Two AMI aid workers kidnapped in Ed al Fursan, S. Darfur (Update 2)

From The Canadian Press (Khartoum) April 06, 2009 - excerpt:
Sudanese police say kidnapped Canadian and French aid workers OK

Sudanese police say two foreign aid workers, one of them a Canadian, kidnapped in Darfur are in good health.

The police chief for the area, Gen. Fatah al-Rahman, says the women have contacted colleagues and said they are in good health.

The Sudan Media Centre website says the kidnappers want a $200 million US ransom.

From AFP (Khartoum) April 06, 2009 - excerpt:
Sudan works to free kidnapped Darfur aid workers

Sudanese authorities were working on Monday to free two French and Canadian women aid workers who were kidnapped at the weekend in the increasingly dangerous war-torn region of Darfur.
"Efforts to free them are under way," foreign ministry spokesman Ali Yussef told AFP. "They are both women."

The two international staff from Aide Medicale Internationale (AMI) were abducted at Ed el-Fursan in southern Darfur on Saturday night, said the French group, which has been targeted twice so far this year.

Two Sudanese AMI staff were also kidnapped and later released, a local official said.

The Sudanese Media Centre, which is close to the country's intelligence services, has said the kidnappers were demanding a ransom, but this was not possible to confirm.

The so far unidentified women were snatched on Saturday night from AMI offices south of South Darfur's capital Nyala, and around 100 kilometres (65 miles) from the border with Chad, a local official said, requesting anonymity.

AMI said it "strongly deplores this kidnapping of members of its team who work daily to improve the health of the local population."

The group, which has been providing medical relief in Ed el-Fursan since 2004, was spared from Khartoum's decision last month to expel several non-governmental aid organisations from Darfur.

"We were continuing our programme, we weren't targeted," said Frederic Mar, a spokesman for AMI.

The French authorities were alerted and the foreign ministry in Paris set up a crisis response cell to deal with the kidnapping, saying it was acting because the incident involved a French organisation.

Canada's foreign affairs department said it was seeking information about the kidnapping.

Two Sudanese workers for AMI were shot dead when their bus was attacked by men on horseback in February in southern Darfur. Four others were wounded in that attack.

On March 23, a Sudanese man working for a Canadian aid group was shot dead at his home in Darfur, reportedly because his attackers wanted his satellite telephone.

Four workers with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), three of them foreigners, were kidnapped at gunpoint from their Darfur home on March 11.

They were all released four days later, with no signs of violence or a ransom being paid, Sudanese and MSF officials said.

That abduction was the first of international aid workers since civil war erupted in Darfur in 2003, and took place just 10 days after the ICC issued the arrest warrant for Beshir.

"This is a very worrying new phenomenon," a source familiar with the security situation in Darfur told AFP, requesting anonymity. "This is a new trend towards humanitarian actors in Darfur."

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From Canwest News Service April 05, 2009 - excerpt:
Second Canadian kidnapped in Sudan in a month

A Canadian aid worker was abducted along with a French aid worker Saturday in the strife-torn African country of Sudan.

The identity of the aid workers was not yet known.

The two were working for Aide Medicale Internationale, a non-governmental organization more commonly known as AMI that is based in France.

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From Reuters April 05, 2009 by James Mackenzie and Andrew Heavens:
Two members of French aid group kidnapped in Sudan

PARIS/KHARTOUM - Two expatriate staff members of Aide Medicale Internationale were kidnapped at gunpoint in southern Darfur overnight, the French medical aid group said on Sunday.

A U.N. source in Khartoum said unidentified men seized the two international staff and two Sudanese guards from their compound in Ed el Fursan just before midnight on Saturday night. The two guards were later released, the source said.

Sudanese police surrounded AMI's compound on Sunday morning after the kidnapping was discovered.

The French foreign ministry said its crisis centre in Paris had been activated and the French embassy in Khartoum was in touch with the organisation and with local authorities.

Land around Ed el Fursan, about 90 km (55 miles) south west of the South Darfur capital Nyala, has in recent weeks been the scene in an upsurge of fighting between members of the rival Habbaniya and Fallata tribes.

The clashes, rooted in long-standing disputes over land and other traditional rights, have escalated because of the supply of arms that has flooded the area during the six-year Darfur conflict.

Officials for Darfur's joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force said they could not comment on the case while investigations were going on.

Aide Medicale Internationale said it had been operating in Darfur since 2004 in Khor Abache and Ed el Fursan, with a coordination centre in Nyala, supporting clinics and health centres in rural areas.

A spokesman for a faction of Darfur's rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) denied his men, or any other insurgent force, was behind the kidnapping.

"It can only be government militias. They expelled 13 foreign aid groups last month. This is part of the same plan, to empty Darfur of all international organisations," said Ibrahim al-Helwu, from the faction controlled by Abdel Wahed Mohamed Ahmed al-Nur.

Sudan expelled 13 international aid groups from the north of the country in March accusing them of helping the International Criminal Court build up a war crimes case against Sudan's president, an accusation the groups deny.

Sudanese government officials said three foreign workers for Medecins Sans Frontieres kidnapped in March in north Darfur were taken by a group protesting over the ICC's move against Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Aid groups have said they have faced growing antagonism in Darfur since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir.

Aid officials said they were worried that the kidnaps might mark the start of a new trend.

"We have had practically everything else - robberies, car-jackings, attacks," said one official. "But the kidnapping of international staff has never been an issue before. (Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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From AFP, 05 April 2009 - Two aid workers reported kidnapped in Darfur - excerpt:

Armed men in Sudan's Darfur region kidnapped two aid workers from a French humanitarian group overnight, the organisation said Sunday.

The two team members of Aide Medicale Internationale (AMI) were abducted at Ed al Fursan in southern Darfur, a statement from the group said.

AMI declined to release the names or the nationalities of the aid workers.

"Aide Medicale Internationale strongly deplores this kidnapping of members of its team who work daily to improve the health of the local population," it said.

The AMI team, which has been providing medical relief in Ed al Fursan since 2004, was spared from Khartoum's recent decision to expel several non-governmental organisations from Darfur.

"We were continuing our programme, we weren't targeted," said Frederic Mar, a spokesman for AMI.

French authorities were alerted and the foreign ministry set up a crisis response cell to deal with the kidnapping, saying in a statement that it was acting "given that it was a French NGO" that was concerned.

Two Sudanese workers for AMI were shot dead when their bus was attacked in in February in southern Darfur.

Africa Confidential heard that another arms convoy was moving north near Red Sea coast and Egyptian forces were moving to Sudan border to block it

According to the following article by jewishinfoNews published on Sunday, 05 April 2009, Africa Confidential reported on Friday (03 April) that as they went to press they heard that another arms convoy was moving north near the Red Sea coast and Egyptian forces were moving to the Sudan border to block it.

Note also, in the ensuing article copied here below ["Muslim world opinion of Iran and Hamas declines"] Pew Research says Hamas is viewed as a proxy for Iran in a regional power struggle.

From jewishinfoNews blog April 05, 2009:
Khartoum’s stupidity falls prey to Tehran’s greed

Africa Confidential based in London, defines itself as “one of the longest-established specialist publications on Africa, with a considerable reputation for being first with the in depth news on significant political, economic and security developments across the continent.”



Photo: Presidents of Sudan and Iran

This past Friday in an article, “Why was Khartoum so reluctant to admit that its arms transhipments had been hit by Israeli air strikes?” they said:

“Khartoum said nothing about Israel’s air strikes on north-east Sudan in January and February until the news leaked out through an Egyptian newspaper last week. It then blamed them on the United States though, we hear, it knew Israel was responsible. In all three raids, the targets were shipments of weapons to Gaza’s ruling Islamist party, Hamas - two road convoys in Sudan, one still at sea. Khartoum’s reluctance to admit that it had been hit by Israel contrasts sharply with its regular and ritual denunciations of the ‘Zionist regime’, which it increasingly says it blames for the Darfur crisis.

As Africa Confidential went to press, we heard that another arms convoy was moving north near the Red Sea coast and Egyptian forces were moving to the Sudan border to block it.”

Egypt’s English language Daily News on April 3, confirmed that “Egypt knew about air strikes on convoys in Sudan early this year that were said to be carrying weapons destined for Gaza but remained silent to avoid embarrassing Sudan,” state news agency MENA reported.

“Egypt knew about the attacks, thought to have been carried out by Israel, ‘from when they happened’ but it ‘did not want to embarrass the brothers in Sudan,’ Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit was quoted as saying.

“During March of this year, senior leaders of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah offered international support to Sudan’s president after he was charged with war crimes in Darfur, a sure sign that the bid to prosecute him could sharply radicalize his regime.”

Photo: Sudan's President and Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk

Israel’s alleged air strikes therefore should come as no surprise. For it was in April 2008, jewishinfoNews reported that Iran had signed a military pact with Sudan.

“A strategic jewel,” reported debka.com:

“For years Tehran has been building up its military ties with Khartoum with an eye on its geopolitical assets: a long coast on the Red Sea, a main sea lanes to the Persian Gulf, a Muslim nation located opposite Saudi Arabia and next door to Egypt; Sudan’s command of oil resources and the White Nile, a major water source for an entire African region. This strategic jewel finally dropped into Iran’s fundamentalist lap.”

