Blair and Bush to announce new famine initiative - SLA/JEM infighting kills 11 - Germany mulls over Khartoum's blockade policies

A report in today's Scotsman says US President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair will announce a joint initiative today costing the 674 million dollars (GBP 370 million) to help an estimated 14 million people threatened by famine in Africa, the White House said.

The announcement appeared intended to take the sting out of Bush's opposition to Blair's more expensive plan for doubling aid to Africa. The amount of Britain's contribution to the joint initiative was not disclosed, but it was said to be less than Washington's.

Bush and Blair are to meet at the White House this afternoon. The joint initiative will focus on the food needs of people vulnerable to famine in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It also will address humanitarian needs in other countries in Africa, a senior White House official said.


CNN Photo: An Ethiopian boy drinks water from an old bottle.

Bush has rejected Blair's efforts to persuade the world's wealthiest nations to back his plan to double aid to Africa. The prime minister, the host of this year's summit of the major eight industrialised democracies, hopes to use the meeting in early July in Gleneagles, Scotland, to raise an extra 50 billion dollars (GBP 27.5 billion) a year by selling bonds on the world's capital markets.

"It doesn't fit our budgetary process," Bush said last week. The Bush administration says the mechanism would conflict with US budget laws by binding future governments to providing money.

Bush and Blair are to hold a news conference this afternoon, where they are expected to announce their joint initiative. They will call on other countries to increase their commitment to address humanitarian emergencies in Africa, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been formally made.

Blair's US visit is part of a blitz of trips to lobby foreign leaders ahead of the Scotland summit. In coming weeks, Blair is to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Blair's wish list is likely to be a tough sell in the US. Bush opposes the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, and his administration questions views that man-made pollutants are causing temperatures to rise. The White House has also rejected many of Blair's proposals on African debt relief.

Yesterday, Blair's official spokesman said Blair wasn't looking for any breakthroughs in Washington.

"This visit is part of the preparation for Gleneagles, not Gleneagles itself," the spokesman said. "So we are not expecting ... to see the final US position tomorrow. That will come at Gleneagles."
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Press briefing on Tony Blair's visit to Washington and the EU Constitution

10 Downing Street's Morning Press Briefing from 6 June 2005 on PM's visit to Washington and the EU Constitution.
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Arms bill hits US$1 trillion

June 7, 2005 report at BBC, DefenseNews and China's Standard. Excerpt:

Global military spending blasted past the US$1 trillion mark in 2004, with the U.S. alone accounting for nearly half of the total because of its "war on terror," the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found.

Military spending reached US$1.035 trillion last year - or US$162 for every inhabitant of Earth - compared to US$956 billion in 2003, the institute revealed Tuesday in its annual report.
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ICC launches Darfur war crimes investigation

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched a formal investigation into suspected crimes against humanity in Darfur.

"The investigation will be impartial and independent, focusing on the individuals who bear the greatest criminal responsibility for crimes committed in Darfur," the ICC said in a statement.

It did not name any suspects. Telegraph June 6, 2005.

AFP reports that Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will brief the United Nations in New York later this month about his plans to investigate Darfur.
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Rebel infighting in South Darfur kills 11, injures 17-AU

The last round of Darfur peace talks collapsed in December after the Darfur rebel group SLA leadership boycotted talks because of a government offensive on the ground in Darfur. Rebel divisions have plagued previous rounds of talks, AU officials say.

Last month, after the rebels met with Libyan leader Col Gaddafi, Darfur peace talks were supposed to resume May 30 or June 1. Rebels postponed the talks to June 10. You have to wonder at the reason for the delay. As stated here recently, anything could happen in the run up to June 10. And it has. African Union said today in a statement that on June 3 SLA attacks on the JEM-occupied town of Gereida in South Darfur killed 11 people, injured 17. Some houses were burnt down.

JEM occupied Gereida town, south of Nyala, despite calls for them to evacuate and allow AU forces to takeover.

"The JEM and SLA are hereby called upon to cease hostilities and pull out their forces completely from Gereida," AU spokesman Mezni said.

"The government of the Sudan is urged to continue its current laudable restraint and the rebel forces are called upon to show similar restraint at this moment when all efforts are being made to reconvene the Abuja political talks on June 10, as scheduled," he added.
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Note, graphic below showing location of refugee camps. Not many appear to be situated in South Darfur where oil was recently discovered. South Darfur is a dangerous area which many people seem to be fighting over. A horrific day-long premeditated militia attack took place there in a town called Khor Abeche in March of this year.



Reuters graphic shows a detailed map of Sudan's Darfur region and location of refugee camps.
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Obasanjo hopes talks finally resolve Darfur crisis

Nigerian President, Chairman of the African Union, Olusegun Obasanjo, hopes the next round of peace talks will make a final resolution to the crisis in the west Sudanese region of Darfur, his spokeswoman said Monday.

"The Darfur talks will resume on June 10 in Abuja (Nigeria's capital). AU Chairman Obasanjo is hoping the talks will finally meet the settlement of the Darfur crisis," Obasanjo's spokeswoman Remi Oyo told Xinhua by telephone from Abuja.

Oyo said both the Sudanese government and two main rebels in Darfur had agreed to come for the Abuja talks.

Najeeb el-Kheir Abdu-el-Wahab, minister of state in the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, said Sunday in Khartoum that the government has formulated a 18-man delegation to participate in this round of talks.

The delegation, headed by ruling National Congress's political secretary, will arrive in Abuja Wednesday, el-Kheir told reporters.

This round, which is expected to last for three weeks, will mainly focus on the issue of the political solution based on the declaration of principles which had been discussed during the lastround, he said.

And the talks would be held in a complete secrecy with little leakage to the media so as to ensure it be final and successful, said el-Kheir.

The representatives of the European Union, the African Union, the Arab League, the United States, France and Sweden are also expected to participate in the talks.
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Darfur rebels might not arrive on time for peace talks

Note Darfur rebels regret deadly internecine clashes.

Also, Tues June 8 report excerpt via SudanTribune:

SLA President Abdel Wahed Mohamed al-Nur also said he would go to Abuja, but said the AU had not given them enough time to prepare their team, which was coming from the field in Darfur and all round the world.

"They told us on June 2 and we have told them in the past we need two weeks to prepare our team," he told Reuters. "The AU just want to make it look like we are the ones delaying the talks."

SLA SAYS IT NEEDS MORE TIME

Nur said the SLA had requested a delay until June 15 to collect their team. "We are a guerrilla movement, we are not a government -- we rely on the AU for transportation," he added.

The SLA leadership boycotted the last round of talks in December in protest against a government offensive launched in their part of South Darfur.

They said they would not return to talks until government forces had withdrawn from all the areas they had occupied during this operation. The AU confirmed almost two months ago that the Sudanese armed forces had carried out the withdrawal.

The smaller rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), said they would be in Abuja on time, but declined to say whether their leader Khalil Ibrahim would be present.
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Sudan to resume talks with exiled group

Agencies, Arab News

KHARTOUM, 6 June 2005 -- Stalled peace negotiations between the Sudanese government and exiled opposition groups are to resume in Cairo next weekend and continue until a final deal is reached, officials said yesterday. Talks between the government and the opposition National Democratic Alliance will start next Saturday, Sudanese state radio quoted Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, secretary-general of the ruling National Congress party as saying.

Omar also predicted that with many outstanding issues already resolved, an agreement could be signed a few days after the discussions commence, saying "the final agreement will be signed by the two sides on June 16." The NDA, a coalition of northern, southern, eastern and western opposition groups, including the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement, confirmed talks with the government would resume on June 11. "The discussions will start on Saturday," NDA vice president Abdul Rahman Saeed told AFP.

But he did not share the government's optimism that a deal could be signed five days later, saying "it was possible, but not certain." Saeed explained that the talks will kick off with meetings aimed at reaching a deal on how to implement an initial agreement the two sides signed in January, particularly on political and military issues. "We have already agreed," he said, adding that the discussions will focus on "implementing what we have agreed upon."

Meanwhile, Sudanese President Omar Bashir said he hoped rebels would join talks in the Nigerian capital next week aimed at reaching a peace deal for Darfur. "The government is committed to take part in the Abuja talks with a high-level delegation that possesses a full mandate and we hope observers and rebels will participate with high-level delegations too for reaching a peaceful political settlement that leads to peace and stability in Darfur," Bashir said.

He said he hoped the round of talks starting on June 10 "will be a final one that paves the way for convening a comprehensive conference for the people of Darfur for boosting peace, stability, development and services in the region," according to Omdurman Radio.
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4-5 Jul 2005 - Libya hosts African Union leaders, seeking African solutions in Darfur

TRIPOLI. 4-5 July 2005. Report excerpt: This second summit in 2005 of the 53-nation African Union could be sobering as it will be the one where the leaders measure their efforts to ease or end one of the continent’s most serious and difficult recent catastrophes -- the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
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Germany mulls over Khartoum's blockade policies

By Der Spiegel

HAMBURG, Germany, June 6, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) -- The Bundeswehr, German Federal Armed Forces, mission to Sudan, which was approved by parliament on April 13, might be stopped far earlier than originally planned.

Defence Minister Peter Struck is considering calling off the deployment of up to 75 soldiers, who should serve as military observers in a 10,000-troop UN force, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported.

The reason for this is the Sudanese government's blockade policy.

