the issue “because it is under investigation”.

In April the spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in London, Khalid Al-Mubarak was quoted by Voice of America (VOA) as saying that Haroun and Kushayb were not prosecuted “because there is no evidence against them”.

Again in June Amin Hassan Omar, a leading figure in the National Congress Party (NCP) and a state minister also confirmed Kushayb’s release.

Sabdarat did not say on what charges will Kushayb be prosecuted despite earlier assertions that he has been cleared from any wrongdoings.

The ICC Statute prevents investigation into crimes that were looked into by local judiciary under the concept of “complementarity”.

Sudan must prosecute Haroun and Kushayb for the same accusations brought against them by the ICC in order for the latter to lose jurisdiction over their cases.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UN Security Council (UNSC) triggered the provisions under the Statute that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security. (ST)

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Mon 13 Oct 2008 Sudan Tribune report by Wasil Ali - Sudan offered to remove minister accused of war crimes: diplomat - copy:

October 12, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese government told French officials that they are willing to remove a minister wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a senior European diplomat told Sudan Tribune.

The diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the proposal was made during a visit by a Sudanese delegation last week to Paris headed by senior Sudanese presidential adviser Nafi Ali Nafi.

Nafi met with French officials including foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, Claude Guéant, the secretary general of the French Presidency and the presidential adviser for African Affairs Bruno Joubert.

French officials have said that it is “unacceptable” that an individual indicted of war crimes to be part of the Sudanese cabinet.

According to the diplomat the delegation told French officials that they could possibly dismiss Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs and investigate his alleged role in Darfur war crimes.

Sudanese officials insisted however, that any prosecution of Haroun is contingent upon coming up with evidence implicating him. They further said they will not cooperate with the ICC in conducting national proceedings as demanded by Paris.

In a surprise move the Sudanese justice minister Abdel-Basit Sabdarat told the Associated Press from Cairo today that militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb “is in government custody”.

“Kushayb will be tried in Sudan’s domestic courts. He is under investigation. He will be held accountable” Sabdarat said.

The judges of the ICC issued arrest warrants last year for Kushayb and Haroun on 51 counts of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes. But Khartoum has so far refused to hand them over.

Sabdarat did not say on what charges will Kushayb be prosecuted despite earlier assertions that he has been cleared from any wrongdoings.

Khartoum has been lobbying world countries to freeze a move by the ICC to indict president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

In mid-July the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced that he is seeking an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir.

The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. In early October ICC judges have officially started reviewing the case in a process that could possibly drag on to next year.

Sudan and a number of regional organizations including the African Union (AU), Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) condemned Ocampo’s request and called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution deferring Al-Bashir’s indictment.

But the UNSC has been divided on the issue particularly the Western countries on the council hesitant to support such a move.

France has been the only country to publicly offer Sudan a suspension of charges in return for concessions on the ground with regard to the Darfur crisis and relations with neighboring Chad.

The French president Nicolas Sarkozy speaking in New York during the UN General Assembly meetings last month made it clear that his country will not support a deferral resolution unless certain conditions are met.

“France wants the Sudanese authorities to radically change their policies. It is now up to Mr. Al-Bashir to determine what exactly he wants” Sarkozy said.

“We want to deploy the international force in Darfur to stop the scandalous situation in which tens of thousands are dying in this part of Africa. We want peace in Sudan as well as peace and the territorial integrity of Chad… people in Darfur have the right to live and we cannot accept the situation as it is currently” he added.

Sarkozy warned Sudan that France wants to see concrete steps taken before it would support a suspension of ICC move.

“There would be no recourse to invoking Article 16 unless there is radical and immediate change in Sudanese policies” he said.

“If Sudanese authorities do change; totally change their policies then France would not be opposed to using Article 16” the French president added.

But the visiting Sudanese delegation failed to reach an agreement with France on conditions needed to invoke an Article 16 resolution in the UNSC.

Khartoum has recently appeared increasingly resigned to the fact that they will not be able to convince Western powers on the UNSC to drop their opposition to a deferral.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met briefly with Sudan 2nd VP Ali Osman Taha in New York last month where they discussed the ICC row. The Sudanese official inquired on what is needed to lift Washington’s oppistion to Article 16 resolution.

Rice provided Taha with a list of conditions including facilitating the deployment of African Union-United forces in Darfur (UNAMID), lifting restrictions on aid workers and reaching an understanding with all opposition forces.

The US top diplomat said that Washington wants to see progress made on these benchmarks within a specific timeframe that expires mid-December.

Only then will the US be willing to discuss a deferral of Al-Bashir’s indictment with Sudan, Rice told Taha.

The Sudanese VP contested that the UN is the party to blame in the delay of UNAMID deplyment. Rice agreed with Taha on this but said that the US will fill the gaps and offered to airlift peacekeepers into Darfur.

The US Secretary of State also said that Washington is working with its allies to secure the helicopters for UNAMID.

Last month US special envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson told the US Commission on International Religious Freedom that Washington will veto any Article 16 resolution introduced in the UNSC.

“If asked—if forced to vote today—the United States, even if it was 191 countries against one, would veto an Article 16 [resolution],” Ambassador Richard Williamson said.

The US is not a party to the ICC and has remained hostile to it. Washington had threatened to veto resolution 1593 referring Darfur case to the ICC adopted in March 2005 but eventually bent down to domestic and international pressure and abstained from voting.

The US has recently showed signs of warming up to the court despite its long standing fears that it may be used to bring frivolous cases against its troops. (ST)

Joint mediator, Gabriel Basole, to invite non-signatory factions to participate in 5-day 'People of Sudan Initiative' attended by Mini Minnawi

According to the following report, the 'People of Sudan Initiative', scheduled to start next Thursday, is "a serious attempt at surmounting the crisis and paving the way for the success of the Arab-African Initiative which will later kick off utilizing consensus of the people of Sudan over options for resolving Darfur problem".

Mon Oct 13 2008 Sudan Vision Daily report by Mona Al-Bashir - Joint Mediator Entrusted with Rallying Rebel Factions Round People of Sudan Initiative - copy:

Dr. Mohammed Mandour al-Mahdi has revealed communications made by the different political forces with Abuja non-signatory factions, disclosing that the government has officially charged the joint mediator, Gabriel Basole, with the task of communicating with the non-signatory factions to invite them to participate in the people of Sudan all-round forum which will kick off next Thursday.

He expressed his hope that the rebel factions will appreciate the efforts of the joint mediator and respond to the call for participating in the forum.
 
Al-Mahdi further indicated that all the signatory factions will participate in the People of Sudan Initiative which the President of the Republic will inaugurate with an elaborate speech. He added that Senior Presidential Assistant, Minni Arkoi Minnawi, has affirmed his participation in the forum.
 
He disclosed that over 180 public figures will participate in the People of Sudan Initiative which will start next Thursday, in addition to representatives of Qatar, sponsor of the Arab Initiative, Libya, Egypt, Eritrea and Tanzania.
 
Al-Mahdi pointed out that the Khartoum meeting will represent the starting point for the People of Sudan Initiative where public figures will engage in continuous dialogue for five days in a bid to pinpoint political, social, developmental and other options for the issues to be raised at the forum.
 
In an interview he made with Omdurman Radio, Al-Mahdi described the Initiative as a serious attempt at surmounting the crisis and paving the way for the success of the Arab-African Initiative which will later kick off utilizing consensus of the people of Sudan over options for resolving Darfur problem. 

Arabs to form legal committee to support Sudan says Sudan's Justice Minister Abdel-Basit Saleh Sabdarat

CAIRO, Sun Oct 12 2008 (Xinhua) - Arab justice ministers have agreed to set up a legal committee to support Sudan in face of its current crisis with the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sudanese Minister of Justice Abdel-Basit Saleh Sabdarat said here on Sunday.