There’s a well-known Persian proverb: “Risk - If one has to jump a stream and knows how wide it is, he will not jump. If he doesn’t know how wide it is, he’ll jump and six times out of ten he’ll make it.” How many more times will it take before Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and now Sudan really understand that Israel can jump not only higher, but also further.

(Photo source: Deseret News and Flickr)

Muslim world opinion of Iran and Hamas declines

Among the eight countries with sizeable Muslim populations surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project in 2008, Hamas received a positive rating in only one, Jordan, where 55% voiced a favourable view of the organization while 37% expressed an unfavourable opinion. Pew Global added:

“There are other signs that the public opinion environment in the Muslim world had been growing less hospitable to Hamas. In recent years, there has been a steady decline in support for Hamas’ most infamous tactic: suicide bombing. For instance, in the 2002 Pew Global Attitudes survey, 74% of Lebanese Muslims said suicide bombing was often or sometimes justifiable, compared with 32% six years later. Between 2004 and 2008, acceptance of suicide bombing dropped from 41% to 5% among Pakistani Muslims; and between 2005 and 2008, it dropped from 57% to 25% among Muslims in Jordan.

Another sign of disaffection is seen in the mixed review — at best — that Iran, widely considered a major benefactor of Hamas, receives in many largely Muslim nations. Most notably, at least half of those surveyed in Lebanon (66%), Jordan (56%), Turkey (56%), and Egypt (54%) expressed a negative opinion of Iran in the 2008 Pew Global Attitudes poll. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fared even worse — majorities in Egypt (74%), Jordan (71%), Lebanon (67%), and Turkey (60%) said they have little or no confidence in the Iranian leader. So to the extent that Hamas is viewed as a proxy for Iran in a regional power struggle, this may damage the group’s appeal.”

Read the full survey at pewresearch.org

Related reports:
March 26, 2009 - Sudan Watch: Unidentified aircraft destroyed suspected arms convoy in E. Sudan last January (Update 3)

US Sudan envoy: Slim chance expelled NGOs will return

US Sudan envoy Gration will travel to Qatar at the end of April to meet the U.N. and African Union's Darfur mediator, Djibril Bassole.

April 04, 2009 Associated Press report (Khartoum) - excerpts:
US Sudan envoy: Slim chance aid groups will return

Chances are slim that all the aid groups expelled by the Sudanese government will return, and alternative ways must immediately be found to help the millions of people in Darfur, President Barack Obama's new envoy to Sudan said Saturday. [...]

Gration, a retired Air Force general, said the basic needs of the more than 70,000 refugees in the Zamzam camp are barely being met largely because of Sudan's expulsion of the aid groups. He warned that water could run out in the northern Darfur camp in about two months and there could be an outbreak of preventable diseases if immediate solutions are not found.

"I have come away with a renewed sense of urgency. ... (I) believe we are on the brink of a deepening crisis in Darfur," Gration told reporters in a telephone interview after touring Zamzam.

"I don't think that the prospects for returning the 13 NGOs — as a group of 13 — is very strong or very high," he said. "That is why we need to come up with creative ways immediately, and when I say immediately I mean in the next weeks, to be able to compensate by bringing in other capabilities or taking steps to expand the capabilities of existing NGOs." [...]

Gration did not directly blame the Sudanese government for the crisis — a marked departure from his predecessor's sharp tone with Sudanese officials. He said he was confident the Sudanese government "will understand the seriousness of this situation and work with the international community to resolve this issue."

The U.S. envoy also stressed that he hoped "to create an environment where these decisions can be made. [...]

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April 04, 2009 Reuters report by Andrew Heavens (Khartoum) - excerpts:
U.S. envoy says Darfur on brink of deeper crisis

Darfur is on the brink of a deeper humanitarian crisis following Khartoum's expulsion of aid groups and needs a new relief push within weeks, the U.S. special envoy to Sudan said on Saturday.

Envoy Scott Gration spoke as he traveled through north Darfur a month after Sudan expelled 13 foreign aid groups and closed three local organizations it accused of helping build a war crimes case against the country's president.

He told reporters by phone he had just visited Zamzam refugee camp, where buildings run by the ousted aid groups remain closed, health services were hit and water reserves were close to running dry.

"I was very concerned with what I saw. We are on the brink of a deeper crisis in Darfur," Gration said.

"We have to increase the capacity and number of aid agencies that are able to move aid assistance from the warehouses to the distribution points and then to the hands and mouths of the people in these camps."

It was his first visit since U.S. President Barack Obama named the retired Air Force general last month as special envoy to war-ravaged Sudan. [...]

Gration said Sudan needed to fill the gap left by the expelled groups by bringing in new organizations from Arab countries and the west and by building up local groups. He called on Khartoum to return about 400 vehicles and other seized assets and to speed up visa applications for new aid workers.

"I don't think that the prospects for returning the 13 NGOs ...are very strong or very high," he said.

Gration will travel to Qatar at the end of April to meet the U.N. and African Union's Darfur mediator, Djibril Bassole.

Darfur's rebel Justice and Equality Movement last month suspended its participation in tentative talks with Sudan's government in Doha, protesting against the aid expulsions.

Sudan says it plans to replace the expelled organizations with other international groups and Sudanese humanitarian operations. Bashir has also said he wants Sudanese groups to handle all the delivery of aid.

The expulsions hit aid programs across North Sudan, and the United Nations has said that, beyond Darfur, there are also particular worries on the impact on Abyei, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile -- three oil-rich regions along Sudan's contested north-south border.

(Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Click on label here below for related reports and updates.

Who is re-supplying the LRA?

Over the last week there have been a growing number of reports that the LRA has been re-supplied from the air.

The Sudanese government has routinely denied that it is re-supplying the LRA, but the question remains - how are the rebels managing to continue their operations if they have no outside backer?



Map source: BBC report 4 April 2009:
Who is re-supplying the LRA?

Ugandan rebel movement the Lord's Resistance Army, now based in the far north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is continuing its attacks on civilians in DR Congo and southern Sudan, despite a three-month campaign to hunt the rebels down.

The BBC's Africa analyst, Martin Plaut, looks at how the LRA has survived and considers who might be re-supplying it.

On 14 December last year Ugandan aircraft attacked camps of the LRA in the remote Garamba National Park, in the north-east of the DR Congo.

The operation against the LRA - known as Lightning Thunder - was launched by Uganda, DR Congo and Sudan.

But despite fierce engagements, the rebels have not been defeated and are continuing a series of murderous attacks on civilians.

Around 100,000 Congolese and 60,000 southern Sudanese have been driven from their homes.

Scattered across a vast area of northern Congo and southern Sudan, the continued operations of the Lord's Resistance Army and their leader, Joseph Kony, are perhaps not surprising.

This is an area of dense forests and swamps - ideal territory for rebel attacks.

But what is less easy to understand is how the LRA manages to co-ordinate its ambushes when its forces are so dispersed.

Where do they get the satellite phones they use - as well as the ammunition, food and medicines their forces require?

'Air drops'

Over the last week there have been a growing number of reports that the LRA has been re-supplied from the air.

Late last month there was an attack on the village of Banda, which forced locals to evacuate the area.

This - according to the reports - was designed to clear the area for an air-drop to take place.

There is also the testimony from LRA abductees who managed to escape from the rebels.

They say that air-drops took place in a mountainous area called Karago, west of the town of Aba.

The United Nations mission in Congo, Monuc, says it has heard the rumours, but has no evidence that the air-drops are taking place.

"Our military seem sceptical that the reports are true, given the level of co-ordination that would be required on the ground," Monuc spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai told the BBC.

"But the fact is that we just don't know and often lack reliable, timely, actionable intelligence," he said.

Although there is no confirmation of these reports, they have come from several sources.

So where might the flights have originated?

Southern Sudanese officials have said openly that they believe that Khartoum continues to support the LRA.

The accusation has been denied by the LRA spokesman, David Matsanga, who told the BBC Focus on Africa programme that the suggestion is designed to frustrate attempts to re-launch the peace process.

"The Ugandan government is looking for ways of finishing the situation militarily, because they don't want to talk about what has happened," said Mr Matsanga.

"These accusations are coming now to inflame the situation," he added.

The Sudanese government has routinely denied that it is re-supplying the LRA, but the question remains - how are the rebels managing to continue their operations if they have no outside backer?

AU Panel visited Abu Shouk camp N. Darfur

From United Nations - African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, April 3, 2009 - via APO:
African Union high level panel on Darfur arrives in North Darfur

The African Union High Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD) arrived in El Fasher, North Darfur, today to meet with the leadership of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and senior Government officials in the region.

The Panel – led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki and also comprising former Burundian President Pierre Buyoya and former Nigerian President Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar – was received by UNAMID Joint Special Representative, Mr. Rodolphe Adada, and the Wali (Governor) of North Darfur, Mr. Othman Kibir, upon arrival at El Fasher airport.