With devious measures, it is trying to hamper the deployment of UN soldiers: thus, the first four Bundeswehr staff officers, who recently travelled to the capital Khartoum, were only granted visas for four weeks - although the UN mission is to last more than six years. A deployment agreement with the United Nations, so that visas are no longer required, is also being blocked.

Moreover, apparently, other countries do not keep their promises they gave to the United Nations either: instead of the planned 10,000 soldiers, the world organization has so far only 1,500 troops available.

The Blue Helmets are to secure a peace agreement that was signed between Khartoum and the rebels in the south after 21 years of civil war.

After a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York, Struck wants to decide at the end of June whether to stop the Sudan operation.

Germany already has 7,500 soldiers serving on missions overseas, with the largest contingents in Afghanistan and the Balkans.
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Note, perhaps Khartoum are afraid of this:

June 6 Deutsche Welle report Preparing Germany's Military for War report. And this:

EU may send peacekeeping force to Darfur

Copy of Financial Times report by Guy Dinmore and Hubert Wetzel in Washington, and Daniel Dombey in Vilnius, April 21 2005:

UK, French and German forces could be sent to stop the violence in Sudan's region of Darfur as part of a European Union peacekeeping mission -- that is one of several ideas to be discussed by EU foreign ministers next week, officials said on Thursday.

The proposed EU peacekeeping force, which would be the second sent to Africa, would support an African Union observer mission made up largely of Nigerian and Rwandan troops who are already in the region, although in too small numbers to have any real impact.

Payback time for US on Iraq

Tony Blair must tell George Bush to repay British support over the war on terror by backing moves to end African poverty, campaigners have demanded.

The Prime Minister flies to Washington today for White House talks with the president of the United States tomorrow.


Picture: Mark Wilson/Getty Images: Blair to visit Bush for talks at White House tomorrow

"Tony Blair has got to go there [the White House] and make George Bush sit up and notice public opinion here" - Sir Bob Geldof, Live 8 organiser

Story in full at The Scotsman Mon June 6, 2005

[Listen up buddy: contribute 0.7% GDP p.a. like the rest of us - AND ON TIME - or else we won't think much of America anymore]
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BLAIR'S CAMPAIGN FOR AFRICA

Prime Minister Blair will press President Bush for more funds at a meeting tomorrow.

Blair's plea, and Mr Bush's resistance to it, highlight key gaps in their approaches. Blair's is fueled by a strong sense of moral obligation for rich nations to help poor ones - and a public more willing to spend government money on far-away problems. Bush aims to help generously on AIDS, but otherwise target aid where it won't be swallowed by corrupt or inept officials. It's one reason Washington gives foreign countries just 16 cents per $100 of gross domestic product, one of the rich world's lowest rates.

Read more by Abraham McLaughlin, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor.
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COUNTDOWN TO JULY G8 MEETING IN GLENEAGLES, SCOTLAND, UK

From the Financial Times June 6 2005:

Tony Blair flies to Washington today in a bid to prepare the ground for a successful Group of Eight summit at Gleneagles. He has a tough task ahead. With only a month to go and public pressure mounting, the summit is poised between triumph and disaster.

Mr Blair and Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer, have raised expectations with talk of a summit that will go down in history for tackling climate change and poverty in Africa. The promise of a Live 8 concert to put pressure on the G8 promises to raise public excitement still higher.

Read FT.com Editorial comment.
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BUSH OPPOSED TO INCREASING AID TO AFRICA

In his blog from Kampala, Uganda, Peter Quaranto links to an article from June 5 New York Times headlined: "Bush Maintains Opposition to Doubling Aid for Africa." Peter says he hopes to blog a response to President Bush later this week and adds:

"But for now I will just say that I see this is both an abdication of global moral responsibility and perpetuation of the deep injustice of contemporary U.S. policy towards the African sub-continent. This is not to say that aid is the answer to all the crises facing many African nations - far from it actually - but aid can go a long way in helping meet the basic needs of masses of human beings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/02/politics/02prexy.html
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BRITAIN URGES GULF STATES TO HELP AFRICAN AID PLAN

Excerpt from Gulf Times report Mon 6 June, 2005:

LONDON: British Finance Minister Gordon Brown yesterday urged rich, oil-producing countries in the Gulf, which have profited from a recent spike in oil prices, to join a global push to lift Africa out of poverty.

Speaking ahead of a crucial week of negotiations for Prime Minister Tony Blair who is due to meet US President George W Bush in Washington tomorrow as part of a bid to drum up support for a plan to help Africa at a Group of Eight (G8) summit in Scotland next month, Brown pressed the need for urgent action.

"I would like to see the oil-producing states, the countries that have done well out of the rise in oil prices, being willing to make a contribution also to the new development agenda, and particularly to debt relief and to international aid," he told GMTV.

"I've been in touch with the countries concerned asking them to make their contribution too," he said.
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EU CRISIS MAY FORCE BLAIR TO STAY ON AS PM

British Prime Minister Tony Blair could stay in power for three more years to help steer the European Union out of the crisis over the EU draft constitution, ally Peter Mandelson said yesterday. Full Story sapa-AFP via Dispatch online 6 June 2005.
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BLAIR IN SECRET PLAN TO HOLD SECOND G8 SUMMIT ON AFRICA

Downing Street is drawing up secret plans to hold a second G8 meeting if the Gleneagles summit fails to deliver for Africa.

Sources close to No10 said Tony Blair is prepared to call an emergency "crisis meeting for Africa", probably in the autumn.

He would use the public goodwill towards tackling poverty following next month's Live8 concerts to bounce reluctant world leaders into returning to Britain for a second summit.

Usually leaders of the leading industrial nations meet once a year. Full Story by Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent Mirror EXCLUSIVE: WE'LL MEET AGAIN 6 June 2005

Cross-posted at Passion of the Present. Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Commission Tony Blair Gordon Brown G8 Gleneagles Bob Geldof Make Poverty History Live 8 Iraq George W Bush Kyoto Gulf oil AIDS Christian Science Monitor New York Times Uganda Corruption Africa sustainable+development environment European+Union

Uganda, Congo and Khartoum facing war crimes probe

BBC report today confirms the International Criminal Court at The Hague is to launch an inquiry into alleged war crimes in Darfur:

The New York-based Human Rights Watch group said the Sudanese authorities in Khartoum have not taken any meaningful steps to bring to account those responsible for the alleged crimes, the BBC's Geraldine Coughlan at The Hague reports.

The ICC plans other trials later this year against alleged perpetrators of war crimes in two other African nations, Uganda and Congo, a BBC correspondent says.

[Note, the report says two million people have fled Darfur - population is estimated at around 6 - 6.5 million]

Arab League chief tours Darfur - Sudan urges Arabs to support Darfur mission - SPLMs Garang leaves Egypt for Washington

Excerpt from an AFP report at Aljazeera Sunday June 5, 2005:

Mussa, who toured Darfur on Friday and Saturday (two days after Zoellick) and met AU officials there, indicated that the league "fully supports the African Union in its endeavours in Darfur".

He said AU officials briefed him on the situation in the region and informed him that a semblance of calm was returning to certain areas of Darfur, particularly those where there was a visible AU presence.

The Arab League chief returned to Khartoum after touring the Abu Shouk camp for displaced persons near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.

"I cannot see any justification for [international] concentration on differences between the Arab and African tribes in Darfur," he commented.

"We reject plans for driving a wedge between these two groups of tribes who are now mingling and intermarrying with each other," Mussa added.
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Sudan urges Arabs to support Darfur mission

Some news reports today are saying Sudan called on Arab countries yesterday to support efforts by the African Union to stabilise the situation in Darfur.

Excerpt from Peninsula On-line: "We express our gratitude to the Arab League for its positive contribution to efforts being exerted for addressing the Darfur crisis," said Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail. "And we are looking forward to a direct Arab support to the African Union and to the AU forces in Darfur," he added at a joint news conference with visiting Arab League secretary general Amr Muss.
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Note, report today says "Sudan says US stance changed".

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Garang to Washington for talks on peace implementation

John Garang, chief of SPLM, left Egypt Saturday for the US wrapping up an official visit.

Spokesman for SPLM said Garang will meet during his visit to the US with officials at the US Department of State and Congressmen for talks on a number of issues related to the implementation of Sudan peace agreement and the reconstruction of areas destroyed by war.

During his visit to Egypt, Garang held talks with President Husni Mubarak on Egypt's leading role to solicit regional and international support for reconstruction efforts in southern Sudan. - via MENA/ST June 4, 2005.

Darfur and G8: Mbeki suggests Western taxpayers donate another GBP 50 million to AU "institutions"

Cape Town June 3 IOL report:

Supporting peace and stability initiatives on the African continent was one of the practical outcomes desired at the forthcoming G8 summit in Scotland, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday.

"What the operations in Darfur in Sudan have done is to show that the capacity of the peacemaking, peacekeeping institutions of the African Union are not as strong as they should be," Mbeki told delegates attending the World Economic Forum meeting on Friday.

He said the peacekeeping institutions providing soldiers and police have proved to be weak, partly because of their newness.

"So, why then don't we all of us agree, that let us dedicate these sort of resources to the strengthening of the institutions of the African Union that are dedicated to the matter of peace and security on the continent."

Mbeki said this would lessen the sorts of logistical problems currently being experienced in Darfur.