The ministers made the decision to form the committee at an extraordinary session held at the Cairo-based Arab League (AL) on Sunday, Sabdarat told reporters following the meeting.

Full story by Mu Xuequan - Sudanese minister: Arabs to form legal committee to support Sudan

Arab delegation on Darfur concludes "positive" 5-day visit in Sudan with Arab League action plan

KHARTOUM, Sun Oct 12 2008 (Xinhua) - An Arab delegation seeking supports of the Sudanese government for an Arab initiative for solving Sudan's Darfur crisis wound up a five-day visit in Sudan on Sunday, which the delegation's head described as "positive."

The visit had realized its objectives and was supported and welcomed by the Sudanese government and the political parties, especially the people in Darfur, said Ahmed bin Abdalla Al-Mahmoud, chairman of the steering committee of the Arab initiative for solving the Darfur.

During the visit, the delegation held a series of meetings with Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir, high-ranking officials in the Sudanese government, the Government of South Sudan, and the three states of Darfur.

The delegation put forward to the Sudanese side an action plan for carrying out the Arab initiative which was worked out by the Arab League during recent meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Full story by Mu Xuequan - Arab delegation on Darfur concludes "positive" visit in Sudan

UN peacekeeping chief visited Kalma camp in South Darfur, with head of AU - and met with GOS VP Minni Minawi in El Fasher, North Darfur

UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy met Thurs 6 Oct 2008 in El Fasher, North Darfur with Government of Sudan's Vice President Minni Minawi, "former" leader of Sudanese rebel group SLA/MM.

Source: Sun 9 Oct 2008 Xinhua report by Sun Yunlong - UN peacekeeping chief meets with Sudanese rebel faction - edited excerpt:

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy met Thursday in El Fasher, North Darfur, with Minni Minawi, leader of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA/MM), one of Sudan's rebel factions - as part of his first official visit to Sudan's Darfur region.

SLA/MM has signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) with the government two years ago, while other rebel factions have yet to do so.

UNAMID gave no details of Le Roy's talks with Minawi, who met with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha last month, and concertedly announced that they were turning a new page in their commitment to the full implementation of the DPA and the formation of a joint military committee to ensure an end to all hostilities.

At the time, UNAMID deputy head General Henry Anyidoho said that he hoped the announcement would attract the non-signatories of the DPA to join the process in a more comprehensive accord.

Le Roy has already visited Southern Sudan, where the organization is fielding a separate operation -- the 10,000-strong UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) monitoring a 2005 peace agreement that ended the 21-year-long north-south civil war.

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UN chief, with head of AU, visits IDP camps in South Darfur

On Sunday, 12 October 2008, UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, with head of AU Rodolphe Adada, visited Kalma and other IDP camps in South Darfur, W. Sudan.

Source: Sun 12 October 2008 Sudan Tribune report - Darfur IDPs slam lack of protection by UNAMID - copy:

October 11, 2008 (KHARTOUM) - Darfur displaced slammed the role played by the hybrid peacekeeping force in the protection of civilians in the camps and elsewhere.

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy, accompanied by the head of the African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), Rodolphe Adada visited today the internally Displaced People camps in south Darfur states.

In a meeting they held with the IDPs representatives in Kalma camp, they criticised the lack of protection for the civilians inside the camp. They said that the UNAMID had failed to bring security to the IDPs. They further asked for the deployment of Western peacekeepers with the necessary military capabilities to deter any attack on Darfur camps.

Le Roy visited the graveyard where are buried the dozens of displaced killed by the Sudanese authorities last August.

UNAMID was deployed at the start of this year and will become the largest UN peacekeeping operation with some 26,000 personnel at full strength. Currently it has some 10,000 troops and police officers on the ground and still lacks essential equipment, including helicopters.

Hussein Abu Sharati the IDPs and refugees spokesperson told Sudan tribune they presented a memorandum to Le Roy compromising 47 demands.

Abu Sharati said, as IPDs, we are still asking for the disarmament of the Janjaweed and to re-establish security before any talks.

"We do not support any talks with the Sudanese government before the total arrest of violence. Still in the camps there is no security and the so called peacekeepers are there."

Abu Sharati called on the International Community to not freeze the indictment of the Sudanese President. "Any move in this direction means carte blanche from the U.N." he said.

While in El Fasher, Le Roy also met with local civil society representatives, whom he referred to as “natural allies” in the peace process in the region. He also met with Minni Minawi the former rebel leader turned senior Presidential Assistant. He discussed with him the implementation of Abuja agreement.

Le Roy has already visited Southern Sudan where the Organization is fielding a separate operation – the 10,000-strong UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) monitoring a 2005 peace agreement that ended the 21-year-long north-south civil war, which killed at least 2 million people and displaced 4.5 million others. (ST)

United Resistance Front (URF) leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda says his senior commander was killed in Janjaweed ambush east of Muhajiriya, South Darfur

Sun 12 Oct 2008 Reuters report by Andrew Heavens - Rebels say 11 killed in Darfur militia ambush - excerpt:

Fighters from Darfur's rebel Sudan Liberation Army, and the smaller United Resistance Front, were ambushed as they travelled through open land east of Muhajiriya on Saturday afternoon, said URF leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda.

"I lost one senior commander. Ten Janjaweed were killed," he told Reuters, using a commonly used name for government-backed militia in Darfur.

Earlier this week, the Aegis Trust put out a statement warning that Muhajiriya was under imminent threat of attack from a 300-strong Janjaweed militia that had been attacking villages in the surrounding area.

Leaders from two rebel factions said the militias who struck late on Saturday were part of a build-up of fighters around the town of Muhajiriya, a past flashpoint in the Darfur conflict.

But an aid source told Reuters: "The only thing we can say for certain at the moment is that there is a militia in the area, that people have died and buildings in villages have been burned."

UNAMID peacekeeping mission in Darfur confirmed fighting had taken place but said it was unclear who had taken part.

Andrew Heavens is a British journalist based in Khartoum, Sudan and has a blog Meskel Square.
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JEM rebels clash with govt forces nr El Geneina, W Darfur

Sat 11 Oct 2008 Sudan Tribune report - Sudanese army say JEM attacked convoy but rebels deny - copy:

Fri Oct 10 2008 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan accused rebels of killing three of its troops today in western Darfur during an attack against a government convoy, but the rebels reject the accusation saying they repelled the assailant force.

Rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement clashed with a local government convoy escorted with army troops 60 kilometres from the capital of West Darfur state, El Geneina, as it was travelling to Kulbus, the Sudanese army said.

However, Ali Waafi, JEM military spokesperson, said they were attacked by a joint force from the Sudanese army, Janjaweed militias, and the Chadian opposition in Alhilailat, near Kulbus not far from the Chadian border.

“Our forces acted in legitimate self –defense," Waafi said. He further said that Khartoum carries out since two months a military campaign against the rebels in the region.

"We have the right to defend our self, the civilians and the territory that we control" he added. The rebel official said that the Sudanese government is not serious about peace process. Because "they speak about peace on the ground while they are waging war" he stressed.

But the spokesperson of the Sudanese army, Osman Mohamed Al-Aghbash, said that the convoy included the commissioner of the Kulbus region and the state minister of social welfare, Sultan Hashim but the two officials reached Kulbus town save, he added.

Al-Aghbash said the attack was directed against the state minister Hisham by a local JEM commander called Mohamed Adam Galabi. He also said that some of the rebels were injured in an exchange of fire with the convoy but the rebels were able to escape.

He further dismissed media reports that 15 people were killed in the ambush.

'Al Qaeda in the Land of the Two Niles' threatens US govt & Americans in Sudan - 'Ansar al-Tawhid' claims USAID killings - Khartoum's Ozone cafe risk

Saturday, 11 October 2008 UK GMT 18:40 - The following copy of AFP's undated report appeared on Google's newsreel 15 minutes ago:

US warns of Al-Qaeda threats in Sudan

KHARTOUM (AFP) — The US embassy in Khartoum has warned that an Al-Qaeda group had threatened Americans in Sudan and the US government, following the double murder of two staff on New Year's Day.