AUPD members later held a meeting with the Wali and other senior state Government officials. They were briefed on the security and humanitarian situation in North Darfur as well as efforts undertaken by both the state and national Government in resolving the conflict in Darfur.

Mr. Kibir indicated that the only way to solve the situation in Darfur was through negotiation and to include all Darfurians in the process. The panelists were also briefed on humanitarian issues and the latest developments regarded internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Mr. Mbeki outlined that the purpose of the visit is to interact with the Sudanese people with a view to determining what more can be done to achieve peace, justice and reconciliation.

The AUPD visited Abu Shouk camp for IDPs, where the panelists held a brief meeting with the leaders of the camp, and were briefed on the security and humanitarian situation in the camp.

The AU panel also met with the Civil Society Organizations in North Darfur and discussed ways of resolving the Darfur conflict and last month’s expulsion of the Non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Photo: A young Sudanese child is helped with a drink of clean water at the Abu Shouk refugee camp near El Fasher, in Darfur, Sudan, in August 2004. (AFP/Jim Watson/Sudan Watch archives)

UN assesses impact of aid groups’ ouster on Southern Sudan

From UN News Centre, 03 April 2009:
UN assesses impact of aid groups’ ouster on Southern Sudan

A United Nations humanitarian team has been sent to Southern Sudan to assess the impact of Khartoum’s recent decision to expel 13 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and suspend three national NGOs.

The decision to bar the NGOs from operating in Sudan came immediately after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant on 4 March for President Omar Al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the mission to the so-called Three Areas of Sudan started work yesterday in the Blue Nile State to review programmes which were run by the expelled NGOs and to identify gaps in the aid effort.

Some of the banned NGOs were involved in significant recovery and development operations, which benefited populations in the Three Areas of Abyei, southern Kordofan State, and southern Blue Nile State.

In a bid to plug the holes left by the evicted NGOs in the country’s war-torn region of Darfur, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has provided six primary health centre kits containing essential drugs and equipment for outpatient treatment programmes in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state.

UNICEF has also stepped in to meet shortfalls in water, sanitation and hygiene in the Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), where people are continuing to arrive.

In West Darfur, sanitation and hygiene promotion along with solid waste management have not resumed in any of the camps, according to UNICEF.

Meanwhile, the African Union (AU) High-Level Panel on Darfur arrived in El Fasher today to meet with the leadership of the hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and senior Government officials in the region. The Panel, led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, intends to determine what more can be done to achieve peace, justice and reconciliation.

More than one year on from transferring peacekeeping operations to UNAMID from the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), well over 12,000 of the 19,555 military personnel authorized by the Security Council are now in place across Darfur.

The hybrid force was set up to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million have been forced from their homes since fighting erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen.

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From UN News Centre, 24 March 2009:
Joint UN and Sudanese assessment of Darfur aid reveals critical gaps

United Nations humanitarian officials today commended the cooperation of Sudanese Government staff on an assessment of relief needs in war-torn Darfur, while they warned of high risks ahead following the ouster of crucial aid groups.

While a “significant effort” is being made by the Government, the UN and remaining aid groups to plug some of the immediate gaps, “these are band-aid solutions, if I can put it that way, not long-term solutions,” John Holmes, Emergency Relief Coordinator told reporters in New York.

For the long-term, the survey, conducted between 11 and 19 March, discovered gaps in food aid; health and nutrition; non-food items and shelter; and water, sanitation and hygiene upon which some 4.7 million Darfur residents depend for survival.

Sudan decided to eject 13 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provided much of that aid on 4 March, immediately after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir. The operations of three national NGOs have also been suspended.

Concrete plans will have to be put in place if these gaps are to be bridged in a sustainable, long-term manner two months from now, Ameerah Haq, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, said in the country’s capital, Khartoum, as she released the results of the joint assessment.

Funding, plus adequate technical management, coordination and administration, previously provided by the experienced NGOs, must be replaced, Ms. Haq stressed.

In the area of water, she said that currently, over 850,000 people are still being served thanks to the quick engagement of the Government’s water department, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and national NGOs.

However, within four weeks existing funds for spare parts and fuel for water pumps and other necessities will be depleted, while sanitary facilities will need urgent maintenance to prevent disease outbreaks.

While the Sudanese Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) are trying to address the gaps in health care, according to the assessment, salaries and staff are in place only until the end of April and up to 650,000 people currently do not have access to full health care.

The survey showed that food needs have been covered for March and April for about 1.1 million people, thanks to a one-time distribution by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) through local food committees. However, by the beginning of May, just as the gap between harvest times approaches, further distributions will not be made unless WFP finds new partners, Ms. Haq said.

On housing, Ms. Haq said that about 692,400 people waiting for shelter materials before the rains begin will not receive them unless the UN Joint Logistics Centre finds partners to carry out the distributions and gains access to existing distribution lists.

In all sectors, she said, expertise in technical assessments, planning, programme design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation has been lost, and the quality of relief, even if taken over by national NGOs, could suffer.

Administrative hurdles, such as the lack of travel permits and technical agreements, also hinder the work of NGOs as well as line ministries in their work, she said, although she welcomed the Government’s commitment to fast track the technical agreements of all remaining NGOs.

Since the decision to oust the NGOs, besides trying to fill aid gaps, the UN has continued to advocate for a reversal of the expulsions, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been in close contact with Arab and African leaders and members of the Security Council.

An estimated 300,000 people have died and another 3 million have been displaced in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.

Khartoum Student Seminar Series blog: The Role of Radio in Peace-Building in Sudan

Khartoum Student Seminar Series blog has been set up by Laura Mann, Alden Young and Paul Fean to provide an opportunity for research students currently on fieldwork in Sudan to come together, share ideas and improve one another’s research and work.

This blog post caught my interest:

7th of April, 2009: Hala Asmina, Ohio University: The Role of Radio in Peace-Building in Sudan

Hala Asmina is a PhD student from Ohio University, currently in Khartoum conducting research about the role of radio in peace-building in Sudan.

Please come along and offer your perspective, comments and suggestions.

For a copy of the paper and directions to the seminar, please contact me at my email and I will send you both!

Thanks,
Laura
l.e.mann@sms.ed.ac.uk

Note that they also have a Facebook group called “Khartoum Student Seminar Series”. For more information about the group or to be included in their email list, send an email to l.e.mann@sms.ed.ac.uk and introduce yourself.

ICC's Ocampo: "What happened in Darfur is the consequence of extermination plan defined by the top authority -- Mr. Omar el-Bashir"

British Palestinian QC Michel Massih, who is leading Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir's international defence team, has criticized the way the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo publicized his accusations against the Sudanese president. Massih, who has been practicing international law for 30 years, told Arab News Broadcast, “I have never heard in my legal career of a chief prosecutor that launches media campaigns against a defendant, regardless of the nature of the charges.”

Note the following report from Voice of America News and the quotes that I have highlighted in red. Not much of it makes sense to me. One wonders if Mr Moreno-Ocampo is mentally unhinged.

From Voice of America News
ICC Chief Prosecutor: Sudan's Bashir Will Face Justice
By Lisa Bryant
Paris
03 April 2009

Photo: ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo gives a press conference in The Hague, 04 Mar 2009

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir continues to defy an international arrest warrant, recently returning from an Arab League meeting in Qatar. But the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, says he is confident Mr. Bashir will be brought to justice. Lisa Bryant spoke with Moreno-Ocampo in The Hague.

The International Criminal Court issued the arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir in early March. It is the first arrest warrant against a sitting head of state and charges the Sudanese leader with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Those crimes center of the conflict in Darfur, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced almost three million.

But so far, the only major impact the arrest warrant seems to have generated is Mr. Bashir's decision to expel more than a dozen international humanitarian groups working in Darfur, a desolate, impoverished stretch of land in western Sudan.

Since the arrest warrant was issued, the Sudanese president has so far visited Egypt, Eritrea, Libya and Saudi Arabia. He also attended an Arab League meeting in Qatar -- where Arab leaders, at least publicly, expressed their solidarity for Mr. Bashir. None of these countries are members of the Hague-based court.

But the man who delivered the warrant -- the criminal court's chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo -- is adamant he did the right thing. He directly blames Mr. Bashir for the Darfur crisis.

"What happened in Darfur is not a humanitarian crisis. What happened in Darfur is not crimes committed by autonomous militias. What happened in Darfur is the consequence of extermination plan defined by the top authority -- Mr. Omar el-Bashir," he said.

Mr. Bashir is one of the first cases the Netherlands-based criminal court has taken on since it began holding trials this year. The court is the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal. Moreno-Ocampo says the United Nations Security Council referred the Darfur crisis to the court. In issuing the arrest warrant, he said, the court has done its job.

Now, he says, it's up to the international community to act.

"We are not calling for military intervention. We are not calling for bombing. But we are also not calling for nothing. We are not calling for denial. We are not calling for silence. between bombing and nothing there are a lot of alternatives," he said.

Moreno-Ocampo says there has already been some reaction, with countries calling on Sudan to explain its decision to expel humanitarian workers. He suggests Arab countries are also quietly criticizing Sudan -- even as they present a united face in public.

And he believes that sooner or later, the court will try President Bashir.