Mbeki said he did not think there would be much debate about this, but Africans needed to say this was one of the outcomes they wanted from the G8 meeting at Gleneagles in July.

"The issue of peace and security and stability on the continent is critical to its development and therefore why don't we generate GBP 50-million ... in order to finance these institutions of the African Union so that they are capable of discharging their duties with regard to peace."

Mbeki cautioned against getting entangled in debate about the best mechanisms, such as the proposed international financing facility. - Sapa

{This is what African leaders are good at, sniffing out and wangling more money from the West to spend on more talk, meetings, fancy cars and travel to administer war, arms, ammunition and fighting. No mention of actual security forces. Seems the only paid jobs in African countries like Sudan are to do with fighting or politics.

Note Mr Mbeki makes no mention of the leadership and governance in Sudan, northern Uganda and DR Congo. Many a post here at Sudan Watch has pointed out the African Union has said over the past year re Darfur that funding shortages is not the cause of the holdup: it is the Khartoum regime holding up the "accommodation" of African Union troops. African politics dictates the speed at which African Union troops are found and deployed to Darfur.

I'd rather trust the UN, EU and NATO to discern whether African Union "institutions" need more hard cash or not.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was perfectly satisfied with the $300 million recently pledged in cash and kind for the AU mission in Darfur.

America's Mr Zoellick is a good accountant keeping a keen eye on what is needed. $4.5 million has been pledged for southern Sudan of which $2 billion is from the US.

Maybe the least hard cash that is given directly to Africa, where leaders and their entourages get their hands on it and into their pockets, the better. African leaders have brought this upon themselves by proving over many decades they are completely untrustworthy.]

Japanese aid group inks oil deal with Sudan - China opposes UN Security Council enlargement with Japan

This sounds interesting. A Japanese company called SIG, established in April by a Japanese NGO, Reliance, which has provided humanitarian support in Sudan since the 1990s said it plans develop oil fields in eastern Sudan and use the profit from oil development to finance humanitarian support in Africa.

Excerpt from an AP report June 5, 2005:

A company established by a Japanese nongovernment organization providing humanitarian support in Sudan has obtained concession rights for oil and natural gas in the African nation, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday.

Systems International Group, a Tokyo-based medical equipment company, and the Sudan government will formally sign the agreement next Sunday, the Mainichi newspaper reported.

The company, known as SIG, will develop oil fields in eastern Sudan bordering Eritrea and Ethiopia, the region believed to have large oil reserves, the Mainichi said.

The contract is believed to be about $100 million for approximately 25 years, the newspaper said. The company will invest about $8 million by August to set up a joint venture with Sudan.

After a geological survey of about one year, the joint company plans to have a contract with a Japanese trading company to develop oil in Sudan. SIG has already set aside Y500 million, the Mainichi said, quoting company officials as saying.

SIG was established in April by a Japanese NGO, Reliance, which has provided humanitarian support in Sudan since the 1990s.

The company said it plans to use the profit from oil development to finance humanitarian support in Africa.

Nearly 3 people million are displaced inside in the western Darfur region, where they've been driven from their homes by war.

China, which has aggressively sought oil and gas supplies abroad, has already signed contracts with Sudan.
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UN reform: China opposes UN Security Council enlargement with Japan

Note above item, followed by this report by AFP June 3 via China Daily:

China would block any move to give Japan, India, Brazil and Germany permanent seats in an enlarged UN Security Council, China's UN ambassador Wang Guangya said.

"This is a dangerous move and certainly China will oppose it," Wang told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

"It will split the house and destroy the unity and also derail the whole process of discussion on big UN reforms," Wang said.

China has opposed Japan being granted permanent status on the Security Council, demanding it first correct its attitude to its wartime history. Tensions between the two countries have risen in recent months.

Brazil, Germany, India and Japan have formed a group, called G4, to lobby for permanent seats on the Security Council.

It has circulated a draft resolution, which could be voted on at the UN General Assembly in September, proposing a 25-member Security Council, 10 more than now, with six new permanent members.

Wang said China leaned toward a rival plan, proposed by Italy, Mexico and Pakistan, to enlarge the Security Council to 25 members, but without additional veto-weilding permanent members.

"We see many good points in their formula because this will expand the Security Council and this will give certain members who they believe are important a longer term," he said.

In the Italy-Mexico-Pakistan plan, some non-permanent members could be re-elected at the end of their two-year stints on the Security Council, unlike the current practice.

The G4 nations plan to put their motion to the General Assembly if they are certain they will get the support of two thirds of the 191 UN members so that it will be passed.

The text does not say which countries should become permanent members but proposes two for Asia, two for Africa, one for Western Europe and one for Latin America.

Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe would each get one of the new non-permanent seats.

India, Japan, Germany and Brazil say that all of the new permanent members should have the same right to veto a resolution as the current five permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. But the United States has opposed extending the veto.

China could not technically block a motion put to the General Assembly but could kill it off later. The change to the Security Council would also require changes to the UN charter. This would have to be passed by the parliaments of two thirds of the UN members, including the five permanent members.

Altering the charter is the fourth stage in the G4 plan. Wang said, "I hope it will not come to the fourth stage."

Japan has made winning a permanent seat on the Security Council a top goal of its foreign policy. But China says Japan has not atoned enough for the past to deserve a seat.

China has strongly attacked Japan recently over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual pilgrimage to a shrine that honors Japanese war dead, including 14 war criminals.

China has called Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni shrine the biggest obstacle in bilateral relations. Amidst angry exchanges between the two countries over the shrine, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi last week canceled a meeting with Koizumi in Tokyo. The shrine honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead.

Koizumi has defended his visits, saying the pilgrimage is a Japanese way to honor the dead. On Thursday, he again demanded that other countries not "interfere" and signalled he was ready to go again.
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Russia to train pilots for UN mission in Sudan

The Russian Defense Ministry has decided to send a helicopter squad to Sudan to train pilots and aviation engineers for the UN mission in the African country, a ministry source said Saturday.

Russia will send four Mi-24 helicopters and 100 to 110 pilots and other aviation personnel to Sudan by October, the Interfax news agency reported, citing the defense ministry source.

The ministry source said a similar helicopter squad is completing its work in Sierra Leone and will leave the country in September. (Xinhua) June 4, 2005 via SudanTribune.

Red Cross airlifts food aid to Darfur refugees

The Red Cross said today it had begun airlifting food supplies to refugees in Darfur, saying a rising number of attacks on aid convoys made it too risky to move the food by road.

A chartered Russian plane had left Khartoum early today carrying the first shipment of a planned 4,000 tons of food aid.

The Red Cross plans to operate 12 flights a week for the next two months to Nyala and El-Fasher, Darfur's main centres.

From there, the supplies of sorghum, lentils and cooking oil will be trucked into rural Darfur where whole communities are in need of humanitarian assistance, the Red Cross said.

In a statement, the Red Cross said the airlift had been prompted by dwindling food supplies and the growing number of people dependent on food aid.

"This situation is underscored by increasing insecurity on the roads from Khartoum to Darfur where attacks on aid convoys are on the increase," the group said. Full Story at Ireland On-Line June 4, 2005.

Thanks for nothing Clare Short: Most Britons think African aid is wasted: poll

Right now, my heart goes out to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and those on the UK's Commission for Africa. Trying to help Africa must seem like climbing the sheer face of the Eiger with a sack of rocks on your back. Africa sure is a lot of teeth gritting hard work for a great many people.

Why do we even care work so hard for Africa? If the situation were reversed, they wouldn't life a finger for us. They resent us and hark back to hundreds of years ago, blaming anyone else but themselves. If they go back any further looking for excuses, they may as well start blaming the Vikings. They come across as not appreciating help they get from the West. In fact they make clear their resentment at being told to get their house in order when it comes to corruption and spending their wealth on wars. This, I believe, is why many people in the West could be starting to tire of the decades of effort and billions of dollars that have gone into helping Africa.

It's not a matter of us doing it out of the goodness of our hearts. Or thinking we need to tell them what to do for their own good. It is in the whole world's interest that Africa - like an unruly, costly neighbour - sorts itself once and for all. We won't put up with it any longer. Africa has had plenty of time and opportunities.

Many people in the West must be sick of hearing about poverty in Africa while nothing much changes. Take Live Aid and Ethiopia 20 years ago as an example. Since that time, Asian countries like Singapore have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and worked extremely hard to make a living and fit in with the rest of the world. Millions of Africans leave Africa and come to the West to get an education and work but don't return home, leaving millions of Africans living in the dark ages without an education to pass on or the means to feed and raise healthy families. Now, we hear how many Africans and their fat cat leaders are sick of hearing the West portraying them as poor and in need. Today, I feel like telling them all where to get off and asking them why they think we should care.

The next post here below features a report that quotes the head of the African Union as saying that in 27 years time, the population of Africa will double. At least they are getting down to the maths. If Africa is not educated and sorted out by then it may become unmanageable.

Maybe the time has come for Africans and Arabs to get off their lazy irresponsible backsides and start convincing us here in the West why sending billions of hard earned taxpayers' money to Africa and risking the lives of international aid workers is worthwhile.