A warden message, which was dated October 2 and remains current, alerts US citizens to "threats made against the US government and US citizens in Sudan by a group calling itself 'Al Qaeda in the Land of the Two Niles'".

No one from the embassy elaborated on the timing or form of the threats.

Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Niles is a hitherto unheard of group.

Five Sudanese Islamists are on trial for killing John Granville, who worked for the US Agency of International Development (USAID), and his local driver, Abdel Rahman Abbas, in Khartoum.

The statement on the embassy website said the new threats "referenced" those killings and "proclaimed the group's 'jihad and fight against the United States of America and its allies of crusaders and apostates will continue".

A group calling itself Ansar al-Tawhid had claimed the USAID killings in a statement on a militant website on January 4.

The US-based SITE intelligence group, which monitors Islamist websites, did not give more details about the group and the claim was not authenticated.

But variations of the name, which means "Partisans of Oneness" (of God), have been used by Islamist extremists abroad, including in Iraq.

In another warden message, the embassy told American staff on Saturday not to patronise Khartoum's most popular café among Western expatriates.

"The US Embassy, in a reassessment of its personnel's security posture, has determined that the 'Ozone' restaurant, located in Khartoum 2 is particularly vulnerable from a security perspective and has, therefore, restricted US Embassy employees' patronage of this location.

A US embassy spokeswoman was unable to elaborate on the meaning of the word "restricted" or equate it with an outright ban.

The most prominent of a string of cafés frequented by rich Sudanese, foreign diplomats and aid workers, Ozone sells ice cream, sandwiches and cakes.

The US embassy urged Americans to exercise increased caution at all places frequented by Westerners and to be vigilant when travelling around Khartoum.

Sudan sheltered Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden for five years in the 1990s and the country remains on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Sudanese intelligence, however, has cooperated with the US-led "war on terror" that followed the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Sorry no link, my computer screen crashes while viewing report.
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Extremist groups have set up operations in Khartoum

Saturday, 11 October 2008 (Reuters) report by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum, Sudan - U.S. warns of "Al-Qaeda" group threat in Sudan - excerpt:

There have been growing fears that extremist groups have set up operations in Khartoum.

In August 2007, Sudanese security services said they had broken up a plot to attack the French, British, U.S. and U.N. diplomatic missions in Khartoum.

The group was discovered in a Khartoum house after explosives went off by accident, foreign sources said.

Five men are currently appearing in court in Khartoum charged with the murder of John Granville and his driver Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama 1. All five deny the charge.

Prosecutors said the group that killed Granville and his driver targeted Americans it thought were trying to "Christianize" the predominantly Muslim nation.

Earlier this year, al Qaeda graffiti also started appearing on walls in the capital.

Sudan, which hosted al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, has been on a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1993. (Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Andrew Heavens is a fellow Brit and blogger - see meskelsquare.com

Deployed peacekeeping veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have significant impairments in health-related quality of life

Nine years ago today, I was struck down with a flu like viral illness from which I never recovered. After the initial six months, my profoundly disabling condition was diagnosed by a Consultant Psychiatrist as a severe form of Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (PVFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

Still, to this day, there is no effective treatment or cure. In my experience, the condition is similar to Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Gulf War Syndrome (GWS).

Over the past nine years my energy level has increased from one half hour to two hours per day. I am still virtually housebound. Last March, I was able to attend my mother's funeral. Next month, I am scheduled to attend a long awaited appointment with a CFS Consultant. Several years ago, I was bedbound for two years.

The following definition of ME is from a paper I wrote with a very dear friend (recently departed, God rest his soul) in March 2003:

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - ME

Evidenced by muscle pain, with inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, ME has been known for half a century as 'a-typical polio'. The symptoms of extreme lassitude, and the swift onset of exhaustion that characterise the disease, also caused it to be known for many years as 'chronic fatigue syndrome' or CFS. It was only classified by the World Health Organisation of the United Nations as a neurological disorder in 1969.

The disorder is triggered by a virus infection that occurs worldwide in epidemic and pandemic form: seasonally and in selected geographical areas. It affects about 1% of the British population and there is no known cure. While three-quarters of those who become infected do not present advanced symptoms, 25% of ME sufferers are chronically affected with severe illness and pain, causing them to become profoundly disabled and very largely housebound. The condition can last throughout life without remission of any kind.

Doctors and sufferers generally agree that the worst effects of the disease can be 'managed by strict adherence to conservation of energy, reduction of stress and simplification of work: augmented by education, with practical and economic support'.

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We're not lazy nor crazy, tiredness is the least of our problems

This post today, 10 October 2008, here at Sudan Watch, is to help raise awareness of the plight of military personnel suffering from ghastly life-wrecking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Below are some excerpts taken from Science Daily online. More on this topic at a later date.
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Peacekeepers are exposed to traumatic events which they are helpless to prevent under the United National rules of engagement

While the relationship among Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and physical and mental health impairment is well developed in combat veterans, it is less studied among the deployed peacekeeping veteran population.

Peacekeepers are exposed to traumatic events which they are helpless to prevent under the United National rules of engagement, which state soldiers must show restraint and neutrality. The feeling of being unable to control a situation at the time of trauma is an important risk factor for developing PTSD.

More from ScienceDaily.com (Dec. 15, 2007):

Canada’s peacekeepers suffer similar rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) as combat, war-zone soldiers, according to a London, Ont. research team.

Psychiatrist J. Donald Richardson and his co-investigators also found that PTSD rates and severity were associated with younger age, single marital status and deployment frequency.

Vietnam Combat Linked To Many Diseases 20 Years Later

According to Boscarino, of the 1,399 Vietnam veterans studied, 24 percent (332) were diagnosed with PTSD sometime after military service, and nearly all cases of PTSD in the study resulted from exposure to heavy or very heavy combat in Vietnam.

He said his research and others' suggest that those with PTSD often have altered neuroendocrine and sympathetic nervous systems. Disturbances in these key body systems are the main reason for increases in a broad spectrum of diseases among combat veterans, he said. His research also uncovered abnormal immune functioning and clear medical evidence of coronary artery disease among the veterans studied. Read more at ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 1997)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder May Result In Heart Disease

Combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to be at higher risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a recent study of 4,462 male U.S. Army veterans.

"We believe that this research suggests a clear, definitive linkage between exposure to severe stress and the onset of coronary heart disease in humans," said Boscarino. Read more at ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 1999)

PTSD Causes Early Death From Heart Disease, Study Suggests

A new study sheds light on the link between PTSD and heart disease. Vietnam veterans with PTSD suffered higher rates of heart disease death than veterans without PTSD.

The more severe the PTSD diagnosis, the greater the likelihood of death from heart disease, the study showed. Read more at ScienceDaily (July 8, 2008)

Whether combat or peacekeeping, PTSD impacts veterans' well-being

Deployed peacekeeping veterans with PTSD have significant impairments in health-related quality of life according to research by Dr. J. Donald Richardson of The University of Western Ontario and his co-investigators.

The research, published recently in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, found anxiety disorders such as PTSD are associated with impaired emotional well-being, and this applies just as much to peacekeeping veterans as to combat veterans. "This finding is important to clinicians working with the newer generation of veterans, as it stresses the importance of including measures of quality of life when evaluating veterans to better address their rehabilitation needs," says Dr. Richardson. "It is not enough to measure symptom changes with treatment; we need to objectively assess if treatment is improving their quality of life and how they are functioning in their community."