"Omar el-Bashir knows his destiny is to face justice. He's tainted now. The problem is, how many people will die in the [meantime]," he said.

For its part, the United Nations warns that expelling foreign relief workers from Darfur could have a devastating impact on those living there. Mr. Bashir claim the workers were spies who helped the court mount war crimes charges against him.

Further reading:

Apr 03, 2009 - Sudan Watch: ICC's Registrar returns from fact-finding mission concerning Sudanese refugees in Treguine and Breddjing camps in Chad

Apr 02, 2009 - Making Sense of Darfur: A Waste of Hope by Julie Flint and Alex de Waal. Copy:

Those who believe in justice, truth and accountability should demand the highest professional and ethical standards of the Prosecutor of the ICC. Any failings in these respects can do incalculable damage to the prospects for justice, and the future of the ICC. We believe that the Prosecutor of the ICC isn’t up to the job and it is time to be frank about his shortcomings. And we are not alone. Many groups that support the ICC publicly are privately concerned by Luis Moreno Ocampo’s management of the Court. Some of his most capable and committed staff have quit, in exasperation and despair at his performance. Kofi Annan described the ICC as a ‘gift of hope’ to the world. It can still become that. You can read our account in World Affairs.

Apr 02, 2009 - Sudan Watch: British lawyer leading Sudanese president's int'l defence team says Article 6 of UN Security Resolution 1593 is meaningless

Apr 01, 2009 - Sudan Watch: If UN Security Council does not cancel ICC proceedings against Sudan's Bashir, ICC or its Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo must go

Mar 27, 2009 - Sudan Watch: Making Sense of Darfur: Grading the ICC Prosecutor-And the Bench (Alex de Waal and Julie Flint)

Mar 21, 2009 - Sudan Watch: ICC's Ocampo denies getting any help or information from NGOs in Darfur and says Sudan expulsions 'confirm crimes'. Excerpt:

Note that a report filed here at Sudan Watch [March 04, 2009 -
Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s drawings of Darfur that were accepted by ICC as evidence in any trial] claims that last year, UK based rights group Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s pictures of Darfur war that were accepted by the ICC as contextual evidence to be used in any trial. Waging Peace collected the drawings from refugees in Chad.

Jan 26, 2009 - Sudan Watch: ICC's case against Sudan's President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir is a mess riddled with flaws - UNSC must invoke Article 16

ICC's Registrar returns from fact-finding mission concerning Sudanese refugees in Treguine and Breddjing camps in Chad

News from Sudan Radio Service - 2 April 2009 - ICC Registrar Visits Sudanese Refugees in Chad:

2 April 2009 - (The Hague) - The Registrar of the International Criminal Court, Silvana Arbia, returned from a four-day official visit to Chad on Friday. She was on a fact-finding mission concerning Sudanese refugees living in the Treguine and Breddjing refugee camps.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service from The Hague by phone on Friday, Arbia said that the refugees are desperate to return home and are seeking justice:

[Silvana Arbia]: “The refugees said that they are very interested to follow the proceedings of the court, they trust the court, they say that justice is necessary and they want also to resolve the peace problem to be able to return home soon."

Arbia denied the accusation that the ICC might have indirectly been responsible for increasing human suffering in Darfur by issuing the arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir:

[Silvana Arbia]: “This is not possible because justice is working for the society over there. So this is justice, one of the fundamental rights, of an individual or a group of individuals. So there is no conflict between the courts. What the ICC is doing is an intellectual exercise and the interest of this population is for peace and for normal life in the country."

Arbia said that a resolution to the situation in Sudan will depend on the cooperation of the Government of National Unity.

Darfur, Sudan: Shame on Reuters AlertNet for publishing anonymously authored propaganda

Surely if the anonymous author of the below copied article published by Reuters AlertNet really is a recently expelled international aid worker, he/she would have heeded Sudanese government warnings by now. I am always wary of reprinting anonymous articles, especially if they claim to be authored by a Darfur aid worker. Nine times out of ten, the writings are usually anti-government propaganda. I wonder what the "aid worker" aimed to achieve by publishing the article. To help those left behind on the ground in Darfur? I doubt it, otherwise he/she would not have gone against Sudanese government warnings. Shame on Reuters AlertNet for publishing an anonymous article that brings aid workers into disrepute. The NGOs booted out of Sudan were suspected of spying and political activism. How can the expelled NGOs defend themselves against such accusations when aid workers have no qualms in taking sides and publishing articles that amount to political activism. I am reprinting the article here for the record and have used red to highlight text for my own reference.

From Reuters AlertNet 03 Apr 2009 11:00:00 GMT:
A month since they kicked us out of Sudan
Written by: an international aid worker expelled from Darfur

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.

Almost exactly a month ago, we were expelled from Darfur. Since then we have spent most days trying to get in touch with friends and colleagues there, hoping to find out what is happening in the communities which we had to leave behind. The reports we are getting from the camps are increasingly alarming.

Over the past six years, people living in the camps have been bombed, raped, robbed and forced from their homes. They have been through suffering that I cannot even imagine, and have had to rely on aid agencies for basics like food, water and shelter. Now even that is being taken from them.

Zam Zam camp in North Darfur has virtually doubled in size in the past two months. 36,000 people have arrived there since the end of January, fleeing fighting between government and rebels.

They are homeless, hungry and desperate, and urgently in need of help. Many are women and children.

Helping so many new arrivals would always be an enormous challenge, but with many of the biggest aid agencies now gone it is going to be nearly impossible.

As a result, these families are not receiving the food and water they need.

In Kalma camp in South Darfur, the situation is even more serious. The entire camp, which shelters 90,000 people, has not received any aid in weeks.

Feeding centres for malnourished children are running out of food. Water pumps have run out of fuel and stopped working. A meningitis outbreak has killed at least two people - there may be more but aid workers are no longer there to confirm it.

The community leaders in Kalma - known as Sheikhs - are refusing to allow the government or any local aid agencies into the camp, and are demanding that the expelled agencies are allowed to return.

The situation is increasingly desperate and I hope, for the sake of the people there, that the stand-off can be resolved soon.

I can understand the community's fears. The government has persecuted people in Kalma for years.

Last August, government police entered the camp one morning and shot 32 people dead. Local officials have repeatedly said that they want to close the camp down and force everyone to move.

Since the International Criminal Court made its announcement a month ago, they say numerous young men from Kalma have been arrested. The community is scared of letting the government in to replace the aid agencies, but nevertheless something must be done to allow aid to reach the community, or we could see a major disaster.

All over Darfur, the question of how to fill the gaps left by the expulsion has not been answered yet.

Many of the local organisations are perceived by the people in the camps as being affiliated to the same government which drove them from their homes in the first place. There are independent local organisations, many of which do incredible work - but most are small and cannot possibly take over projects helping hundreds of thousands of people.

Some international aid agencies remain, but they are already stretched to the limit. Some may be keen to scale up their presence in Darfur - but the infamous Sudanese government bureaucracy means that will take months, while people continue to suffer.

Already some agencies have expressed interest in expanding their work, only to be refused by National Security officials. It makes a mockery of the government's claims that we can all be easily and quickly replaced.

The impact of the expulsions is already being felt in camps like Kalma and Zam Zam. But there are also growing fears about the coming months.

The annual rainy season is approaching. I was in Darfur for last year's rains and saw peoples' flimsy shelters destroyed by floods. Water-borne diseases like cholera and malaria can spread quickly at this time of year.

In previous years, aid agencies have conducted enormous health campaigns to help reduce this. This year, these are unlikely to happen. My old Sudanese colleagues who remain in Darfur fear that there are real risks of a major outbreak of disease.

Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Postscript. Just as I was about to publish this item, I received this anonymously authored comment:

AlertNet has left a new comment on your post
"Reuters list of best websites around for analysis and news on Sudan"

Thanks for the great write-up about our Sudan resources Ingrid! Thought you might like to see the latest update from one of the aid workers recently kicked out of Sudan. Some powerful detail about food and water running out, shortages in child malnutrition centres, big health risks as rainy season comes along:

A month since they kicked us out of Sudan
http://members.alertnet.org/db/blogs/57361/2009/03/3-110032-1.htm

Further reading:

March 24, 2009 - Sudan Watch: U.S. activist Eric Reeves worked with the ICC Prosecutor on the Bashir/Haroun/Kushayb indictments

March 25, 2009 - Sudan Watch: An aid worker's story: The day they kicked us out of Sudan

Sudanese rebel groups are uniting to speak with one voice - SLM-Unity's Suleiman Jamous has joined JEM

Good news. Darfur rebel groups appear to be uniting to speak with one voice. Suleiman Jamous has joined JEM with some 28 commanders from the SLM–Unity led by Abdellah Yahia. Ahmed Hussein Adam told Sudan Tribune that there are now more than 11 groups who joined recently JEM from different political and ethnic forces. He also added that his movement is discussing with other groups in order to ensure the unity of Darfur armed opposition.

Source: Sudan Tribune Friday 3 April 2009. Copy:
Darfur rebel veteran joins Justice and Equality Movement

April 2, 2009 (LONDON) — A Darfur rebel veteran has joined the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) after six years of opposition among the ranks of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM).