Maybe they ought to explain why we should care when they allow Africa's wealth to be spent on creating wars and destruction to maintain a handful of corrupt thugs who are adept at suppressing and culling millions of human beings. I include the word Arabs here because the regime in Khartoum are Arab and their militia are Arab [why Sudan is classed as an African and not Arab country is beyond me - it falls under the Arab League and African Union. The Sudan has been colonised by the Arabs for a long time. Surely it has an identity crisis. Maybe southern Sudan will have to break away from Arab Sudan]:

Here is a copy of an Agence France-Presse report from London June 4, 2005 via HindustanTimes.com

The vast majority of Britons believe that sending billions of dollars in aid to Africa would be a waste of money at a time when their government is proposing such a plan, a poll showed Saturday.

The YouGov survey conducted for The Daily Telegraph newspaper showed that 83 percent of those questioned lacked confidence that additional aid would be well spent.

Some 79 percent of respondents thought African governments were responsible for their continent's plight, while 51 percent cited civil wars as a factor which had contributed to the problems of Africa.

The poll was conducted as Prime Minister Tony Blair tries to secure US support for his government's plan to ease poverty in Africa he wants to present at the G8 summit of leading industrial nations in Scotland next month.

Washington has been lukewarm to Blair's proposals calling for doubling aid with an extra 25 billion dollars (20 billion euros) annually until 2010 and then, following a review, an extra 50 billion dollars per year.

The G8 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
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Blair calls for action on crises in Africa

Following report source: Money Plans.net: Onlypunjab.com Correspondent:

British Prime Minister Tony Blair - bedeviled by Iraq and in search of a more positive legacy - departed Ethiopia late Thursday after calling for a concerted international action to finally address the crises afflicting Africa, the only continent to have grown poorer over the last 40 years.

Britain is preparing to use its upcoming chairmanship of the G-8 group of industrialized nations to spearhead the effort, and at a conference to discuss African's future, Blair pressed the international community to raise $150 million to help those caught up in violence in Sudan's Darfur region.

Blair also said Britain plans to train 20,000 African peacekeepers over the next five years to boost the continent's ability to respond to conflicts like that in Darfur - where pro-government Arab militia have been raiding African villages, killings tens of thousands and pushing more than one million from their homes.

The British prime minister was in Ethiopia to chair a meeting of his Africa Commission, which he says will spell out what Africa needs to develop and explain what has held it back. The commission's findings are expected in time for Britain's G-8 presidency and the leadership of the European Union later in 2005.

"Next year will be the year of decision for Africa and the international community," Blair told the commission, whose members include Band Aid star Bob Geldof, Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. "The time for excuses will be over."

But Blair acknowledged that Africa likely will still need outside help.

"There will be times when Africa cannot stop a conflict on its own," he said, suggesting a EU rapid-reaction force being set up could respond to a crisis in Africa if African peacekeepers fail to stem future problems. The EU force could be on the ground and ready to go in 10 days, he said.

Slashing farm subsidies

Troops may help provide peace, but prosperity will depend on the United States and Europe giving Africans the chance to earn their way out of poverty and slashing farm subsidies would be a good start, experts said.

Western countries spend about $1 billion a day supporting their farmers, subsidies that African countries argue undercut the competitive advantage of one of their main revenue sources and effectively cut them out of markets they could dominate.

Gikanga Hezron of Heinrich Boll Foundation, a German-based political group, said Blair must lead by opening up the lucrative British market to African farmers.

The subsidies "are very serious as they threaten the livelihoods of millions of African producers. If they are stopped, the lives of millions of Africans would change dramatically," African Union Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said through a spokesman.

Africa's population will double in 27 years

Even if "its debt is canceled and foreign aid is doubled, Africa would still be far from approaching the $67 billion dollars it needs annually to develop," Konare said.

In 27 years, Africa's population will double, which could be an opportunity if the continent prospers - but could pose a risk to the entire planet if poverty persists, he added.

Blair expressed the same concerns.

"We know that poverty and instability leads to weak states which can become havens for terrorists and other criminals," Blair said. "Even before 9/11, al-Qaida had bases in Africa. ... They still do, hiding in places where they can go undisturbed by weak governments."

In the past 50 years, 186 coups and 26 major wars have killed more than seven million people and cost Africa $250 billion. Half a dozen African nations are still troubled by serious conflicts, the United Nations says.

African countries are also saddled with $305 billion in debts, and their products account for barely two percent of world trade. Investment in the continent has shrunk to $11 billion a year.

HIV complicates efforts to spur economic growth and development in Africa. More than 26 million Africans are infected with HIV and an estimated 15 million have died from AIDS, including many people from the continent's relatively small educated and business class.

"The problems are multiple, we know them all," Blair said. "The difference is this time we have to put together a plan that is comprehensive in its scope and has at its core a real partnership between Africa and the developed world."
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Clare Short uses Darfur and Africa as a political football for own gain

Mathaba.Net News publishes a report today by James Lyons, Press Association Political Correspondent about Clare Short a left wing British MP who resigned her post in the current British Government over the war in Iraq.

Clare Short is known for speaking out loudly and unintelligently against the US and British Government and the war on Iraq. Now, since the run up to the general election last month, she is pushing for the British and other Western governments to wage war on Africa by invading Darfur militarily without a UN resolution.

Ms Short's attitude and behaviour is an embarrassment to this country. Before and after her resignation was accepted, she aimed to bring down democratically elected Tony Blair and used Darfur as a political football with which to kick at him before the general election, even enlisting American lefties who use Darfur as an issue with which to bash Bush.

Note, Ms Short does not care to mention the world's worst/most neglected humanitarian crises in northern Uganda and DR Congo - neighbours of Sudan - where at least four million people have perished. Far worse things are happening in those countries where there is little or no outside help: anarchy, cannibalism, child soldiers and horrific violence, mutiliation and rape is used as a weapon of war. Neither do the cronies who band with Clare Short mention the poor, oppressed the suffering in N Uganda and DRC. Instead, they spring up online and get on the Darfur bandwagon with campaigns to garner support, followers and donations using American style activism that, like cults, indoctrinate people into believing if they took action on this, that and the other they could "make a difference" and change the world or whatever. Rubbish. Bah. Puke.

Look beneath the surface of what these people portray and you will find they are seeking opportunites to further themselves through their campaigns turning issues into a full time business funded by donations ala Human Rights Watch or International Crisis Group that do very well for themselves thank you very much. I would like to see anyone in the UK who is involved in political or religious campaigning online to make clear what it is they are truly about and what is the real story and motivation behind their "take action NOW" zeal. And when their propaganda infiltrates mainstream media, I want their organisation to be named as religious and/or political campaigning and for whom. Too many people are getting away with spreading propaganda in mainstream media, worldwide and the public seem to be swallowing it.

Take Oxfam for instance. We know when we donate to Oxfam why we are donating and what the money will be used for. When they issue a Press Release or are the source of news in the press, we have a good idea of their motives. But there are websites springing up online that give the impression they are trying to make a difference for "the greater good", when in fact they are using issues to fight political battles and score points maybe (and probably) to gain influence and power for their own self interests. Sort of like Mother Theresa going around the world and taking on the voice of the poor, cap in hand, when really her motive is to create opportunities and a job for herself to make a living and further ambitions through networking, PR and back scratching.

Bear in mind, when reading the following Press Association report, that Clare Short has sour grapes because her resignation was accepted by the Government which resulted in her not being in Cabinet as part of one of the greatest initiatives ever tried by a British Government: namely, to help the world's poorest nations whilst holding presidency of the G8 and European Union. Whether they fail or succeed is a matter of opinion. Blair and Brown have worked on this for several years. At least they have tried their very best, which is more than can be said for the US Government right now, who say that helping Africa any further does not fit their budgetary process. [Oh Yeah buddy, supporting the US through thick and thin over Iraq didn't fit with things here either. Thanks for nothing America]. Here is a copy of the report:

Organiser Bob Geldof wants to highlight the plight of the continent as world leaders meet in Britain at the G8 summit.

But the former International Development Secretary said the "jolly and vacuous" events made her "very queasy".

The original Live Aid, which raised cash, was a success but the aims of the summer shows were simply too vague, she told Channel 4 News.

"To have a big pop concert to say 'let's make the world a better place, let's make poverty history' but you don't have to do anything in particular, I think starts to demean the seriousness of the suffering of those who are extremely poor and oppressed and suffering," she said.

"This general concert, it almost becomes an insult to the reality of the complexity of the needs of Africa, the harm that Europe has done Africa, the struggles of some of the people in the continent for reform from their own oppressive governments.

"Just being so jolly and vacuous like this, I don't know, it doesn't feel right to me. It makes me feel very queasy."

Outspoken Ms Short, who eventually quit the Cabinet over war with Iraq also poured scorn on Tony Blair's efforts.

The Prime Minister has made African development and global warming key priorities at next month's summit.

However, Ms Short predicted that despite "hype and spin" during the build-up little would be achieved.

"We'll get very generalised statements of good intent," she said.

"The thing that I think most glaringly says people don't care about Africa - whatever they say - is the situation in Darfur."

Ms Short is no stranger to controversy. She caused fury while in office by suggesting that the inhabitants of the stricken island of Montserrat were seeking "golden elephants".

After threatening to resign if Britain went to war with Iraq without a second UN resolution she was persuaded to remain in the Cabinet.

She subsequently resigned and quickly became a fierce critic of Mr Blair, repeatedly suggesting he should go.
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Shame on you Becky Tinsley for using Darfur to score political points

Here is a copy of a post I drafted on March 5, 2005 but kept in my drafts folder. It was never published at this blog. I am publishing the draft copy here today for future reference.