Richardson is a consultant psychiatrist with the Operational Stress Injury Clinic at Parkwood Hospital, part of St. Joseph's Health Care, London and a psychiatry professor with the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western. His team studied 125 male, deployed Canadian Forces peacekeeping veterans who were referred for a psychiatric assessment. The average age of these men was 41, and they averaged 16 years of military service. The most common military theatre in which they served were the Balkan states (Bosnia, Croatia, former Yugoslavia, and Kosovo), with 83 per cent having exposure to combat or a war zone. Read more at ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2008)

Post Traumatic Stress Has Tripled Among Combat-exposed Military Personnel

Concerns have been raised about the health impact of military deployment. Studies have estimated as many as 30% of Vietnam War veterans developed post-traumatic stress disorder at some point following the war and, among 1991 Gulf War veterans, as many as 10% were reported to have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms years after returning from deployment. Read more at ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2008)

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Postscript

I would be interested to hear from anyone affected by above issues. Feel free to email me anytime and forgive me if I am slow to respond. Note, my current email address will cease on November 28, 2008 because I am switching my ISP to British Telecommunications (BT) Broadband.

With love from Ingrid and cat Ophelia xx

[Afterthought: As my network of blogs receives thousands of regular visits from military, health orgs, unis, govts, etc., I have decided to cross post this whole entry at some of Sudan Watch's sister sites: Congo Watch, Uganda Watch, Ethiopia Watch, Niger Watch, Kenya Watch, Russia Watch.]

MV Faina cargo was for Ethiopia? NATO agrees to join anti-piracy operations off coast of Somalia: seven of its frigates will arrive within two weeks

Washington accuses Asmara of supporting "terrorist groups" in Somalia. Eritrea slams US over arms ban. NATO agrees to join anti-piracy operations off coast of Somalia, seven of its frigates will arrive within two weeks. MV Faina's cargo in Somalia destined for Ethiopian army? Details in the following reports.

Aljazeera report, October 09, 2008 - Nato joins Somalia piracy fight - excerpt:

"There will soon be Nato military vessels off the coast of Somalia, deterring piracy and escorting food ships," James Appathura, Nato's chief spokesman, said on Thursday.

"Piracy is a serious problem for shipping in that area. It is also an immediate threat to the lives of the people in Somalia," he said.

Nato said the seven frigates from a group that was to have taken part in an exercise in the Suez Canal region would arrive off the Somali coast within two weeks in response to a request from the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

The force, which currently consists of destroyers from Italy and the United States, frigates from Germany, Greece, Turkey and Britain and a German auxiliary vessel, will stay in the region until at least December.

MV Faina standoff

Six US warships have already been deployed in the area and have surrounded the Ukrainian MV Faina amid fears that its weapons, including 33 battle tanks, might fall into the hands of armed groups in Somalia.

However, a spokesman for the pirates has said that the vessel, which has 20 crew members on board, could be released within days if the $8m ransom was paid.

"We are open for give-and-take negotiations," Sugule Ali, a spokesman for the pirates, told The Associated Press news agency.

He also said that the Faina's crew were holding up well despite their ordeal.

"Their chef still prepares their food for them," Ali said. "They are healthy and have no worries. But of course their only worry is when they will gain their freedom. Their feeling is typically that of hostages - no more, no less."

Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, a spokesman from the US 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said the navy was in regular contact with the crew and would not allow the pirates to offload the weapons.

Mark Caltar, a piracy expert and operations director of Olton Solutions, told Al Jazeera that the payment of any ransom would be a win for the pirates and a loss for the United Nations.

"What we have here is an epidemic, a plague of piracy," he said. "If people ... see that the pirates around Somalia can get away with this now, and six US warships are hanging around doing absolutely nothing, then you are encouraging piracy on a global status."

The United Nations Security Council earlier this week called on countries to send naval vessels and military aircraft to support anti-piracy efforts.

The call came after European Union countries said they would launch an anti-piracy patrol, and Russia announced it would co-operate with the West in fighting the pirates. 

Somalia's transitional government, which is under pressure from near-daily attacks by armed opposition groups, has given foreign powers the freedom to use force against the pirates. [end of report]

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Hijacked arms cargo in Somalia destined for Ethiopian army?

The following report excerpts suggest that the hijacked Ukrainian vessel MV Faina and its cargo may end up being destroyed, and that the cargo could have been destined for Ethiopia.

September 30, 2008 (pr-inside.com) report by Shuun Isaaq - Hijacked arms cargo in Somalia destined for Ethiopian army - excerpts:

Recent unflattering international reports of a Ukrainian cargo ship hijacked by militias loyal to the current parachutist government of "Somalia" from the region formerly known as Majertenia and now dubbed as "Pirate (Puntland) State of Zoomalia" reminds Somalis of the dangers which encircle them on a daily basis.

What the firestorms of speculations by media collusively failed to investigate is the correct destination of weapons bought "legitimately" from Ukraine through Ukrainian weapons brokers. Although first major reports claimed the purchase was made by South Sudan rebels, or by the Khartoum government. More recent analysis by Somali experts is growing intensely and may lead to the eventual destruction of the ship along with its cargo. [cut]

Speaking from London, a former manager of a major Kenyan haulage company from Mombassa Samir Yasin ridiculed accusations of South Sudan connections. Revelations were made this week that such cargo to be heading to South Sudan prompting the SPLA to strongly deny such claims. SPLA may have used Ukrainians based in Dubai to broker and drop light weapons such as grenades and assault rifles by air. However, never to delver a huge consignment of tanks and modern Russian ammunitions by cargo ship specially through mainland Kenya.

The same media quickly ran errands this time provoking the Kenyan army and the East Africa division lately built by America to fight against an apparent "terror networks" in the horn of Africa. They also distanced themselves from this consignment, although they confirm the ships destination to had been Mombassa. This leaves the main culprit Ethiopia, as the sole destination of reported weaponry since it is not common sense to deliver to the Khartoum government using the Indian Ocean.

Hat tip: Ethiopia - Topix.net, October 06, 2008
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Eritrea slams US over arms ban

Washington announced the ban on Monday, accusing Asmara of supporting "terrorist groups" in Somalia.

Source: Mail & Guardian Online - ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA Oct 08 2008 - Eritrea slams US over arms ban

Hat tip: Ethiopia - Topix.net, October 08, 2008
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Related report

October 08, 2008 - Sudan Watch:
A businessman from Odessa with an Israeli passport is the man behind Russian tanks shipment destined for Govt of South Sudan (GOSS) via Mombasa?
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[Cross posted today, Oct 09, 2008 at sister site Ethiopia Watch]

Message for African leaders: Annual $5 million African prize is a 'developmental project', says Sudanese born British billionaire Dr Mo Ibrahim

Yesterday, the Sudan Tribune was back to normal. Perhaps technical or server problems caused its 48-hour news blackout. Whilst checking it out, I came across the following Associated Press report, posted at Sudan Tribune 28 October 2006, and wondered about the possibility of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir making himself eligible for the prize. Most days, I think anything is possible. My favourite motto is "where there's the will, there's a way".

"African prize is a ’developmental project’, says Sudanese Billionaire"
Oct 27, 2006 (LONDON) — A Sudanese billionaire who is offering a $5 million prize to an African head of state who significantly improves the lives of citizens said Friday the money is intended as ’’a developmental project, not a gravy train."

Mohamed Fatehi (Mo) Ibrahim acknowledged critics’ comments that his money could go directly to poverty-stricken Africans. But without good governance, he argued, there is no way to ensure it is distributed fairly and effectively.

’’I’m not squandering money,’’ Ibrahim said in an interview Friday.

The prize is the largest of its kind, surpassing the $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize.

’’If you write a good novel, or a chemistry paper, you win the Nobel Prize,’’ Ibrahim said. ’’If we have a leader take 4 or 5 million people out of poverty, this is a much greater achievement.’’

Ibrahim hopes to award the prize annually to an African head of state who improves the standard of living among ordinary citizens, and who does not try to cling to power on a continent where military dictators and presidents for life have long held sway. If no candidate meets the criteria, no prize will be given. The first prize was scheduled to be awarded late next year.