Photo: Suleiman speaking during a SLM-Unity meeting with the former AU-UN peace envoys on Dec 6, 2007

Suleiman Jamous, 64-year, has joined JEM with some 28 commanders from the SLM – Unity led by Abdellah Yahia. He was the humanitarian affairs secretary in the unified SLM since 2003 and contributed with the UN officials to implement the most important relief operation in the world in Darfur.

Ahmed Hussein Adam, JEM official spokesperson hailed the merger of the rebel figure saying it represents a turning point in the struggle of Darfur people for justice and peace. "Jamous’s move is a strong message and ardent call for the unity of Darfur movements and we welcome him as a leader and a father for the revolution. Also we appeal to the others to follow his example."

Adam stressed that Jamous’s merger is not a victory for JEM but it is a "tremendous step towards the unification of Darfuri" adding that unity is a crucial factor to "ensure our rights."

Following the splinter of Minni Minawi in November 2005, Jamous followed him but was working to reunite the SLM. However, he had been imprisoned by Minawi immediately after the signing of Darfur Peace Agreement in May 2006.

The former UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk had obtained his release on 22 June 2006 and transported him to Kadugli, South Kordofan, in a UNMIS hospital for medical treatment; but also to protect him from Minnawi.

Jamous remained confined in this hospital and was released in September 2007 after an international campaign in his favor.

Before Sirte aborted round of peace talks in November 2007, Jamous encouraged the SLM-Unity to engage discussion with JEM to reunite the two groups. Despite the failure of unity talks, the two groups adopted a position to boycott the Libyan sponsored peace talks at the time.

Observers speculated that power struggle in the SLM-Unity and the recent Libyan initiative to reunite the SLM-Unity with some other factions could motivate his decision.

On March 15, the SLM-Unity four other groups agreed in Tripoli, Libya, to take part in Doha peace process with one delegation. The signatories of the common ground agreement are: the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) – Unity, SLM led by Khamis Abdallah Abakr, the United Resistance Front (URF), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Idris Azraq faction, and the SLM- Juba faction.

Ahmed Hussein Adam told Sudan Tribune that there are now more than 11 groups who joined recently JEM from different political and ethnic forces. He also added that his movement is discussing with other groups in order to ensure the unity of Darfur armed opposition.

JEM signed last February a goodwill agreement with the Sudanese government before to start peace negotiations. However, the movement suspended its participation after the expulsion of 13 aid groups from Darfur.

Related reports

Mar 27, 2009 - Sudan Watch: UN-AU Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole called on UN Security Council to heed AU concerns

Feb 03, 2009 - Sudan Watch: UN/AU chief mediator Djibril Bassole says Darfur rebels should speak with one voice - excerpt:

"The rebels should speak with one voice. They are fighting for the same cause to better the lives of the Darfur people. They are fighting to get good governance, economic inclusion and the inclusion of women in governance.

"They (rebel groups) are divided. My duty is to call on all of parties to be united to start the mediation process," the mediator said on the sidelines of the current African Union summit in Addis Ababa. [...]

"I agreed to be mediator because I believed there was need for better conditions for the people living in African villages. These are the issues bringing conflict and the reasons why Africans are fighting," the former Burkina Faso Foreign Minister said.

Nov 20, 2008 - Sudan Watch: Joint chief mediator Djibril Bassolé meets Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, leader of JEM & SLM splinter group URF, in El Fasher N. Darfur, W. Sudan

Sudan approves land allocation for UNAMID in S. Darfur

UNAMID reports that banditry activities remain prevalent in West Darfur.

Daily press briefing by the office of the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, April 2, 2009 - via APO:

On Darfur, the Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, Susana Malcorra, today travelled to the South Darfur capital, Nyala.

Upon her arrival, Ms. Malcorra paid a courtesy visit on the Wali or Governor of South Darfur during which they discussed issues relating to the African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID). He indicated that his Government had approved land allocation for UNAMID in South Darfur and reaffirmed his Government’s commitment to cooperate with the peacekeeping operation and facilitate its work.

While in Nyala, Ms. Malcorra also met with UNAMID officials and toured the UNAMID facilities, including the Pakistan Level III hospital where she was briefed on the construction work being done, as well as progress made. UNAMID, meanwhile, reports that banditry activities remain prevalent in West Darfur.

British lawyer leading Sudanese president's int'l defence team says Article 6 of UN Security Resolution 1593 is meaningless

Michel Massih QC, who is leading the Sudanese president’s international defence team, told the London-based Arab News Broadcast that the ICC’s arrest warrant against al Bashir had its own legal problems.

He points out that Article 6 of UN Security Resolution 1593, which authorized the ICC to investigate the situation in Dafur, demands immunity for U.S. officials and citizens being tried by the ICC. This makes the resolution meaningless from a legal standpoint, he argues, because it establishes two standards of justice, one for Americans and another for Sudanese.

Massih also criticized the way the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo publicized his accusations against the Sudanese president. Massih, who has been practicing international law for 30 years, told Arab News Broadcast, “ I have never heard in my legal career of a chief prosecutor that launches media campaigns against a defendant, regardless of the nature of the charges.”

Source: New America Media, News Analysis, Jalal Ghazi, April 02, 2009 -
Arrest Warrant for Sudan’s President is Well Oiled - copy:

Editor’s Note: Arab countries are outraged over the International Criminal Court’s March 4 arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. According to Arab media, the warrant is motivated by oil, not justice.

Since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on March 4, Arab media have played an active role in challenging the court’s legitimacy and arguing that it is motivated by the quest for Darfur’s untapped oil resources.

Like many Arab media, Al Majallah, an international news magazine, accused the West (namely, the United States, France and Britain) of creating “a destructive political storm” against the Sudanese government immediately after it decided to allow Chinese oil companies to look for oil in Darfur.

According to Al Majallah, the Sudanese government has entered talks with Chinese oil companies and has been trying to impose its control on the region to prevent rebel groups from sabotaging exploration efforts.

Rebel leader Suliman Marjan told Al Majallah that the Sudanese government was using heavy weaponry “to dismantle ambushes that were staged by the rebels who were waiting for Sudanese forces in El Atroun Valley, to prevent them from securing oil areas.” According to Al Majallah, “The Sudanese government sent 300 armored vehicles so that the Chinese oil companies could go to the far north of Darfur.”

While the Sudanese government is eager to help Chinese oil companies secure oil rights in Darfur, rebel leaders backed by the United States, France and Britain want to postpone oil exploration in Darfur until a peace deal is reached.

Al Majallah warned that the tag of war between Western and Chinese companies over Darfur’s oil is threatening the unity of Sudan. China and Russia back the central government in Khartoum and support reaching a local solution to the crisis in Darfur. The United States, Britain and France support the rebel groups and insist on resolving the crisis using Western forces such as NATO.

The Sudanese government fears that the presence of Western forces could eventually lead to the separation of Darfur from Sudan.

Al Majallah also holds Western countries partially responsible for the failure of the peace process in Darfur. By supporting the rebels, he says, the West, which is “concerned that they will lose the war in Darfur,” is encouraging them to “blackmail the Sudanese government and cause a state of permanent war in the region.”

At least one of the main rebel groups in Darfur, the Justice and Equality Movement, was encouraged by the ICC’s decision to reject further negotiation with the Sudanese government.

The group, which had agreed to peace talks only one month before, now calls for regime change. According to London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, the Justice and Equality Movement called on the UN Security Council to introduce an \\\"oil for food\\\" program similar to the one that was used in Iraq under former President Saddam Hussein.

The intended objective of the warrant may have been to undermine the legitimacy of the Sudanese government, but the results were the exact opposite.

Since the ICC issued the arrest warrant against al-Bashir, he has gained unprecedented support from Islamic, Arab and African countries. The African Union, Arab League, Organization of the Islamic Conference and many others back Sudan’s demand that the ICC arrest warrant be dropped.

This support does not necessary reflect al-Bashir’s popularity. Rather it shows their outrage over what is viewed as the ICC’s double standards of justice.

Michel Massih, who is leading the Sudanese president’s international defense team, told the London-based Arab News Broadcast that the ICC’s arrest warrant against al Bashir had its own legal problems.

He points out that Article 6 of UN Security Resolution 1593, which authorized the ICC to investigate the situation in Dafur, demands immunity for U.S. officials and citizens being tried by the ICC. This makes the resolution meaningless from a legal standpoint, he argues, because it establishes two standards of justice, one for Americans and another for Sudanese.

Massih also criticized the way the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo publicized his accusations against the Sudanese president. Massih, who has been practicing international law for 30 years, told Arab News Broadcast, “ I have never heard in my legal career of a chief prosecutor that launches media campaigns against a defendant, regardless of the nature of the charges.”

Arab foreign ministers who met before the Arab League summit in Doha are \\\"urging all Arab countries not to cooperate with the ICC’s measures.\\\"

In defiance of the ICC, Eritrea, Libya, and Egypt invited al-Bashir to their countries, where he received a hero’s welcome. The Sudanese president was also invited to attend the Arab League summit in Doha, Qatar.