If I were a Tory supporter and an article entitled Darfur disgrace ought not to win votes for Tories appeared in today's Scotsman I'd be dismayed at the author and the Scotsman for publishing blatant propaganda. As it is, the piece in the Scotsman is entitled: "Darfur disgrace ought not to win votes for Labour" and is published several weeks before Britain's general election.

Where has Rebecca Tinsley been this past year when the death toll in Darfur was reported as 10,000? Up until recently, I don't recall seeing a single report of hers right through the year when the death toll was reported as almost half Rwandan genocide proportions.

Note how she and the other protestors outside Downing Street kept their demonstration for the last week of the General Election campaign. Tinsley and her do-good friends have orchestrated a political campaign on the backs of Darfurians.

Shame on you Becky Tinsley for using the starving and dead people of Darfur as a political football.

Having said all of that, the Scotsman's so-called "news" report is rubbish anyway. Facts are not straight and perspective is twisted and biased. I am not giving the report any more time of day. I am only mentioning it here as some readers may already have come across the Scotsman report and not realised it is political propaganda.

By the way, if anybody is wondering what happened to the dear old Scotsman: we have a General Election in this country - and (too long to go into details here) the Scotsman appears to be anti Blair. Over the past year the Scotsman has done some great reporting on Darfur - award winning stuff - but notice how they've cooled down - put Darfur lower on their agenda - but during the election campaign given great space to activisits using Darfur for political gain. Shame on the Scotsman too. I've gone right off them for their propaganda.
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P.S. Note Becky Tinsley's site Waging Peace states:

"Waging Peace is a mainstream, progressive, non-partisan political advocacy group, based around the Internet.

At a time when faith in old political structures has collapsed, we aim to influence decision-makers on such matters as war and peace, defending and extending democracy, the environment and human rights.

We also seek to help elect Members of Parliament who share our values."

[Ahem. "We also seek to elect Members of Parliament who share our values". What does that mean? Sounds to me like they are undermining democracy. Seems their game in the run up to the election is to target MP's who were anti the war in Iraq and get votes for them - or something - I don't really recall and cannot be bothered to look into the site again.

I just don't like the look of what Waging Peace are doing. I may be naive, and there many be many more groups like this - but the more stuff that goes on and the more Americanised politics here in Britain become, the more of a turn-off it will be for voters. Political campaign workers scratch their heads wondering why so many people float or do not vote. I think people are getting sick and mistrustful of politics and simply do not care anymore, one way or another because it all turns out the same, no matter which way it goes.
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UN peacekeepers needed for Darfur, northern Uganda and DR Congo says GOAL chief

In a report at today's Guardian, John O'Shea, chief executive of the international aid charity GOAL (great work in the Sudan) raises four ultra important issues: Darfur, DR Congo, northern Uganda - and corruption. Excerpt:

"The fact that Geldof is doing something that brings the third world into focus has to be good. However, you have got to maximise the publicity the involvement of someone like Geldof brings in a very focused way and I think harping on about the same thing is not as effective as it should be."

Like others, he is concerned that the aims of Make Poverty History - more and better aid, dropping the debt burden and easing trade restrictions - do not address the bigger problems facing the continent.

"The two biggest issues are not being addressed. If Geldof was to really maximise the effect of these concerts, and I am sure he wants to, he has got to look at the two things which Africa needs," Mr O'Shea said. "One is an army provided by the UN, a peacekeeping army that will go into Darfur to protect the people, that will go into the Congo to protect the people, that will go into northern Uganda to stop the fighting and protect the people - that is what these concerts should be addressing. There is a fire raging, we need someone to put out the fire, not to hand out chocolate." The other big issue being overlooked, he added, was the corruption of some African regimes.

European Commission allocates EUR 12 million to victims of the Darfur conflict who have fled to Chad - EUR 400 million awaiting South and North Sudan

The European Commission makes the following announcement today on its allocation of EUR 12 million to victims of the Darfur conflict who have fled to Chad.

[Note the break down, listed below, re EUR 400 million donation for South and North Sudan. Since southern Sudan appears to be in desperate need of funding and the violence in Darfur has, especially compared to this time last year, greatly reduced, it looks like EUR 50 milliion will soon be released and split evenly between South and North Sudan.]

The EC has released 12 million euros in humanitarian aid for the victims of the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, to alleviate the consequences of the population movements affecting Chad.

This aid is to cover the immediate needs of the refugees, the host population and returnees. It will be channelled through the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), under the responsibility of Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid.

Since the beginning of the crisis in February 2003, the political and humanitarian situation in Darfur has brought massive population displacements that have not been confined to Sudan. In 2004, fighting and attacks on civilians in Darfur drove a large number of Sudanese refugees into Chad. There are currently more than 213 000 Sudanese refugees in eleven camps spread around the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti, Biltine and Ouaddai regions of Chad. Water and agricultural resources are scarce in these three regions, which are quite unsuited to large population influxes.

The decision is intended to provide for the refugees' main needs in areas such as health, water and hygiene, food security, protection of the civilian population, education, shelter and basic necessities like cooking equipment, blankets and so forth. The decision also covers the most pressing needs of the host population directly affected by this influx.

The situation in Darfur and the scale of the humanitarian crisis are such that there is no prospect of a swift return to Sudan for the refugees. Current events in Sudan mean that there may yet be further waves of refugees.

The European Commission has donated a total of EUR 213 million to the region since the beginning of the Darfur crisis, including aid to Sudanese refugees in Chad. EUR 86 million has been channelled via ECHO, of which EUR 72 million was for Darfur and EUR 14 million for Chad.

For further information see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/echo/field/chad/index_fr.htm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/echo/index_en.htm

Given conditions in the country, this cooperation strategy must also respond to basic needs at the local level.
The cooperation-strategy paper sets out a framework for the EU's contribution to Sudan, corresponding to an indicative amount of EUR 400 million, broken down as follows:

EUR 127.5 million: 9th European Development Fund - allocation for new programmes;
EUR 191 million: transfer to cover lost revenue from farm exports. These funds will be allocated to food security operations;
EUR 16.5 million: programmes already decided but still to be implemented;
EUR 43 million: 9th European Development Fund - contingencies, notably humanitarian needs;
EUR 5-10 million annually: indicative budget allocations (not including humanitarian assistance).

The response strategy adopted by the Commission will focus on two primary sectors: food security and education. It will target in particular the resettlement of displaced persons, with an emphasis on capacity-building for good governance. The strategy may also cover demobilization, disarmament and reintegration operations, including mine clearance, the training of security forces and other actions under Article 11 of the Cotonou Agreement. It also concerns human rights, good governance and the rule of law and provides direct support to the peace process, initiatives to consolidate peace and efforts to strengthen civil society and the healthcare sector.

Immediately following the signing of the strategy paper and of the national indicative programme, the Commission and Sudanese government must study and approve a memorandum of understanding. This will take place in cooperation with the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/government of South Sudan, the goal being to reflect the country's new institutional set-up in the wake of the Naivasha Agreement and the scenario planned for the post-conflict period.

Once the strategy paper has been signed, a EUR 50 million programme will be quickly launched to bring the benefits of peace as rapidly as possible to the North as well as the South (EUR 25 million for each region). The programme's core aim is to organize projects bringing together the country's communities that will be implemented in partnership with local NGOs and non-state actors.

More information: ECHO.
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Zoellick in Darfur to support African Union

America's two billion dollar man is in town.

"This visit is ... to assess the humanitarian and security situation (and) to show support for the African Union mission," a senior State Department official said.

[Maybe that is code speak for dishing out some money. The United States has contributed some two billion dollars for southern Sudan and Mr Zoellick, who is a very experienced accountant, is in charge of guarding that the funds are spent wisely.]

Zoellick held private talks on Darfur with the leaders of Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia and Uganda

According to the above Reuters report:

Mr Zoellick said he would meet AU and UN officials, tribal leaders and aid workers in Darfur and discuss how to get more food to the region and improve security.

At the beginning of the year, the WFP had predicted the number of people needing food would peak at 2.8 million.

But persistent insecurity has stopped local farmers from planting crops and women are scared to leave their villages for food or firewood because they fear attacks, it says.

"The rural population is becoming more and more food insecure," Jamie Wickens, WFP's associate director of operations, told Reuters. "It's getting to be very serious, a vicious cycle," he said.

As well as meeting Bashir, Zoellick held private talks on Darfur with the leaders of Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia and Uganda. The first three plus Senegal have agreed to send troops to Darfur as part of an expanded AU peace force.

3.5 million people in Darfur now need food aid - When will Gaddafi, Sudan, Egypt, Chad, Nigeria, Eritrea and Arab League start footing the bill?

The number of people in Darfur needing food aid soars to 3.5 million - more than half the population and 700,000 more than the worst-case scenario predicted at the start of the year.

WFP said rural families were joining refugees in the hunger line and called for an additional $96 million for Darfur, bringing its budget to $563 million for the year.

Holdbrook Arthur, WFP regional director for East and Central Africa, said a massive aid operation, hit by a chronic lack of trucks and attacks on its land convoys, would start flying mobile teams to remote areas to distribute rations.

Full Story by the Scotsman's Gethin Chamberlain, June 3.
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"We don't want oil on our fire - We will cut off any warlike hand that is extended to us" says Gaddafi

According to Central African news online June 3, Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi said on Thursday (June 3) any intervention in Darfur from outside Africa would exacerbate the crisis, adding that the continent was capable of dealing with its own problems.