Board members of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation for African Development include Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and U.N. high commissioner for human rights, and Salim Salim, a Tanzanian diplomat and former leader of the Organization of African Unity.

’’The prize is not intended for the thief or the corrupt, it is for those that serve their people,’’ Salim said.

But some are concerned that offering a prize for good governance is not the best way to help Africa. With millions in poverty, why should more money go to the most advantaged of African society, asked John Larvie of the Center for Democratic Development, a think tank in Ghana.

’’Though prize money for a well-behaved president may be attractive to the office- holders, what good would that do to the general welfare and democratic development of the people and the country as a whole?’’ he asked.

Others argue that the prize will not influence African leaders’ behavior, particularly when it comes to holding on to power. Ibrahim designed the prize in part to address reluctance to leave office. Winners receive $5 million spread over 10 years after they leave office. If they are still living when the initial prize is exhausted, they will receive another $200,000 annually until they die.

’’Money is not an issue because the corruption in this country means they can systematically syphon off funds throughout their rule,’’ Geoffrey Rwakaeale, National Coordinator for the Anti-Corruption Coalition of Uganda, said in Kampala, Uganda. ’’They (African leaders) have money. It is their safety they are worried about.’’

Ibrahim said his prize may be too small to influence the corrupt. But he said it would reward leaders trying to do the right thing, and sway those who are wavering.

The idea of an award for results comes from the business world, said Ibrahim, who founded Celtel International, an African cell phone network. He sold Celtel for $3.3 billion in 2005.

’’As an engineer, as a businessman, I found performance measurement is normal. Everyone has performance related pay,’’ Ibrahim said. ’’We’re just applying that to governance.’’

The prize will be awarded based on criteria developed by Robert Rotberg, a professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government who said he will rate security, rule of law, economic opportunity, political freedom, health service, education system, infrastructure, and civil society.

’’They will be measured by outcome, not input or budget, because in the developing world, what goes in doesn’t always come out,’’ Rotberg said Friday in a panel discussion at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. (AP)

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Yesterday, I posted news here about Dr Ibrahim's interest in investing in Ethiopia (see footnote at Sudan Watch post, October 05 2008, re: Sudanese born billionaire entrepreneur Dr Mo Ibrahim is named as Britain's most powerful black man).

Soon, I hope to catch up on posting a backlog of news for Ethiopia Watch, mostly re commercial/joint ventures starting up in Ethiopia. Lately, it seems as though the Ethiopian's are attracting publicity for making good stuff happen in their country. Maybe their president could be eligible for a $5M prize? According to the above report, the prize is awarded annually and the first one was scheduled to be awarded in 2007. Must find out what's happened.

Asteroid 2008 TC3 hit Earth and exploded in the atmosphere over northern Sudan on Tuesday October 07, 2008

From spaceweather.com Wednesday October 08, 2008 - ASTEROID IMPACT - report excerpt:

On Tuesday October 07, 2008, asteroid 2008 TC3 hit Earth and exploded in the atmosphere over northern Sudan.

The only report of a visual sighting comes from Jacob Kuiper, General Aviation meteorologist at the National Weather Service in the Netherlands:

"Half an hour before the predicted impact of asteroid 2008 TC3, I informed an official of Air-France-KLM at Amsterdam airport about the possibility that crews of their airliners in the vicinity of impact would have a chance to see a fireball. And it was a success! I have received confirmation that a KLM airliner, roughly 750 nautical miles southwest of the predicted atmospheric impact position, has observed a short flash just before the expected impact time 0246 UTC.

So far, no ground pictures of the fireball have been submitted; the impact occurred in a remote area with few and possibly no onlookers capable of recording the event.

2008 TC3 was discovered on Oct. 6th by astronomers using the Mt. Lemmon telescope in Arizona as part of the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey for near-Earth objects. Asteroids the size of 2008 TC3 hit Earth 5 to 10 times a year, but this is the first time one has been discovered before it hit.

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The full story of Earth-impacting asteroid 2008 TC3

The asteroid was 2 metres wide. Sorry no pics. The atmospheric entry occurred over an extremely remote location on Earth, just 20 hours after it was first discovered. Here is an excerpt from commentary at The Planetary Society Blog by Emily Lakdawalla, October 07, 2008 - The full story of Earth-impacting asteroid 2008 TC3:

"...All in all, I think the episode of 2008 TC3 has proven that the world's astronomical community, at least, is prepared to respond when an object on a collision course is detected. Within just a few hours of its discovery, the digitally connected world knew exactly where and when the object would hit, and also that it posed no threat. It was a wonderful simulation of the first part of the call to arms when a truly threatening object is detected.

But of course we now have to ask ourselves: what would have happened if the object was much bigger than 2 meters in diameter? Reassuringly, the first thing that would have happened is that the detection most likely would have happened much earlier. The bigger and more hazardous an object is, the brighter it is, and the sooner we will detect it. We will likely have way more than 20 hours' warning of an incoming dangerous object. Still, though, the warning time for a tens-of-meter-diameter object could only be measured in days. If we'd had three days' warning of a dangerous impactor heading for Sudan, what could the world have done? The remote location of the impact would have been fortunate for humanity in general, but disastrous for the few people who lived out in that remoteness. Could the developed world have done anything to prevent yet another humanitarian disaster from befalling the Sudanese?

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Sudan Watch Ed: No, the developed world would not have been able to prevent such a disaster befalling the Sudanese because thousands of Sudanese rebels would blame the fireball on the Sudanese government who, in turn, would blame it on the rebels, and they'd all get into a fight over it, running around killing each other, as usual, while preventing aid from reaching those most in need and stopping the developed world from helping ...

Sorry bad joke, bad mood. I'm still shocked at the horrific attacks on Darfur peacekeepers. I reckon the death toll by now is somewhere approaching 70 - not to mention the countless number of peackeepers in Sudan who have survived attacks, suffered injuries, post traumatic stress etc., and the impact on their families, friends and colleagues.

Hey world and all you noisy rebel supporting Darfuri activists out there, where's the outrage?

A businessman from Odessa with an Israeli passport is the man behind Russian tanks shipment destined for Govt of South Sudan (GOSS) via Mombasa?

Nina Karpacheva, the ombudswoman for Ukrainian parliament claims that the man behind the Russian tanks deal (the tanks that are still onboard the hijacked Ukrainian ship, MV Faina, off the coast of Somalia - see latest news here below) is Vadim A., a businessman from Odessa with an Israeli passport.

Source: Der Speigel special report Monday, 06 October 2008 - Investigating the Faina - Looking for the Good Guys off the Somali Coast - By Clemens Höges, Uwe Klussmann and Horand Knaup; Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan
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The pirates have lowered the ransom from $20 million to $8 million

Today, Wednesday 08 October 2008, the pirates still hold Ukrainian Faina.

Yesterday, they lowered the ransom from $20 million to $8 million.

According to the freight manifest, Kenya’s government made the contract on behalf of South Sudan. Kenya that has always reiterated that the weapons on board are for its army is just the receiver of cargo.

Source: Kommersant, Wednesday 08 Oct 2008 - Ukrainian Tanks on Faina Destined for S. Sudan
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Photo of freight manifest

Click here for BBC report showing map of Mombasa/Kenya/South Sudan, and photo of the freight manifest proving that the weapons onboard the MV Faina were destined for South Sudan?

Also, note that the BBC's report highlights this quote: "If you want peace you have to prepare for war" - SPLM source.

Source: BBC News report, Tuesday 07 October 2008 - Pirates reveal Sudan's precarious peace - By Amber Henshaw, BBC News, Khartoum
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Sudan's Government of South Sudan (GOSS) or Kenya's General Ordnance Supply and Security (GOSS)?