- - -

Note, I have used red to highlight text for future reference. Naturally, I am curious as to why the author of the above report claims that the British government is supporting Sudanese rebel groups. I say, where's Lord Malloch-Brown to defend Britain against such claims? Last I heard, he was helping to organise the G20 (aka G24) summit being held in London this week.  

The following article featuring Michel Massih QC, who is leading the Sudanese president's international defence team, is so interesting that I am copying it here in full, complete with photo.

From The National
The best defence
Last Updated: March 06. 2009 8:30AM UAE/March 6. 2009 4:30AM GMT

Photo: “When I was young,” says Michel Massih, “I saw myself as a defender of the weak against the oppressor.” (Matt Crossick/The National)

Michel Massih has spent much of his 30-year career advocating for clients accused of terrorism and war crimes, but now the consummate defender is leading the charge to prosecute Israel. Alan Philps reports.

In 1966 a thin, bespectacled youth, far from his home in Jerusalem, discovered Speaker’s Corner, a patch of London’s Hyde Park where anyone with something to say can harangue a crowd. He was captivated by the orators – some with years of experience, others having a go for the first time. The next Sunday he returned, found a couple of plastic milk crates to stand on, and began to speak about Palestine. In an instant his shyness disappeared; he found that the hecklers only gave him strength and clarified his thoughts. Soon the largest crowd in Speaker’s Corner was gathered around the gangly Palestinian.

That youth was Michel Massih who, now 59 years old, has become one of Britain’s most experienced criminal lawyers. As is customary at the English criminal bar, Massih has spent much of his 30-year career defending all-comers, from the lowest to the highest – from ordinary clients accused of burglary, money-laundering and murder to members of the Kuwaiti and Saudi royal families who have got into trouble over drugs.

But his real speciality is terrorism trials. As a young lawyer, Massih was instructed to join the team defending Hussein Said, the Jordanian Abu Nidal gunman who shot Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador in London, outside the Dorchester Hotel in 1982. Similar cases followed. Last year, in the trial of the so-called “transatlantic airline plot”, he defended Tanvir Husain, one of the men accused – but not convicted – of planning to blow up airliners in mid-air with liquid explosives. In 2008, he successfully appealed a judgment against a group of young Muslim men who had downloaded extremist material from the internet and were convicted of terrorist offences. As a result of this victory, no one in England can be jailed merely for possessing such material; it has to be shown they intend to use it for violent ends.

Massih’s skills as a defender have also been in demand abroad: He has travelled to the Maldives to defend the then-opposition leader (now president), Mohamed Nasheed, against terrorism charges; he is advising the Syrian government and military officials who are being investigated by the United Nations Security Council over the murder of Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon; and he is advising the president of Sudan, Omar al Bashir, who has been accused of presiding over genocide in Darfur by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

But in recent weeks, a new preoccupation has seized the advocate’s energy and attention: Massih, the consummate defender, is turning his energies towards prosecution – by trying to find a way to bring Israeli officials and army officers to justice in British courts for war crimes committed in Palestine. He has appeared widely on television to set out the case against Israel and addressed the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London on the law of war crimes. He drafted an open letter, signed by 31 international legal experts, arguing that the Gaza attacks amount to “an act of international aggression and are contrary to international law”.

After so much success in defence, could Massih bring a successful war crimes prosecution against Israel? Indeed, can any European lawyer – and many are trying – achieve this goal, or are their efforts destined to amount to nothing more than a lawyerly public relations campaign?

When Massih was awarded the title of “outstanding criminal lawyer” by the Society of Asian Lawyers last year, the society’s chairman described his style as “aggressive” but tempered with humour. As legend has it, a policeman once fainted under the force of Massih’s cross-examination.

“He’s a hairy, larger-than-life character, spell-binding and immensely intelligent,” said Jocelyn Hurndall, who witnessed Massih performing in court after her son Tom was shot by an Israeli soldier in Gaza in 2003. “He can be mischievous and wicked. He reduces the court to fits of laughter. If he feels that the jury is tired and not paying attention, he will turn to his junior and shout, ‘Tuck your shirt in!’ Suddenly everyone is paying attention again.”

I met Massih over dinner recently in the company of another Palestinian lawyer, and I asked him about his fearsome reputation. His bristling moustache wilted and his face crumpled into a picture of misery. “I’m just an orphan and a refugee,” he said in a pathetic whisper, the lion of the courtroom transformed into Oliver Twist.

His lawyer friend would not let this charade pass unchallenged. “At your age, Michel, most people are orphans.”

“Well I am a refugee. I was uprooted from my home and had to come to England.”

“Excuse me,” responded the lawyer. “You were sent to boarding school in England to complete your education.”

Massih had the last word. “Yes but then came 1967 and my home was occupied and I could not return. So I am a refugee. And an orphan.”

For all his theatrics, there is no doubt that Massih’s Palestinian roots have engendered a strong personal sense of justice – one inspired, until recently, more by concern for the accused than by zeal for prosecution. Even before the loss of his homeland to Israel, he was keenly aware of the injustice of the old Jordanian regime in Jerusalem. “The rich had a free hand to do what they wanted. The poor had no rights at all.” Massih has only ever prosecuted in a British criminal court once in his life; he says he wanted to offer no evidence.

“When I was young,” he says, “I saw myself as a defender of the weak against the oppressor. It was a fantasy that sustained me.”

An early hero of Massih’s was Perry Mason, the defence attorney in a long-running American television series who is always defending a murder suspect. Invariably, Mason finds the chink in the armour of the prosecution and fingers the real murderer. Then his client walks free.

Massih’s Perry Mason moment came in 1997. He was defending a suspect in one of the most gruesome murder cases of the decade. The victim had known that his life was in danger and, when he heard a knock at the door, switched on a tape recorder hidden behind a curtain. In came two people - a woman (the victim’s former lover) and a man, Massih’s client.

The tape recorder captured the sounds of the victim being knifed and breathing his last. Some members of the jury broke down as the tape was played to the courtroom. In this highly charged atmosphere, Massih convinced the jury to clear his client of all charges. The woman was convicted of murder. Shortly after this trial, Massih was appointed Queen’s Counsel, an elevation to the top rank of barristers that is quaintly known as “taking silk”.

There is a long tradition of lawyers taking pride in defending the seemingly indefensible. The most notorious is the Frenchman Jacques Verges, who has made a career of defending terrorists and war criminals, from Carlos “The Jackal” to Klaus Barbie, the Nazi “Butcher of Lyon”. Verges takes such delight in his reputation that he encourages the sobriquet “the Devil’s advocate” and entitled his autobiography Brilliant Bastard. Slightly more circumspect is Ramsey Clark, the former US attorney general, who volunteered his services to defend Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic.

One Sunday afternoon I met Massih at his home to ask him why he devotes so much energy to defending clients that many people consider terrorists or war criminals, the worst of the worst.

The brilliant dinner party companion was replaced by a sober lawyer. If barristers refused to defend clients with a strong case against them, he explained, there would be no rule of law. “The lawyer would become policeman, judge, jury and executioner.”

Over a cup of tea he explained that the relationship between client and barrister is a complex one. “If a lawyer defends an alleged rapist, that does not mean the lawyer identifies with the crime or the alleged criminal.

“The lawyer’s duty is to examine the evidence against the client, and then to confront the client with the evidence and to indicate the strength of the case. If, despite the lawyer’s advice, the defendant still maintains that he is not guilty, it is the lawyer’s duty to represent him or her fearlessly.”

History clearly shows the need for such principled defenders. In the 1970s, numerous suspected Irish terrorists were wrongly convicted to appease the public clamour for revenge. Since then, such miscarriages of justice have largely been prevented by men like Massih, “fearless” defenders of terrorism suspects. The police have in turn become more professional under the pressure of defence lawyers.

For all that, Massih says there is not “even the beginning of a resemblance” between him – or any British barrister, for that matter – and someone like Jacques Verges. In England, barristers cannot tout for clients in the manner of ambulance-chasing American lawyers or seekers after notoriety like Verges. Barristers, he explains, wait to be “instructed” by solicitors, the lower rank of lawyers who are allowed to open High Street legal offices. The barrister is obliged to accept whatever cases come his way, a “cab-rank” principle designed to ensure that all clients are defended – though barristers can develop an area of expertise, which leads to specialisation. Verges actively courts controversy; Massih has been professionalised into it.

The project that has consumed Massih’s recent efforts is an idea that has lit up the Arab world – he wants to bring the weight of international law to bear on the Israelis for their assault on Gaza. Massih has no time for the angry emotional outpourings in the internet comparing what happened in Gaza to the attempted genocide of the Jews at the hands of Nazi Germany. “This only obscures the facts. What we need is a clear legal argument, and a plan.”

Massih may be just the figure to orchestrate such a plan. In addition to his high-profile defence work, he is a pioneer in the field of serving warrants for violations of international law. Back in the 1980s, a group of veterans of the Palestine Police, the old British colonial force, sought an arrest warrant against Yitzhak Shamir, then the Israeli prime minister, over the assassination of Lord Moyne, a British minister who was shot dead in Cairo 1944 by the Stern Gang, a Zionist terrorist group. Shamir was one of the leaders of the Stern Gang, and the retired policemen wanted him arrested on a visit to Britain.