"We are against any foreign intervention in Darfur because that would do nothing but pour oil on the fire," Gaddafi said after a summit of heads of state from West and North Africa in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou.

"There are threats of intervention from outside which raise the chances of civil war in our region. We should be firmly opposed to all these foreign interventions ... which aim to resolve our problems as if we weren't grown up," he said.

[Grown up eh? OK then, hurry up and sort it - and while we are waiting you foot the bill Libya. We are fed up waiting while paying to feed millions of Africans for decades. Other countries are in desperate need of the West's help and aid]
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Sudan mobilises army reserves in east - Sudan's stance on LRA

Read this report via Reuters Wed 1 June 2005 and then read the next three items published within 24 hours of each other to see how you can't trust any news issued by the Khartoum regime:

Sudan has called for general mobilisation of its army reserves in the eastern region bordering Eritrea to secure roads and an oil pipeline after rebels kidnapped kidnapped three regional legislators, a local official said.

Eastern rebels joined with an insurgent group from the western Darfur region to kidnap three local politicians last month on a major road in Sudan's poor east.

"We called our troops for mobilisation. This is to call all the reserves, in Red Sea state and in Kassala state," governor Hatim al-Wasiyla told Reuters from the eastern city of Port Sudan on Wednesday.

He said the extra troops would number between 500-1,000 and would be to protect the border with Eritrea, major roads and the oil pipeline which runs to the port.

Wasiyla said the rebels who kidnapped the politicians came from Eritrea. But he said the mobilisation of reserves was not to attack Eritrea, but to defend Sudan.

"They want to destroy the petrol and attack the roads -- we have to defend ourselves," he said.

He said the mobilisation would continue until a new government was formed on July 9.
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Sudan's stance on Ugandan terrorists LRA

Via Washington Post Thurs June 2, 2005:

The May 15 editorial "Beyond Darfur" said that my government is sending militias to eastern Sudan to threaten the local population and that it support attacks against Uganda by supporting the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

For the record, Ugandan authorities, including President Yoweri Museveni, have publicly and privately noted the full cooperation of my government in eradicating the LRA, which we consider a terrorist group. Indeed, during the past two years, the LRA has often targeted Sudanese military personnel.

KHIDIR HAROUN AHMED
Ambassador
Embassy of Sudan
Washington
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Sudanese FM warns aid groups about meddling

Via AP Wed June 1, 2005. Excerpt:

Striking an unapologetic note after the arrest of two foreign aid workers, Sudan's foreign minister Wednesday (June 1) warned international organizations not to meddle in the country's affairs or tarnish its image.

"Organizations operating in Sudan should observe the country's national security in their dealings and they should not be seen to tarnish Sudan's image through issuance of false information," Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail was quoted as saying by the official Sudan News Agency.

Ismail said Sudanese authorities had investigated the agency's claims and found they contained incorrect information. He said investigations of the two aid workers were continuing.

The minister called on international organizations "to avoid meddling into what does not concern them."

"We would like to see this episode ending with a confirmation of Sudan's sovereignty and independence, and an end to all attempts seeking to smear or tarnish the image of Sudan by some organizations," he was quoted as saying.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative to Sudan, Jan Pronk, said the UN also deplored the arrests. He told reporters Wednesday that he backed the MSF report on rapes in Darfur "100%." Full Story.
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Sudanese FM sees no reason for aid workers arrest

Via Reuters Wed June 1:

Sudan's foreign minister said on Wednesday (June 1) he saw no reason why two international aid workers had been arrested for crimes against the state and pledged to solve the problem in talks with the UN.

"I agreed with (UN envoy) Jan Pronk yesterday that there was no reason for the arrest of the two employees of the organisation and they will likely be released," Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Khartoum.

Full Story by Opheera McDoom.

[Sudan's FM reminds me of Iraq's Minister for Information, Comical Ali. Ismail's nickname, given by locals, is "smiley". He doesn't smile a lot but he used to be a dentist.]
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Western media reports insulting Muslims

Here is a copy of an insightful opinion piece in The Nation (Nairobi) May 26, 2005 by Salim Lone. I am posting it here in full for future reference as a reminder to those (especially Americans and the Clare Shorts of the UK) who feel free to (and I want to insert words like unthinkingly and irresponsibly) call for Western military intervention in Darfur [military intervention is an act of war which must have an objective to work towards - either deposing a regime or maintaining a political settlement and peace agreement]:

There is a profound crisis in the US and some other Western media coverage of the Islamic world, a crisis exacerbated by a lack of awareness.

The problem, in fact, goes beyond coverage of the Islamic world; there is an overall post-9/11 trend which has seen too much of the Western media slip on the cardinal principles of objectivity and independence.

I can comfortably say that Kenyan media are freer than the American, both in terms of fearlessness in criticising President Kibaki, and in the diverse range of opinion it carries.

That should be a cause for concern for those in the West who have struggled since John Milton's Aeropagetica in the 17th century to establish freedom of the press, which is one of the greatest accomplishments of humanity.

But it is the coverage of Muslims which is the most problematic because it exacerbates the profound tensions that have risen since 9/11 and the subsequent wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

These have brought us what, so far, is a clash at the extremities of two great civilisations.

It is imperative therefore that all of us in the media worldwide, and of course, including media in Muslim countries, work to prevent fear and hatred from infecting ever-widening sections of previously moderate populations on either side of this divide, or we will fail in the common struggle to defeat the devastating scourges of terrorism and wars of aggression.

The Western media, because of their global reach, power, and tradition, must be especially watchful that their coverage, witting and unwitting, does not portray Muslims as the founts of terror.

Let me list some telling examples of seriously flawed Western mainstream media coverage of Muslims. In the run-up to the Iraq war in 2003, the American TV network, NBC, placed in the New York Times a large advertisement framed around a photograph of Saddam Hussein. Headed "Saddam: America's most dangerous enemy", the ad went on to say that "Saddam Hussein may have enough chemical and biological weapons to kill every man, woman and child on earth. What will he do next? How far will he go? Can he be stopped?"

Similar demonisation of Iraq, or of accusations that it possessed awful weapons, appeared just about everywhere, the latter even in the New York Times, unarguably one of the world's greatest media treasures.

A related problem before that war was how contrary opinion on whether Iraq did have such weapons was dismissed or even ridiculed.

A CNN newscast on February 5, 2003, for example, excerpted from an Iraqi general's rebuttal of these charges at the UN Security Council that day. Anchor Paula Zahn then brought on Jamie Rubin, former State Department spokesman, and said to him: "You have got to understand that most Americans were probably either laughing out loud or got sick to their stomach. Which was it for you?"

"Well, really both," said Mr Rubin.

Then there was this from the Economist of July 31, 2004 concerning Darfur.

An article headed "Must intervention be legal?" provided an answer in the subhead immediately after. "Armed intervention in Darfur may - or may not - flout the law. So what?"

It went on to argue that armed intervention in Darfur need not be "as drastic an assault as some legal sticklers fear." However, it also proposed "another possible tack - to persuade Chad, across whose borders tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees are streaming, to initiate an intervention in Darfur under its right to self-defence. This would obviate the need for a Security Council vote."

That same week, Newsweek similarly urged Tony Blair on its cover to overcome his Iraq setbacks by taking the lead in intervening in Darfur if the crisis was not quickly resolved.

More recently, there was an op-ed in the International Herald Tribune by Thomas Friedman (January 7, 2005), titled: "Let Iraq have the right kind of civil war." It stated in its opening paragraph that "we have to have an election in Iraq so we can have a proper civil war."

He goes on to say "the civil war we want is a democratically Iraqi government against the Ba'athist and Islamist militants."

How easy it is for the media of the powerful to encourage devastating wars against weak nations! Can we imagine what would become of mainstream Muslim journalists who urged Iraqis to launch attacks inside the US for its occupation of their country?

Similarly, when hostages are beheaded by Muslim captors or dead bodies desecrated by Iraqi crowds, reporters use phrases like "barbaric" or "inhuman" to describe these acts - but not when commenting on the death of half a million Iraqi children through UN sanctions imposed at US behest, or when 2,000-pound bombs rain down on civilian areas, or when the city of Fallujah is blockaded and water and electricity cut off.

In saying all this, I am not remotely implying that in the American media there are no glorious examples of brilliant writing and reporting on the Islamic world or on American misdeeds. But, they must reassert some of their great values even in a fear-filled world, and assert much greater independence from the strategic international goals being pursued by the world's sole superpower.

They must also do much more to understand Muslim societies and pay much greater attention to what more than a billion people think, if we are to prevent our world from descending into an armed Western camp and chaotic Muslim states run by dictators supported by the US.

Mr Lone was the keynote speaker on the subject of Western media coverage of the Islamic world during the just-ended IPI World Congress.
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Ultimately, the main responsibility rests with the government of Sudan

Excerpt from June 3 Guardian:

The best single measure to relieve the deepening crisis would be rapid enlargement of the African Union's monitoring force, and a new mandate for it to confront the gunmen rather than merely make reports. Other foreign troops are not needed, nor is Nato. "Nato cannot be the world's gendarme," as the French foreign minister, Michel Barnier, rightly put it. But Britain, France and other countries with African experience should provide helicopters, transport and armoured cars to help the AU.