Yesterday, Tuesday 07 October 2008, Kenya once again denied the shipment was for South Sudan, claiming that its acronym "GOSS" on the freight manifest stood for Kenya's General Ordnance Supply and Security (GOSS) and not Government of South Sudan (GOSS).

See AFP report via thetimes.co.za, Wednesday 08 Oct 2008 - Kenya denies cargo is for Sudan - excerpt:

Kenya’s foreign minister denied a cargo manifest produced by the BBC was evidence that military hardware seized by Somali pirates last month was destined for southern Sudan.

Moses Wetangula said the initials GOSS, a commonly used acronym for the government of South Sudan, included in the contract number had been misinterpreted, and is in fact a code used by Kenya’s defence ministry.

"I have personally seen the bill of lading that is posted on the BBC website, and it is purely speculative," Wetangula told reporters after a meeting with Somali Foreign Minister Ali Jama Jangeli.

"That is the correct document but it was misinterpreted. The initials shown in that cargo manifest do not in any way show that the military cargo was destined for Southern Sudan," he said.

"This is our cargo, it is purely Kenyan. The initials shown as GOSS are misinterpreted to mean government of South Sudan," Wetangula said.

"I have been advised, and this is the government’s position, that it means General Ordnance Supply and Security. That is a code that is used by our department of defence," he explained.

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Toxic waste and possibly even nuclear waste is being dumped in the ocean off Somalia

Excerpt from Der Speigel's special report Monday, 06 October 2008 - Investigating the Faina - Looking for the Good Guys off the Somali Coast - By Clemens Höges, Uwe Klussmann and Horand Knaup; Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan:

The trail of this special freighter, which has had various names -- the Marabou, the Loverval and the Matina -- can be found in the databases of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Ukrainian ship is registered in Belize, but the official owner, a company called Waterlux AG, is registered in Panama. But the IMO lacks even a letterbox address for Waterlux. All it has is the address of a supposed subsidiary in Ukraine called Tomex. Tomex does exist, and its offices are in an elegant building in Odessa, but no one there is willing to discuss the Faina.

All of this secretiveness would be unnecessary if the deal involving the Faina had been normal. However, the excessive caution would make sense if what Nina Karpacheva, the ombudswoman for the Ukrainian parliament, says is true. Karpacheva claims that the man behind the deal is Vadim A., a businessman from Odessa with an Israeli passport, excellent contacts within the government bureaucracy and an unsavory reputation as a juggler of businesses.

Both Karpacheva and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko are calling for an investigation of the Faina affair. The fact that Tymoshenko has become involved is, perhaps, not surprising. She has long been engaged in political battle with President Viktor Yushchenko, whose supporters in the Ukrainian intelligence service, the SBU, have long lined their pockets by selling off the remains of the former Soviet arsenal throughout the world.

The Faina case could also prove to be an international embarrassment for Ukraine in other ways as well. Russia, its more powerful neighbor, has sent the frigate Neutrashimy ("The Fearless") toward Somalia because Ukraine has no ships suitable for such a mission. If the Russians can free the sailors and restore calm to the Horn of Africa, they will have managed to polish up their image in the wake of their invasion of Georgia, as well as to demonstrate who is in charge at home, in a realm that was once the Soviet Union.

Unscrupulous Dealmakers

The Neutrashimy is likely to face off against thousands of pirates. In addition to Sugule Ali's boats, there are at least four other large groups operating along the Horn of Africa: a band of gangsters called the Somali Marines, a group calling itself the National Volunteer Coastguard, and the Puntland Group and Marka Group.

The pirate gangs can do as they wish along the coast of Somalia, which descended into chaos and civil war after the dictator Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Since then, unscrupulous dealmakers from Europe and the rest of the world have taken advantage of the vacuum. Some are dumping toxic waste and possibly even nuclear waste in the ocean off Somalia. Others are illegally exploiting the Somalis' fishing grounds. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the United Nations Special Envoy for Somalia, calls it "a disaster for Somalia's coast, the environment and the population." In the beginning, angry Somali fishermen wielding Kalashnikovs took matters into their own hands and drove away the foreign fishing boats.

In the process, some of them apparently noticed how easy it was to attack ships, and they soon made a business of it. Using the ransom money, they bought themselves mansions, SUVs, better boats and weapons. But the hijacking and ransacking of ships off the Somali coast could soon come to an end.

Spurred to action by the attack on the Faina, the defense ministers of the EU agreed last Wednesday to a launch a joint military intervention. Under the plan three EU warships, one of them from Germany, will patrol off the coast of Somalia beginning in December. American and Russian ships will likely join them. This concerted response will likely deter many pirates. The Strait of Malacca off the Malaysian coast, once considered extremely dangerous, became virtually pirate-free after a similar alliance was formed and resolute military intervention began.

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RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS:

Photo Gallery: Somali Pirates Go Overboard
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-35894.html

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden: German Shipowner Paid Ransom to Somali Pirates (09/16/2008)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,578495,00.html

A Pirate Amendment?: Berlin Looks at Ways to Battle Somali Kidnappers (06/26/2008)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,562204,00.html
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Other related reports

Click here to scroll though Sudan Watch entries re above pirates, starting with most recent on Friday, October 03, 2008, entitled: Arrr! Somali pirate captain aboard hijacked Ukrainian ship says: "Whoever attacks, we will defend ourselves"

{Also published at this site's sister blog Kenya Watch]

See Kenya Watch - Friday, 3 October 2008 - Who really owns the hijacked battle tanks?

France extremely worried about Darfur - Sudan delegation meets French officials in Paris - Khartoum in all-out diplomatic offensive for close ties

'France extremely worried about Darfur situation' is the title of an Associated Press report from Paris today, published online at International Herald Tribune, France. Unfortunately, my laptop screen crashes each time I attempt to view the report. I never seem able to access and view AP's online reports. Right now, all I can find is this - from Google's newsreel:

France extremely worried about Darfur situation
International Herald Tribune, France - 17 hours ago
AP PARIS: France is extremely worried about the situation in Darfur and has urged Sudanese officials to freeze a government offensive in the province, ...

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Where's chubby cheeks fat-cat leader of SLM, Abdelwhaid al-Nur? Khartoum in all-out diplomatic offensive in visit seeking close Paris ties

The following report from Paris by SUNA dated Monday, October 6 2008 (via Daily Nation, Kenya Wednesday 08 October 2008) mentions "Khartoum in all-out diplomatic offensive in visit that seeks close Paris ties" and "support expressed by France to the Qatari initiative on arranging negotiations between the government and the armed movements". I wonder where chubby cheeks fat-cat leader of the SLM, Abdelwhaid al-Nur, is amongst all of this? He leads and directs the Darfur war by phone from Paris where he lives safely (and gets fat) in self imposed exile (coward).

Here is a copy of the report, entitled Sudan delegation meets French officials:

A high-level delegation, led by an adviser to Sudan’s President, Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, started talks on Monday in Paris with senior French officials on a number of issues of mutual concern.

Sudan’s Ambassador to France Dr Suleiman Mohamed Mustafa said in a statement to SUNA that the Sudanese-French talks will tackle issues related to the bilateral relations and the regional and international situations and Darfur file and the support expressed by France to the Qatari initiative on arranging negotiations between the government and the armed movements.

The ambassador added that the delegation despatched to Paris by President Omar al-Bashir would meet with a number of senior aides and advisers of the French President, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy.

He pointed out that the visit comes in the context of contacts and meetings between officials in the two countries and in reply to the visit by the French Presidential Adviser for African Affairs to the country as well as a continuation to the talks held by Minister of Foreign Affairs Deng Alor and Presidential Adviser Dr Mustafa Osman Ismail in France.

Meanwhile, the Representative of Sudan to the European Union has pointed out in an interview with the Sudan News Agency that the issue of the Sudan with the International Criminal Court (ICC) had been at the top of the Agenda of the summit deliberations at a recent meeting in Accra.