Massih was instructed to seek the warrant. That application failed, but Massih saw promise in the approach. He was asked to seek more warrants: one against Ariel Sharon – which failed – and two against Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli army chief at the time of the second Palestinian intifada. The first attempt at securing a warrant for Mofaz’s arrest had an effect; when news leaked of the application, Mofaz cut short a fund-raising trip to Britain and fled back to Israel. The second time Massih sought a warrant for the former army chief’s arrest, the British magistrate accepted the basis for the application, but ruled that Mofaz, as a serving government minister, enjoyed immunity. In 2005 a warrant was issued for the arrest of reserve Major-General Doron Almog, who as commander in the Gaza Strip had ordered the destruction of 59 Palestinian homes. On arrival at Heathrow airport, Almog was tipped off about the warrant, and stayed on the plane, returning straight back to Tel Aviv.

While none of this legal activity has led to an arrest, Massih says the legal foundations are clear: the Geneva Conventions Act of 1957 obligates Britain to investigate anyone on British soil who is alleged to have committed a war crime. “I can claim to have opened the door. I looked at the Geneva Conventions Act as a green lawyer and thought there was an angle. Others are doing it in England and in many countries of Europe too.

“It may be difficult to arrest and seize people, but the whole trend of international criminal law is moving towards bringing to justice people who have had power and escaped.”

Will all this activity actually lead to an arrest? There are many who think that lawyers are going round in circles to give the impression of progress but that, in the end, no European country would ever put a retired Israeli general or defence minister on trial. Massih, on the other hand, believes that the law is full of surprises – a fact certainly endorsed by his career. The net is tightening, he says, and Israel will be forced to uphold international law.

“What concerns me is to end the impunity that Israel has enjoyed. The field of freedom for Israel will narrow. More and more of these warrants will be applied for. And people will become much more aware of the difficulties of waging war in this unlawful way. Frankly, all you need is one case – one case which sticks.”

Massih’s advocacy of bringing Israel to justice is both professional and personal. While he has been “instructed” as a barrister to pursue various warrants against Israelis over the years, his recent television appearances calling for legal action against Israel have been acts of his own volition. One might ask: If Massih is so outspoken about prosecuting Israel for its alleged war crimes in Gaza, how can he he help defend the president of Sudan, who is accused of war crimes in Darfur?  “There is no double standard in my accepting a brief for Sudan,” he says. “This is not something I sought out. I was instructed by a major international law firm. It is the same principle that applied to my application for arrest warrants against the Israelis; this is an area within my competence.”

Since Massih is, by trade, just a lawyerly cab driver waiting in a queue for clients that match his skills, an intriguing possibility comes to mind. As an expert in war crimes, would Massih be prepared to defend an Israeli general detained in Britain, if the brief landed on his desk?
I rang his mobile to get an answer to this question. Somewhat surprisingly, he was not in Khartoum or Damascus, but buying milk in a London supermarket. “The cab-rank rule is very important at the English bar,” he said. “In this case it’s a theoretical possibility.”

A theoretical possibility? For the Palestinian lad who found his voice haranguing the crowds at Speakers Corner? Surely not. Browsing through the aisles, Massih concluded his thought: “Of course, it’s not going to happen. No one is going to offer me that brief.”

Alan Philps is associate editor of The National

Sudanese general election February 10, 2010 (Update 2)

News just in from Sudan Radio Service:

Thursday, 02 April 2009 - (Khartoum) – The National Election Commission has announced that the Sudanese general elections, originally scheduled for July 2009, will now take place on February 10th 2010.

Update from Nichola Domic Mandil, for Sudan Radio Service, in Khartoum.

02 April 2009 - (Khartoum) – Sudan Radio Service Khartoum’s bureau producer, Nichola Dominic Mandil, attended an NEC press conference on Thursday, where the new date was announced. He outlined the proposed time-frame for the elections:

“September 1st shall be the starting date for nominations. On 3rd September, nominations at all election levels will be accepted. For the President of the Republic, President of the Government of southern Sudan, state governors, the Legislative Assembly and the state assemblies. The 6th November shall be the last day for nomination applications. Between 10th and 27th November, final nominations will be published. The election campaign will take place from 31st November to 2nd February 2010. Polling will start on 6th of February 2010. Polling will end on 21st February 2010. The final results will be announced on 27th of February 2010. The total election period will last 10 months and 7 days.”

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Update. From Sudan Radio Service, Friday, 3 April 2009:

2 April 2009 - (Khartoum) -The general elections scheduled for July this year have been postponed until February 2010.

Addressing a press conference in Khartoum on Thursday, the chairman of National Elections’ Commission, Mawlana Abel Alier, said citizens need more time to be educated on election-related issues.

He added that the commission also needs more time to ensure adequate preparations are made before polling day.

[Abel Alier]: “The time-frame for the elections process is very important. It starts with the demarcation of constituencies and goes on to voter registration and then after that to see whether the registration of voters is done correctly, inclusively and if anybody has any complaints. If they have, they can take it to the courts and the courts are ready to look into complaints concerning the process of voter registration. That also takes some time, because we feel guided by the elections law and by the constitution and by the CPA. The voter has to be sufficiently educated so that he can decide whom to vote for and he can do that freely, it is his right, it is his human right and it is his political right.”

Alier said that political parties will also have more time to campaign.

He added that the commission had several issues to address which would have never have been resolved by July.

[Abel Alier]: “We started our work at the beginning of this year when we were appointed by the parliament and by the executive, by the president of the republic. Since the beginning of the year, we have tried to lay down the infrastructure for the working of the NEC, we had to set up a secretariat, we had to make a budget and we had to go through the normal process of budget making and because the NEC is an independent institution, we had to discuss with the presidency our proposed budget for fiscal year 2009. We also discussed the same proposed budget with the Ministry of Finance - but I think this is not what you, the public, want to know, what you want to know is whether the elections are going to take place and when.”

The deputy chairman of NEC, Professor Abdalla Ahmed Abdalla, said that the coming general elections will be “free and fair” in order to achieve the “ultimate objective of democratic transformation in the country”.

[Professor Abdalla Ahmed]: “The main objective of the CPA and what the two partners [the national congress party and the Sudan people’s liberation movement] agreed on was ‘democratic transformation’ through “just, free and fair elections”. This concept is the one that guides us to achieve the comprehensiveness of this process. You all know that most of the things within the implementation process delayed even the election law which guides us. Even the formation of the NEC which is now sitting in front of you was delayed and even the council for political parties affairs. We are looking at the “comprehensiveness” of the process and our understanding of comprehensiveness is what the people of Sudan and the two partners agreed in Naivasha, they agreed on democratic transformation”.

He said the NEC will ensure that the elections will be successful, in order to promote democracy in Sudan.
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2 April 2009 - (Khartoum) - The postponement of the general elections until February 2010 has provoked vigorous reactions across the political spectrum in Sudan.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service by phone from Khartoum on Friday, the National Congress Party political relations secretary, Dr. Mohamed Al-Mahdi Mandor, outlined his party's attitude to the decision.

[Dr. Mohamed Al-Mahdi Mandor] “Our stand as NCP, the National Congress Party, is that we respect this independent organ that has been formed according to the constitution. We have always said that we want the elections to be conducted in the time-frame decided by the constitution but nevertheless, we respect the schedule that has been declared by the electoral commission and we hope that this will be convenient for the other Sudanese political parties. We, in the National Congress Party, we are obliged to work with our partners, especially the SPLA and the SPLM, so as to create a conducive atmosphere for the organization of these elections.”

The spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, Yien Mathew, suggested that there were ulterior motives behind the postponement.

[Yien Mathew] “This is a part of a tactic by the National Congress Party. First of all it delayed the results of the census and then it delayed the demarcation of the borders between south and north, which resulted in the delay of the elections. Because if you look at the CPA, you would conclude that the elections should commence in July 2009. However, because of the aforementioned stated reasons, the commission was not able to set a timetable for July or August. The SPLM is ready, even if the election is to commence tomorrow, we are ready. We hope that more arbitration or alterations are not done so that it doesn’t contradict with the time of the referendum.”

Yien Mathew was speaking to Sudan Radio Service by phone from Juba on Friday.

AU's Mbeki and US's Gration arrive in Sudan - ICC registrar visits Sudanese refugees in Chad

The Head of the African Union's special panel for Darfur, former South African president Thabo Mbeki, arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday evening (01 April) and was scheduled to meet Sudanese officials. Mr Mbeki is now scheduled to meet Sudanese government authorities, Darfur rebels and neighbouring states and submit a progress report to African Union in the next four months. Mr Mbeki was appointed as the Head of the AU High Level Panel on Darfur last month by the AU.

By my reckoning, the next four months ends in July. News of the Abyei Boundary Commission's report is expected to emerge by June of this year.