Ultimately, the main responsibility rests with the government of Sudan. The people of Darfur are its citizens. Unless Khartoum wants another 20 years of civil war and the prospect of secession - as it had in the south until last year's peace agreement there - it must rein in the Janjaweed and work hard in Abuja to make the peace talks bear fruit.
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Darfur: airlift of troops for expanded AU mission could start this month

KIGALI, June 2 (AFP) - The airlift of some 5,000 additional men to be deployed in Darfur as part of the African Union (AU) Mission could get underway later this month, a US senior official said Thursday. Full Story via ReliefWeb
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Eyewitness account: new communities emerging in Darfur's IDP camps

Note this first hand account by Sarah in Darfur Thurs June 2 in a post entitled Evolution of the evicted at RELIEF TO DARFUR? the first blog (that I am aware of) out of Darfur.

Here is an excerpt from the post about Darfur's Abu Shouk, a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) located in the middle of the desert that is home to some 71,000 people since April 2004:

Abu Shouk is slowly taking on the shape of a large village, made up of many different people from parts of North Darfur who fled the fighting and destruction to find themselves struggling to define this new space in which they live. Structure is provided through the family first, then the Omdas and the Sheiks that have led and sometimes followed their people to this place that is meant to provide food, water and shelter. Abu Shouk is immense and seems to be a sprawling slum set in the middle of the Sahel. Stretching as far as the eyes can see is a jumble of colorful makeshift tents, shelters and shacks. Already the colors of these shelters are faded by the sun and they are covered in a cloak of desert sand, making mute their once vibrant shades and designs. There is nothing brilliant to this assemblage now, although the sight is overpowering. All available space seems to be filled. There are donkeys, and goats, chickens and children of all ages. It is a rural city springing up from these dry desert sands.

In Abu Shouk people are talking about returning and about staying right where they are. They are changing their shelters, and making brick walls and paths through the plastic pre- fab tunnels that provided the means to escape the desert sandstorms and scorching heat. They are using words like security and safety and do not expect a comprehensive peace. They know that this will take time and they are designing and defining their own ways to construct community and conversation between neighbors that are new and an environment that requires local methods to be new, innovative and inclusive. This is the face of Abu Shouk and probably the face of most IDP camps in Darfur.

Please read post at full story. [Great. Thanks Sarah. Hope you are well.]
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Why Is West Showing So Much Interest in Darfur?

An opinion piece in Arab news by Hassan Tahsin entitled Why Is West Showing So Much Interest in Darfur? asks a good question"

"A monitor of African affairs may ask why all this sudden interest in Darfur and this blatant intervention in Sudan's internal affairs while massacres in Rwanda and other parts of the world were still going on."

But then it goes on to say something that for sure does not make sense, unless of course you are reading propaganda out of Khartoum:

"The question is worth being asked, especially after an organization like Medicines Sans Frontiers gave a different interpretation to what has happened in Darfur contrary to what has been claimed by the Western media."

I've seen a news report that says Khartoum uses Sudanese media to discredit MSF's rape report and even implies that the aid agencies are working against the interests of the people of Sudan.

Also, Hassan Tahsin writes:

"Amnesty International's report claiming mass murder in Darfur is as untrue as the claims by the US on Iraqi WMD used as a pretext to attack and occupy Iraq. Foreign powers have sought by all means to derail the Sudanese peace talks between the north and south before adding fuel to the fire in Darfur. Those powers drove some tribes to rebel against the legitimate government in Khartoum in order to open the door to foreign intervention and the ultimate disintegration of Sudan into tiny tribal entities to serve their strategic interests."

You have to wonder how the author knows Amnesty's report is untrue and why he does not mention conclusions reached in UN investigation reports. If you replace the above words "foreign powers" with the words "Sudanese rebels" the paragraph makes sense.

Note, he also goes on to say:

"The recent minisummit on Darfur held in Tripoli, Libya, was timely since it managed to put a halt to the military intervention by the West in Sudan. The summit attended by the leaders of Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Eritrea and Gabon agreed on the resumption of peace talks in Abuja and the convening of a national conference for all the people of Darfur to ascertain their views on the conflict.

The seven African leaders laid a road map to resolve the conflict through successive steps that address the roots of the problem. The summit's most important decision in my view is its rejection of any intervention by a non-African nation in Darfur. The summit wanted to keep the issue an African affair to be settled within an African framework.

The African Union has about 2,400 troops and 244 civilian police trying to restore peace in Darfur.

On April 28 it voted to increase the force to 6,171 military personnel and 1,560 police by the end of September.

Sudan is passing through an extremely critical stage in its history.

Sudanese political and other civic powers must unite to ensure the stability of Darfur and work hard to lay down a new basis for governing the country in a manner that would satisfy all parties under the auspices of the African Union.

Continued foreign intervention threatens Sudan's unity and stability and the future of its people who should be allowed to live as an ethnically and culturally diverse nation. Foreign powers must take their hands off Sudan."

The opinion piece contains rubbish. Military intervention by the West in Sudan was never on the cards. OK, given the author is brainwashed by propaganda, it does not explains why thinks it is OK for the West to go on paying billions of dollars to quell anarchy in the Sudan and feed six million people ad infinitum.

In the last line, he says "foreign powers must take their hands off Sudan" but he does not mention why Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Eritrea and Gabon are leaving it to "foreign powers" to foot the bill - for how long - and how many more AU and UN troops and millions of mouths will be added to the bill by the time Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Eritrea and Gabon grow up and get their act together.
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World bodies under fire for serving few

Montreal, June 3 report via OneWorld South Asia. Excerpt:

Mainstream media, once the vital fourth estate "has largely been absorbed by the corporate community." As a result, freedom of the press has become subservient to the bottom line, and, by extension, accountable to shareholders, FIM says.

"The response to current crises such as (war against) Iraq, (genocide in) Darfur, the spread of AIDS and the future of our environment, is a sad reflection of weak and misguided governance," the group says.

"If these and other challenges continue to be exacerbated by the politics of greed and power, then new democratic measures must be invented, and by and for the people," it adds.

[Yes, I agree new democratic measures must be invented. But what is the big question]
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Emmanuel Jal and Sudanese music compilation

Twelve years ago as a starving child soldier in war-torn Sudan, Emmanuel Jal, contemplated suicide and cannibalism, but these days, he basks in local celebrity as rap artist who has hit the Kenyan charts. (AFP). Full Story via BBC London and Sudan Tribune June 1, 2005. Excerpt:

Emmanuel Jal is a young rapper from the southern Sudan and a former soldier who for five years of his childhood was involved in the bloody civil war in Sudan. By a stroke of luck he ended up being adopted by a British aid worker when he was 11, smuggled to Nairobi, Kenya, where he got the chance to change his life and get an education.

Emmanuel also developed a passion for music and started rapping (in Nuer Arabic, Swahili and English). His break happened last September with his single 'Gua' which became a massive hit in Kenya.
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Thank You

To PBS Frontline for linking to Sudan Watch. PBS Frontline produced a great special on Darfur.

To applegrove at Democratic Underground Forums for starting a discussion May 29 on a recent post at Sudan Watch entitled: "The Poor Are Not the Problem But the Solution".

To bloggers for their recent links and interest in the Sudan, DR Congo and northern Ugandan crises. Sorry I've not had time to say hello and thank you in the comments at these blogs:

Christopher/Cara at Darfur Update
Global Wire
Daniel at Exegesis
Marcus at Crossfader
P. Scott Cummins
Las chicas del quinto Cenicienta in Spain

In Darfur, Sudan 700,000 people rely on Oxfam to survive

Last week, the New Statesman accused Oxfam aid agency of failing Africa by diluting the Make Poverty History message. Barbara Stocking, Director of Oxfam, replies in this piece entitled Oxfam bites back June 6:

On 26 May, my colleagues in Darfur awoke to begin again the daily task of supporting 700,000 people who rely on Oxfam to survive. In Europe, staff reflected on the promised doubling of EU aid budgets - the fruit of years of campaigning by Oxfam and many others. Unusually I was in Washington, preparing to tackle Paul Wolfowitz, the new president of the World Bank.

I took an early call from back home. The New Statesman's latest issue - cover story: "Why Oxfam is failing Africa" - had just come out. My staff were shocked at the injustice of the headline and worried by the impact on the Make Poverty History campaign, which we support along with 450 other organisations.

In what sense is Oxfam "failing Africa"? This extraordinarily serious allegation not only insults hundreds of our staff and partners, who work incredibly hard each day to help overcome poverty, it is also an affront to hundreds of African organisations that have helped shape the political demands of our campaigns as well as the direction of our humanitarian and development programmes.

Beyond the headline, the article itself made a somewhat different charge - not that we are failing Africa but failing to be sufficiently critical of the British government. True? Ask Margaret Beckett what she thinks of Oxfam's condemnation of the lily-livered reform of the Common Agricultural Policy in 2003. Ask government aides who remember their embarrassment when we described the outcome of the Canadian G8 summit as "recycled peanuts", as the UK tried to talk up the deal. We were a leading member of the coalition that pressed Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to commit to the target of spending 0.7 per cent of national income on aid with the call for them to "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is". Hardly the chant of a cheerleader for govern-ment. We have criticised governments over Iraq, Afghanistan, asylum vouchers and the arms trade. Where they have done the right thing, we have recognised that, too. We don't oppose for the sake of it. We praise when decision-makers do what our 600,000 supporters ask them to do and criticise toughly when they do not.