Ambassador Nageeb Al Khair pointed out that the meetings of the Permanent Representatives had considered the allegations levelled by the Hague Court as a threat to peace realisation in the Sudan and the region and called for cancellation of the indictment against President al-Bashir so as to give room for the political and diplomatic efforts to achieve just peace in Darfur.

He went on to add that the ACP Council of Ministers had endorsed the recommendation of the Permanent Representatives of the grouping and tabled it before the meeting of the joint meeting of the Foreign Ministers and the Council of Ministers, which amended the recommendation from cancellation of the indictment to freezing it without setting a time limit for this freezing.

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Related reports

October 08, 2008 - Sudan Watch: Does anybody know what's happened to Sudan Tribune? Sudan says US-led no-fly zone would ‘impede’ aid to Darfur

September 19, 2008 - Sudan Watch: France says will block any UN resolution seeking to suspend ICC indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir



Photo: The leader of the SLM, Abdelwhaid al-Nur, welcomed by the former French minister Bernard Kouchner, March 20, 2007. (AP via Sudan Tribune) Ref Sudan Watch archives June 21, 2007- French air bridge in Chad
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Snapshot of Google's newsreeel
Wednesday 08 October 2008 11:11 UK GMT

Ukraine may offer helicopters for Darfur - UN's Ban
Reuters UK, UK - 13 hours ago
By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine might offer badly needed helicopters to an international peacekeeping mission in Sudan's ...

Sudan reports surrender of rebel unit
The Associated Press - Oct 6, 2008
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — The Sudanese military says 116 Darfur rebels have surrendered, and the UN-African Union mission is trying to confirm the report. ...

Sudan military says 116 Darfur rebels have surrendered, handed ...
CanadaEast.com, Canada - Oct 6, 2008
AP KHARTOUM, Sudan - Reports from Sudan say a group of more than 100 Darfurian rebels has surrendered to government forces. The UN-African Union mission in ...

UNAMID vehicle carjacked within half kilometer of base
Sudan Tribune, Sudan - Oct 6, 2008
October 6, 2008 (NYALA) – An international police officer driving a vehicle for the UN-African Union hybrid peacekeeping operation in Darfur (UNAMID) was ...

Darfur: UN peacekeepers ambushed during patrol
UN News Centre - Oct 6, 2008
6 October 2008 – A group of peacekeepers serving with the joint United Nations-African Union operation in Darfur were ambushed this afternoon while on ...

Ahmadinejad calls ICC a tool of the superpowers
Tehran Times, Iran - Oct 5, 2008
TEHRAN (IRNA) -- President Mahmud Ahmadinejad here on Sunday denounced the unjust and heinous action of the International Criminal Court at The Hague in ...

Sudan Ready to Cooperate Without Preconditions Over ICC Warrant
Voice of America - Oct 5, 2008
By Peter Clottey Sudan's government says it is ready to work with the international community in a compromise to improve the security situation in the ...

Struggling Darfur troops need helicopters now
Independent Online, South Africa - Oct 3, 2008
Without helicopters from the international community, the joint African Union/United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur was "doomed to failure",

Russia: Statement by MFA Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko Regarding the ...
ISRIA (subscription), DC - Oct 3, 2008
The MI-8 helicopter (as reported earlier) crashed on September 29 in the south of Sudan's rebellious province of Darfur. It was carrying food supplies to ...

Darfur: UN chief outlines timetable towards full deployment of peacekeeping force - Tripartite Committee (UN, AU and GOS) held first meeting Oct 07

On Monday, 07 October 2008, in Khartoum, the first meeting of the tripartite committee - comprising representatives of the UN, AU and Sudanese Government - was held to review the deployment of UNAMID and outline practical solutions to logistical and other challenges which the mission faces.

The three parties agreed “to take every possible step to speed up the deployment,” according to a press release issued by UNAMID, and also backed a set of measures to achieve that accelerated roll-out.

Some 85 per cent of the 26,000 troops and police officers expected when the peacekeeping mission, known as UNAMID, is at full capacity should then be in place by next March.

The first Egyptian and Ethiopian battalions will be deployed by the end of this month.

Increasing attacks on UN and international aid staff. The UNAMID mission is severely stretched.

An estimated 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur over the past five years as a result of direct combat, disease, malnutrition or reduced life expectancy, while another 2.7 million people have been displaced from their homes.

Source: UN News Centre report Monday 07 October 2008 - Darfur: Ban outlines timetable towards full deployment of peacekeeping force

Does anybody know what's happened to Sudan Tribune? Sudan says US-led no-fly zone would ‘impede’ aid to Darfur

For some unknown reason, at the present time (Wednesday 08 October 2008 UK 09:23 GMT) and over the past day or so, news content at the Paris based website Sudan Tribune has disappeared. Today, a Google cache of the site's main page shows news reports only up until Saturday 04 October 2008.

However, thanks to a Google search, I was able to obtain Google's cache of a report published at Sudan Tribune on Monday 06 October 2008, enitled "US-led no-fly zone would ‘impede’ aid to Darfur - Sudan" (copied here below). Right now, I'm finding that some earlier reports published at Sudan Tribune cannot even be viewed via Google's cache and lead to a blank white page with a note in top left corner saying (sic): (Sorry, there is no article at this adress.)


So, this morning, I added a copy of the report at Sudan Watch entry dated Monday 06 October 2008 re Darfur no-fly zone impossible says top EU soldier - Sudan criticizes US VP contenders Palin, Biden over Darfur flight ban.

US-led no-fly zone would ‘impede’ aid to Darfur - Sudan
Sudan Tribune Monday 6 October 2008 04:31.
By Daniel Van Oudenaren

October 5, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadig on Sunday responded to U.S. politicians who suggest enforcing a no-fly zone over Darfur, saying it would be impractical, useless, and would restrict humanitarian aid.

Both Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin, respectively the Democratic and Republic nominee for vice president of the United States, spoke favorably Thursday of imposing a no-fly zone over Darfur.

The government of Sudan has repeatedly used Antonov aircraft and helicopters to attack rebels and villages in Darfur, according to official experts’ reports to the United Nations Security Council.

This violence has prompted activists to encourage the U.S. president to use military aircraft to enforce a no-fly zone, as the U.S. did in Iraq in the wake of the first Gulf War, where it worked with the United Kingdom and France in an effort to protect Shiite and Kurdish populations that had been targeted after they revolted against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"They know very little about what is going on here," said Sadig, in response to Palin and Biden. "Their statements were meant for local consumption. They had nothing to do with Darfur."

The presidential candidates themselves, Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, have endorsed a no-fly zone over Darfur, in response to identical questionnaires submitted by the Enough Action Fund, the Save Darfur Coalition and the Genocide Intervention Network – all United States activist groups.

McCain said that he would “seek a Security Council resolution endorsing such a mission and work to persuade our allies [in NATO] to join us in its implementation.”

Obama said, “I have co-sponsored resolutions calling on the President to work with international partners to enforce a no-fly zone in Darfur. While the U.S. has provided aid and military resources to the African Union mission in Darfur, I believe this is America’s moment to lead the way toward ending this crisis.”

Sadig said an air ban would be ineffective because the Sudanese armed forces were not using aircraft in their ongoing struggle against rebel groups in Darfur. McCain, however, in his response to the activist groups, referred to “recent bombing of civilian targets in Darfur—including a school, water works, and a market.”

He said government planes and helicopters were only being used to fight bandits and protect humanitarian convoys.

"It would be a very short-sighted move. Curbing the actions of the armed forces would impede the flow of humanitarian aid to Darfur and tie the hands of the government in its efforts to prevent attacks on aid convoys," he added.

