Russian presidential rep for Sudan arrives in Cairo, Egypt

April 06, 2009 report from Itar-Tass:
Russia presidential representative for Sudan arrives in Egypt

CAIRO, April 6 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian presidential representative for Sudan Mikhail Margelov arrived in Cairo on Monday to discuss with the Egyptian leadership the situation in Sudan and bilateral relations. In the Egyptian capital Margelov is to meet with Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit, Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Services, General Omar Suleiman, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

Margelov told Itar-Tass that the Cairo meetings would highlight such issues as the results of the Arab League summit in Qatar in the context of a visit to Doha of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, as well as the reaction of the Arab world on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for the Sudanese leader.

Meanwhile, Mikhail Margelov, who heads the Russian society of solidarity with the peoples of Asia and Africa, will meet with the speaker of the National Assembly, Egyptian parliament, and the president of the Russia-Egypt Friendship Society, Fathi Surur, and the leadership of the Afro-Asian Peoples’ Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO) in order to discuss bilateral political and economic relations.

Darfur crisis must end now, says Mbeki

April 06, 2009 report by Sapa-AFP via IOL:
Darfur crisis must end now, says Mbeki

The conflict in Darfur had dragged on for too long, former South African president Thabo Mbeki said at the weekend after talks with Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir.

Mbeki is in Khartoum leading a high-level African Union panel that is looking into the conflict for the African Union peace and security council.

"It has been very costly in all sorts of ways," he said. "Something must be done to end it as soon as possible."

The UN estimates that more than 300 000 people have died in Darfur since 2003.

South Sudan - Losing Hope: Citizen Perception of Peace and Reconciliation in the Three Areas

From Making Sense of Darfur
“For Us Here There Is No Government”
By Alex de Waal
April 05, 2009

Speaking in a focus group discussion reported by the National Democratic Institute’s study of the “three areas” of South Kordofan, Abyei and Blue Nile, a Nuba man complained that “The peace is now three years and there is supposed to be tangible things. The government should have expressed its presence, but for us here there is no government.” This is one among many worrying statements in this important report about the disappointing outcomes of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the fears of a return to war. People are notably more optimistic in Blue Nile. Abyei is flashpoint: the Ngok Dinka interviewees report that their relations with the Missiriya have been irreparably damaged and that they will all be voting to join the South. But the gravest messages come from the Nuba Mountains, where insecurity is still a major worry and inter-ethnic tensions are high.

Several issues of major concern stand out. One is that while people are all in favor of elections, most will vote along ethnic lines and many will not accept a governor who is not from their ethnicity (broadly construed). A second is that the process of “popular consultation” provided for in the CPA is not well-understood and most Nuba and Funj believe that they will participate in a referendum on their future. Underlying causes of conflict–notably land–have not been addressed. While the CPA designed these democratic processes to resolve the fraught questions of the political futures of these areas, an underlying message from the report is that people’s hopes were chiefly vested in the peace dividend, in the form of economic development.

The NDI report is entitled “Losing Hope: Citizen Perception of Peace and Reconciliation in the Three Areas,” and its cover shows a darkening sky. This is a warning.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb seeks to unify armed radical groups with emerging groups in Niger, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea

From Gulf Daily News, Monday, April 06, 2009
Bouteflika warned by Al Qaeda

ALGIERS: Al Qaeda has warned Algerians against re-electing "ferocious enemy" President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Thursday's presidential vote.

The Algerian regime supports the West by seeking to destroy "true Islam," Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said in a statement issued on Jihadist forums, the Site Intelligence Group reported.

It said Bouteflika is a "ferocious enemy" of Muslims.

The Al Qaeda group called on Muslims to overthrow rulers whose legislation fails to follow religious law.

Muslims, it added according to Site, must seek training and Jihad, abstain from the re-election of Bouteflika and his like, and support =the Mujahideen.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb seeks to unify armed radical groups in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco with emerging groups in countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.

Russian FM receives special envoy of Sudanese leader

From APA Sunday, 05 April 2009 via Borglobe.com:
Russian foreign minister receives special envoy of Sudanese leader

Moscow (Russia) The Sudanese Minister of Finance and National Economy, who is also special envoy of the Sudanese president, Omar al Bashir, was received in Moscow on Friday by the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, APA learns here Sunday.

The envoy, Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz, handed over a written message from President Al-Bashir to the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev.

During the closed door meeting, the two ministers discussed the main aspects of the state of, and prospects for Russian-Sudanese relations, with both sides reaffirming their strife to help develop political dialogue and economic cooperation in different fields of mutual interest, according to Russian Foreign Ministry sources.