According to the below copied article from the Sudan Tribune, the ICC's registrar, Silvana Arbia, has been in Chad since Monday (30 March) where she told Sudanese refugees that victims will have rights before the court to participate in the judicial process, and described how they would be able to obtain reparations. See related story here below from Sudan Watch archives re "ICC's Ocampo denies getting any help or information from NGOs in Darfur": UK based rights group Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s pictures of Darfur war that were accepted by the ICC as contextual evidence to be used in any trial. Waging Peace collected the drawings from refugees in Chad.

Early today, (Thursday, 02 April) the new US envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, arrived in Khartoum for a week-long tour that is expected to include visits to Darfur in west Sudan, Juba, the capital of south Sudan, and Abyei an oil-rich area between north and south Sudan.

Note that South Africa has opened a new Consulate-General in Juba in Southern Sudan. South African exports to Sudan, which include base metals, machinery, wood pulp, plastics and chemicals, have increased over the past year from R463-million in 2007 to R718-million in 2008.

This month, Mexico assumes UN Security Council Presidency from Libya.

Source: the following reports.

April 02, 2009 report from the Daily Nation, Kenya's leading newspaper:
Mbeki in Sudan for Darfur peace talks
By Argaw Ashine, Nation Correspondent (ADDIS ABABA)

Head of African Union special panel for Darfur, former South African president Thabo Mbeki, arrived in Sudan to begin the search for a lasting solution in the conflict raged region of Darfur.

Mbeki arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday evening and was scheduled to meet Sudanese officials. He will also visit the Darfur region.

According to AU Peace and Security Council sources, Mbeki will hold a series of talks with tribal leaders, displaced peoples' representatives, UN and AU peacekeepers, political parties and civil society representatives.

The AU panel for Darfur, inaugurated at the end of March 2009 in Addis Ababa, aimed at fighting impunity and ensuring accountability in the region

Thabo Mbeki and his strong African eminent personalities Darfur panel planned to achieve a three-pillar objective of expediting the peace process, installing justice and start reconciliation process among the warring parties in Sudan.

Mr Mbeki, who mediated the Zimbabwe political crisis, is now scheduled to meet Sudanese government authorities, Darfur rebels and neighbouring states and submit a progress report to African Union in the next four months.

Mbeki has faced sharp criticism for his “soft” stand against Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe during his mediation effort, but he defended the criticism by saying the mediation was successful and achieved the intended result.

Mbeki dismissed criticism that he might have another “soft” stand on Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir, who has been charged with war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. The ICC issued an arrest warrant on Al Bashir March 4 this year.

“I am not starting a responsibility of defending any criticism” Mbeki said during his recent visit to Addis Ababa.

Mbeki said his team's responsibility is to produce the required result based on the mandate given from AU.

He stressed the value of reconciliation in healing wounds and to bring lasting peace rather than retaliation, as his country South Africa did after the fall of Apartheid.

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April 02, 2009 article from Sudan Tribune, France based pro rebel newsonline:
ICC registrar visits Sudanese refugees in Chad

April 1, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – The registrar of the International Criminal Court, Silvana Arbia, arrived Wednesday in the Sudanese refugee camps Treguine and Bredjing in eastern Chad, meeting with camp authorities and explaining about the warrant of arrest against President Omer Al-Bashir, according to a press statement.

The world court (ICC), which claims jurisdiction in Darfur because the UN Security Council referred the case to it in 2005, aims to try Bashir on seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The registrar is the principal administrative officer of the court, elected by the judges. It is her responsibility to set up the Victims and Witnesses Unit, according to the Rome Statute that governs the court. In consultation with the Office of the Prosecutor, this unit provides protective measures and security arrangements, counselling and other appropriate assistance for witnesses, victims who appear before the court, and others who are at risk on account of testimony given by such witnesses.

She is also responsible for overseeing the court’s outreach programmes, which are designed to communicate with communities affected by the situations that are subject to investigations or proceedings.

Arbia, who began her visit to Chad on Monday for a four day visit, met with mostly Masalit refugees, women’s groups representatives, and very many victims, stated the ICC statement. Questioned by the refugees as to how the arrest warrant would be executed, the ICC official responded that the Court will pursue efforts to obtain the cooperation of states so as to ensure that Omer Al Bashir is arrested and transferred to the ICC.

“The arrest warrant will be implemented,” she declared, underscoring that the court is a permanent institution and that justice will take its course even if he is a Head of State. Arbia also reviewed the other arrest warrants issued in relation with the Darfur case, against a militia leader and a minister of state.

She further told refugees that victims will have rights before the court to participate in the judicial process, and described how they would be able to obtain reparations. (ST)

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April 02, 2009 report from AFP by Guillaume Lavallee via zawya.com:
US envoy kicks off Sudan visit

KHARTOUM, Apr 02, 2009 (AFP) - US envoy Scott Gration began an official visit to Sudan on Thursday as President Barack Obama turned up the heat on Sudanese leader Omar al-Beshir to allow aid groups back into war-torn Darfur.

The retired air force general arrived in Khartoum early Thursday for a week-long visit, a month after an international arrest warrant was issued against Beshir for war crimes committed in the western Sudanese region.

Beshir expelled 13 international aid groups from Darfur after the International Criminal Court issued the warrant for him on March 4.

Obama, speaking after meeting with his special envoy on Monday, said he hoped to find a way for humanitarian workers to resume their work in Darfur.

"We have to figure out a mechanism to get those NGOs back in place, to reverse that decision, or to find some mechanism whereby we avert an enormous humanitarian crisis," Obama said.

International aid agencies distribute food, offer medical aid and provide access to water to some 2.7 million people displaced by the civil war in Darfur.

The Sudanese president remained defiant about his government's decision to expel the aid agencies from Darfur in response to the ICC arrest warrant.

"In one year we will Sudanise all the aid on the ground and we can fill the gap in food distribution within one year because the Sudanese Red Crescent already distributes 45 percent of the food in Darfur," Beshir said during a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

On his Khartoum visit, Gration is due to meet with senior officials from the foreign ministry and could possibly meet Beshir, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

"The US embassy told us clearly that (Gration) was here to listen. We don't expect him to come with a plan," Ali Sadiq told AFP.

Gration is expected to visit Darfur over the weekend.

Obama had said that his envoy was to try to kickstart discussions between rebels and the government in order to reach a solution to the Darfur conflict, where 300,000 lives have been lost since 2003 and more than two million people displaced.

Sudan puts the death toll from the six-year war at only 10,000.

The Darfur question has garnered much attention in the United States, where groups like "Save Darfur" are pushing for a solution to the crisis.

The Sudanese government and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) signed an agreement in Doha in February aimed at holding peace talks, but JEM has indicated that it would back out if Khartoum does not authorise the return of the aid agencies.

Gration is also expected to visit Juba, the capital of south Sudan and Abyei, the oil-rich area between north and south Sudan where fighting last year threatened a return to Sudan's two-decade civil war which only ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.

Sudanese-US relations have been strained since the mid-90s.

The US had accused Sudan of harbouring Al-Qaeda members and in 1997 imposed sanctions against the country before launching a missile strike on Khartoum one year later. gl/jaz/cjo/bpz

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April 02, 2009 report from BuaNews-Xinhua by Bathandwa Mbola:
SA opens new Consulate-General in Sudan

Sudan - South African has opened a Consulate-General in Juba in Southern Sudan.

The new mission will contribute to facilitating the movement of business people between the two countries, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The department said the Consulate will consolidate South Africa's presence in the Sudan and strengthen the support for peace efforts and the implementation of post-conflict reconstruction and development related projects in Southern Sudan.

Having a greater presence in the country will also aid in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which was signed in 2005 marking an end to the civil strife in the Sudan.

South Africa is involved in the post-conflict reconstruction and development in respect of capacity and institution building.

To date, over 1000 Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) officials have been trained in public service and administration, judiciary and legal affairs and government communication, among others.

South Africa has deployed peacekeepers and civilian police in Darfur as part of the United Nations-African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan (UNAMID) and continues to support the Darfur peace efforts through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms.

Meanwhile, former President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday, arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on an African Union (AU) mission to help resolve the conflict in the Darfur region.

Mr Mbeki was appointed as the Head of the AU High Level Panel on Darfur last month by the AU.

South African exports to Sudan, which include base metals, machinery, wood pulp, plastics and chemicals, have increased over the past year from R463-million in 2007 to R718-million in 2008. - BuaNews-Xinhua

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Mexico to Assume UN Security Council Presidency
ISRIA (subscription) - ‎1 hour ago‎
In April, the Security Council will analyze the situation in Chad and the Central African Republic, Guinea Bissau, the Congo, Western Sahara, Sudan, ...
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Further reading

Sudan Watch March 21, 2009: ICC's Ocampo denies getting any help or information from NGOs in Darfur and says Sudan expulsions 'confirm crimes'

According to the following report from Aljazeera today, the International Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor denied getting any help or information from NGOs in Darfur. But the report makes no mention of those who worked in Chad and in other countries outside of Sudan.

Note that a report filed here at Sudan Watch [March 4, 2009 - Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s drawings of Darfur that were accepted by ICC as evidence in any trial] claims that last year, UK based rights group Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s pictures of Darfur war that were accepted by the ICC as contextual evidence to be used in any trial. Waging Peace collected the drawings from refugees in Chad.