Likewise, British foreign ministry officials also recently reportedly said they are not pursuing a no-fly zone because it would restrict humanitarian work. They also cited a shortage of planes and referred to the idea as "a major logistical challenge." (ST)
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UPDATE WEDNESDAY 08 OCTOBER 2008 17:11 UK GMT

I've just tried to access Sudan Tribune via Yahoo's search engine listings and it came up with a blank white page saying:

http://www.sudantribune.com/

Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@sudantribune.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.
Apache/2.0.59 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.0.59 OpenSSL/0.9.8g Server at www.sudantribune.com Port 80
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Nigerian peacekeeper killed following ambush by 40 to 60 unknown attackers wearing civilian clothes nr Menawashei, S. Darfur, UN says

+ + + So sad another peacekeeper was murdered yesterday in Darfur + + + One of the 60 attackers was captured and turned over to Sudanese forces which means his identity will be made public. Let's hope that any attack on a peacekeeper is treated as a war crime and a crime against humanity with a punishment of life in prison.

Tuesday October 7, 2008 report for Bloomberg by Karl Maier in Rome - Nigerian Peacekeeper Killed in Sudan's Darfur Region, UN Says:

A Nigerian soldier serving with the United Nations-backed peacekeeping contingent in Sudan's western region of Darfur was killed when his patrol was ambushed by as many as 60 gunmen, a spokesman for the force said.

The gunmen opened fire yesterday on a convoy of UN-African Union peacekeepers, known as Unamid, spokesman Kemal Saiki said today in a telephone interview from El Fasher in northern Darfur. The identity of the attackers is unknown, he said.

"By the time the medivac helicopter arrived, the sergeant died of his wounds,'' Saiki said. "One of the attackers was wounded and captured, and has been handed over to the Sudanese authorities.''

At least nine Unamid soldiers have been killed in Darfur since July. Unamid has deployed about a third of the 26,000 soldiers and police officers planned for the operation to help halt a five-year conflict that has killed as many as 300,000 people and forced 2.5 million more to flee their homes.

The Darfur conflict started in February 2003 when insurgents demanding a greater share of Sudan's political power and wealth attacked forces loyal to the government of President Umar al- Bashir.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karl Maier in Rome at kmaier2@bloomberg.net.

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There has been a rise in attacks on peacekeepers in Darfur

Tuesday 7 October 2008 report for BBC by Amber Henshaw in Khartoum, Sudan - Darfur ambush kills peacekeeper - excerpt:

A peacekeeper has been killed in an ambush by dozens of armed bandits in the Sudanese region of Darfur, a UN official has said.

The Nigerian peacekeeper died on Monday during an exchange of fire between a Unamid patrol and 40-60 bandits north of Nyala, the official said.

The BBC's Amber Henshaw in the capital, Khartoum, said it was not immediately clear who had launched the attack.

An estimated 300,000 people have died in five years of conflict in Darfur.

Some 2.7 million people have been displaced, according to the UN.

The killing of the peacekeeper comes amid a recent rise in the number of attacks against the joint UN-African Union (Unamid) peacekeeping force in Darfur, our correspondent says.

The situation on the ground in Darfur has become increasingly complicated and anarchic as more and more groups take advantage of the lawless situation there, she reports.

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UN Peacekeeper killed in Darfur as the new head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy, is visiting the country
.
Tuesday 7 October 2008 report by Derek Kilner from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi - UN Peacekeeper Killed in Darfur - excerpt:

A Nigerian soldier serving with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Darfur region of western Sudan has died after gunmen ambushed the convoy he was traveling in.

As many as 60 gunmen ambushed U.N. peacekeeping vehicles late Monday north of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

A spokesman for the mission, Daniel Adekera, spoke to VOA from Darfur. He said, "One of our convoys in South Darfur was ambushed. One of the soldiers was critically wounded and it resulted in his death. From preliminary reports it appears to be a banditry attack."

Another U.N. spokesman said one of the attackers was wounded in the gunfight and was captured and handed over to Sudanese authorities, but the attackers have not been identified.

Nine peacekeepers from the U.N.-African Union mission, known as UNAMID, have been killed since July.

Meanwhile, the new head of the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy, is visiting Sudan. After arriving Monday in Khartoum, he is scheduled to visit the capitals of Darfur's three states, beginning with El Fasher, on Wednesday.

The United Nations also deployed a 10,000 member peacekeeping mission following a peace agreement that ended a north-south civil war in 2005, and Le Roy will also visit a number of sites in southern Sudan.

Le Roy took over his position in June this year, succeeding Jean-Marie Guehenno, who had cautioned against deploying a mission to Darfur without a viable peace agreement and commitments for troops and equipment.

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Ninth UN officer to die in action in three months

Tuesday, 7 October 2008 report for Reuters by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum, Sudan - Nigerian peacekeeper killed in Darfur ambush - excerpt:

A Nigerian peacekeeper was killed after up to 60 armed bandits ambushed his convoy in Sudan's Darfur region, the ninth officer to die in action in three months, his force said on Tuesday.

The sergeant was shot when the attackers opened fire on the UN/African Union UNAMID patrol around 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Monday and died of his wounds before he could be evacuated to hospital, said force spokesman Kemal Saiki.

Saiki said the convoy was attacked on patrol about 75km (50 miles) north of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

He said it was not immediately clear who the attackers were.

Seven members of the under-manned UNAMID force were shot and killed, and another 22 injured, in an ambush by militia fighters in North Darfur in early July.

Just a week later, another Nigerian officer was killed in a car-jacking in west Darfur.

UNAMID is responsible for keeping the peace in a war-torn region about the size of Spain.

+ + + Rest In Peace Nigerian soldier + + +
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Another Ugandan police officer dies in Darfur

Sunday 5 October 2008 New Vision report by Herbert Ssempogo in Kampala - Sudan: Another Ugandan Police Officer Dies in Darfur - excerpt:

ANOTHER Ugandan Police officer has died in Sudan. Assistant Inspector John Okwir was on a UN peacekeeping mission in the troubled region of Darfur.

His death brings the toll among the Ugandan peace keepers to three since the year began.

Okwir, who left for Darfur early this year, died last Thursday, according to Police commissioner Benson Nyeko.

Nyeko said Okwir developed "stomach complications", which resulted into diarrhoea to which he succumbed in a Darfur clinic.

Attached to the Menawashi community policing centre, an ailing Okwir had been evacuated from Khor-Abeche.

"He died of natural causes. Death can occur regardless of where a person is," Nyeko said, adding that a postmortem check would be done. Arrangements to fly in the body are underway,

Inspector John Kennedy Oketcha was the first to die in May when he was ambushed and shot on the way back to his base at the airport in El Fasher.

A month later, Julius Osega, a lawyer by profession, suffered the same fate when his convoy was ambushed and sprayed with bullets by a militia.

He died alongside six other peacekeepers.

Last week, a South Africa soldier died after being stung by a scorpion.

In May, a Rwandan peace-keeper died of diabetes. There are about 70 Ugandan policemen in Sudan.

+ + + Rest In Peace + + + John Okwir + + + John Kennedy Oketcha + + + Julius Osega + + +
God bless all the peace workers and their families.
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UPDATE WEDNESDAY 08 OCTOBER 2008:

Excerpt from UN News Centre report dated Tuesday 07 October 2008 - Darfur: Ban outlines timetable towards full deployment of peacekeeping force:

Yesterday a Nigerian soldier serving with UNAMID was killed following an ambush of a routine mission patrol in South Darfur state by 40 to 60 unknown attackers wearing civilian clothes. He was the ninth UN soldier to die in Darfur in the past three months.

The blue helmet, who was taking part in a nine-vehicle, 50-strong patrol between Nyala and Khor Abeche when the ambush occurred near Menawashei, died during his medical evacuation to Nyala.

The mission reported that UNAMID forces later captured one of the attackers and handed him to Sudanese Government police in Nyala, which is the South Darfur state capital.

UNAMID said it would investigate the cause and circumstances of the attack, adding it was stepping up its patrols in the area near Menawashei.