In discussing the situation in Darfur, they expressed hope for a search for a political solution to the problem in cooperation with the United Nations, the African Union and other mediators. Al-Jaz gave assurances that the government of Sudan was firmly committed to settling the Darfur crisis through negotiations.

Al-Jaz further gave a high assessment of Russia’s position in support of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Sudan.



Photo: On July 29, 2008, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun held talks in the Foreign Ministry with visiting Sudanese President's special envoy Awad Ahmed al-Jaz, also Sudan's Minister of Finance and National Economy. Both sides exchanged in-depth views on bilateral ties and the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's charge against the Sudanese leader.

Two million landmines buried in Sudan

From Sudan Radio Service, 05 April 2009 (Khartoum)

The National Centre for De-mining says that there are over two million landmines still buried in different parts of Sudan.

The announcement came as Sudan marked International Mine Awareness Day on Saturday, under the theme “Towards a Landmine-Free Sudan”.

In an interview with Sudan Radio Service on Saturday in Khartoum, the deputy director of the National De-mining Centre, Dr. Ahmed al-Badawi, said that lack of funding is a major problem facing the de-mining authorities in Sudan.

[Dr. Ahmed al-Badawi]:”There are approximately two million landmines buried in Sudan. There are many geographical and natural challenges facing de-miners and the de-mining process is very expensive, it needs a lot of funding. The biggest problem facing us is to get the funds for de-mining. We hope that the Government of National Unity will work and allocate major funding from its budget for fighting this sickness which is called landmines.”

According to Dr. al-Badawi, more than 20 states are affected by landmines. He said the most affected areas are the Equatorial states, Upper Nile, Bahr el-Ghazal, South and West Kordofan, Red Sea, Kassala, Blue Nile and Gedaref.”

SLM-Nur commander meets U.S. envoy in Jebel Marra

Associated Press report 05 April 2009:
Darfur commander meets US Envoy

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - A top Darfur rebel commander says a visit by an envoy of President Barack Obama is positive but not enough for him to start talking peace with Sudan's government.

Ibrahim al-Helw, a commander in the Sudan Liberation Movement, says the visit on Sunday by J. Scott Gration to his group's stronghold in the mountainous rebel-controlled Jebel Marra area is a "step in the right direction." It was the first ever visit by a senior American official to the area controlled by the group led by exiled leader Abdelwahid Nur.

Al-Helw said Sudan's recent expulsion of aid groups from Darfur topped the discussion with Gration and added that a meningitis epidemic was breaking out in the region.

US, France unhappy about Arab & African support to Sudan's Bashir?

Thank goodness the UK has not been mentioned in this questionable article from Sudan Tribune, 05 April 2009. According to the article, Saudi owned Al-Hayat newspaper reported that an anonymous source said that both US President Obama and French President Sarkozy were disappointed at the backing of the Arab League and African Union to Sudanese President Al-Bashir. Also, the source said that the US and French leaders agreed to give their backing to the ICC warrant.

US, France unhappy about Arab & African support to Sudan’s Bashir: report - excerpt:

April 4, 2009 (PARIS) – The US and French government have agreed that the support lent by Arab states to embattled Sudanese president is “regrettable”, according to a news report.



Photo: France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) shaking hand with U.S. President Barack Obama

The Saudi owned Al-Hayat newspaper quoting a source familiar with talks said that the US president Barack Obama and his French president Nicolas Sarkozy discussed the indictment of Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last month.

Obama is visiting France for the summit of the North Atlantic Organization (NATO).

The source said that both Obama and Sarkozy were disappointed at the backing of the Arab League and African Union (AU) to Bashir.

Both organizations have expressed dissatisfaction at the ICC move against Bashir and alleged double standards in dealings with crimes worldwide.

The Arab League leadership summit held this week in Qatar issued a resolution rejecting of the ICC warrant and called on its members not to cooperate with the court.

The Arab leaders also described the ICC warrant as violation of international law preserving immunity of state officials and arguing that Sudan is not bound by the court’s decision because it has not ratified its founding Rome Statute.

AU officials said that African states who are ICC members will hold a meeting in June to discuss possibility of removing themselves from the court by unsigning the Rome Statute.

The source said that the US and French leaders agreed to give their backing to the ICC warrant. [...]

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."

- - -

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.

- - -

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)

- - -

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. [...]

- - -

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.

- - -

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.