Perhaps most importantly, we recognise that, for progress to be made, change cannot come from the UK alone. We need action from other governments and international institutions. Oxfam International is a confederation with partners in more than 100 countries and the Make Poverty History campaign in Britain is part of a global call to action against poverty. We expect the British government to use its political capital and move others because, when the UK does take a lead, it helps our colleagues in Germany, China and America to push the more recalcitrant governments into following suit.

Oxfam takes what it learns from people in poverty and delivers those messages either through lobby meetings or research reports. But ultimately, for change to last, it must be supported in the hearts and minds of people. That's why we launched initiatives such as the Big Noise petition to Make Trade Fair, which has been signed by six million people worldwide. A major campaigning organisation cannot choose between direct lobbying on the "inside" and activism "outside"; each is essential.

We are proud to be part of a huge, diverse coalition. Together we are making a significant impact - something last week's story glossed over. Europe's promise to double aid by 2010 is at least partly the coalition's doing, and the story did in fact quote a Whitehall source as saying "without Make Poverty History . . . Africa would not be on the G8 summit at all". Pressure from the Trade Justice Movement, of which Oxfam is a founder member, recently forced a shift in the UK's policy that is causing consternation in Brussels. Progress on debt cancellation is slow, but there is now the chance of a deal, something not on the horizon a year ago.

The NS's front page last week was a punch in the stomach for campaigners impatient for a breakthrough at the G8 summit. It did no credit to a progressive, pro-development political magazine. But we are confident it will not distract the 100,000 heading for Edinburgh on 2 July to deliver their message to the G8, or the many more who will join this call at the Live 8 concerts. They will stay focused on the real fight - to make poverty history.

UN Sudan Situation Reports - 27, 29 and 31 May 2005

The following text is copied from three UN Sudan Situation Reports. The sections have not been edited by myself. But the sections have been extracted from larger reports too lengthy to post in full here. Sorry, unable to link to the original reports due to pdf format.

UN Sudan Situation Report 27 May 2005

Key Developments:

On 26 May, the AU announced the appointment of Dr Salim Ahmed Salim as its Special Envoy for the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on Darfur. The AU also announced on the same day that the peace talks on Darfur would resume in Abuja on 10 June. SG Annan and SRSG Pronk attended the Darfur Donors' conference in Addis Ababa on 26 May. Today, the Secretary-General arrives in Khartoum for meetings with GoS officials, SRSG Pronk and UNMIS leadership and address UN staff working in Sudan in a Town Hall meeting. On 28 May, SG Annan will visit Darfur.

Security Issues:

North Darfur:

A GoS administrative convoy was reportedly ambushed on 24 May on El-Fasher-Tawilla road. The ambush took place near Kuwuima village, 20 km East of Tawilla. 3 GoS policemen were killed, 4 injured and one driver was abducted by the assailants.

A GoS military/police patrol was attacked on 24 May on the road between Tawilla and Kebkabiya (20 km west of Tawilla) and allegedly killed 3 policemen, injured 3 and kidnapped another. Police indicated a week ago that they are intensifying patrols on the road to prevent banditry activities on the road which has been prominent during the last month.

South Darfur:

Reports indicate that on 25 May, 4 armed bandits attacked a commercial vehicle at Gussa 28 km NW of Nyala. The village is 2 km off the NyalaKass road, which is notorious for banditry.

West Darfur:

On 25 May, the AU was informed that regular harassment of the residents of Kulo village allegedly by the nomads forced many of them to desert the village.

Eastern Sudan:

On the 25 May, a commercial truck hit an anti-tank landmine on the road between Kassala and Awad. No injuries were reported. According to local sources, the mine is an old mine that was exposed by the rain. The road remains a NO GO area fro UN operations.

An incident took place on 24 May along Kassala Port Sudan highway at Amadam (between Hadila and Wagar). Two soldiers and three staff members from Council of Legislation travelling in a Land Cruiser and a Toyota Pick Up were ambushed and kidnapped by suspected armed members of the opposition Beja Congress and some elements of SLA who are active in the area. The two vehicles and five people are still missing. A search by Government forces in the area is continuing. In light of this incident, UN staff movements from Kassala - Port Sudan are suspended until further notice.
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UN Sudan Situation Report 29 May 2005

Key Developments:

After attending the AU pledging conference in Addis Ababa on 26 May, Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited Khartoum on 27 May and South Darfur on 28 May.

Security Issues:

North Darfur:

On 26 May, the AU reported that GoS Forces had reported that its administrative convoy moving from Tawilla to Kabkabiya was ambushed by forces alleged to be SLA 8 km to Omm. Preliminary investigation revealed that one GoS Police was killed and eight injured. In a related development, GoS filed a written complaint with the CFC Chairman claiming that the past few days had witnessed a couple of ambushes against GoS forces on the Tawilla - Kabkabiya road which left many killed and many more injured. The GoS forces expressed their intention to clear the route using superior forces within 2hrs if the situation persist.

On 27 May, the AU reported a clash on 26 May between IDPs and GoS Police at ZamZam IDP camp which left 1 IDP dead and six injured. The reason for the gunfire remains unclear. Reportedly 6 persons are under arrest. There was considerable tension in the camp and the area was subsequently declared NO GO. AU CIV POL and MILOBs were deployed to the area to help restore calm. The situation has reportedly returned to normal and the security restrictions were lifted. Detailed investigation is ongoing.

South Darfur:

On 28 May, firing was reported to the AU at Muhajeria by the Military Observers Group Sector (MGS) stationed in the area. AU reported that due to confrontation between SLA and JEM in Muhajeria five people, including a three year old child, have sustained bullet wounds. The small child was later reported to be in critical condition requiring further medvac. MSF are treating the child.

Southern Sudan:

On 23 May 2005, a Dinka Bor rustled a few cattle from Mundari Camp in Gemeiza approx. 98 km north of Juba along Juba to Bor road. Some Mundari pursued and caught the Dinka Bor and beaten him to death. The Mundari tribesmen, fearing a counter attack, withdrew to Mangala approx. 60 km north of Juba. The situation is tense and due to the history between these tribes and that both are armed.

Eastern Sudan:

It was reported that on 26 May at the local Red Sea State university in Port Sudan some demonstrations took place over student elections and the involvement of the different political parties in it. Police were deployed and had to use teargas to control the situation.
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UN Sudan Situation Report 31 May 2005

Key Developments:

The Head of Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF-H) in Sudan was released on bail on 30 May following a brief arrest. In Nyala, the Darfur co-ordinator for MSF-H, was detained on 31 May for the same reasons.

Security Issues:

West Darfur:

An international NGO convoy experienced some harassment at Durti checkpoint on 29 May. They were asked to produce a permit for the fuel they were carrying or else pay the soldiers with fuel. UNDSS intervened through the Army commander; the convoy was released, and the soldiers were reportedly prosecuted.

Protection Issues:

North Darfur:

The GoS security committee in North Darfur has communicated to UNMIS that in response to several complaints/allegations of sexual abuse reportedly committed by GoS personnel, it has issued a directive to the military commanders in different locations that serious action will be taken against them if found implicated in such acts.

West Darfur:

On 29 May, a conference was held in Zalingei as a follow-up to the Khartoum Conference on Peaceful Co-existence held in March. Participants included HAC and GoS security authorities, Arab traditional leaders and all humanitarian agencies in the area. The aim was to find ways of improving the security situation in the area and to promote intertribal cooperation.

UNHCR has spoken to refugees in Kounoungo camp in Chad. Despite statements made on 17 May by sheikhs claiming to represent the refugees, the refugees indicated they do not want to return due to insecurity.

Political Affairs:

The Head of Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) in Khartoum, Paul Foreman, was released on bail on 30 May following a brief arrest by the GoS authorities for "crimes against the state." However, according to a statement released by MSF, Mr. Foreman will not be allowed to leave the country. Charges against MSF are related to crimes against the State, after publishing a report on sexual violence in Darfur on 8 March in which they documented that hundreds of women and girls in Darfur were the victims of sexual violence. On 31 May, Vincent Hoedt, Darfur co-ordinator for MSF-H in Nyala, was brought to Khartoum to answer questions by the authorities. He has then been released on bail.

During an interview given to Al-Wan newspaper on 30 May, Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, stated that he would not continue as Foreign Minister after the establishment of the Government of the National Unity (GNU), nor accept any Ministerial post within the GNU. He stated the decision signaled the GoS was sincere about its intention to give opportunities to the SPLM/A to participate in Sudan's foreign policy.

Sudan drops MSF charges after international outcry

Good news. BBC confirms today charges are to be dropped against two aid workers in Darfur accused of falsifying a report on rape, diplomats say. BBC report extracts:

The arrests led to an international outcry, which the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says seems to have forced the Sudanese government into a u-turn.

In Khartoum, United Nations special envoy Jan Pronk met both the president and foreign minister. He is said to have received assurances that all charges would be dropped.

'Smear campaign'

The BBC's Martin Plaut, who recently travelled to Darfur, says that many Sudanese believe Western aid workers have given information on alleged human rights abuses in Darfur to the United Nations, which has passed a sealed list of 51 war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Court.

On Tuesday, Mr Pronk condemned the "smear campaign" in Sudanese newspapers against aid workers, accusing them of fabricating reports of rape.

Human Rights Watch Africa director Peter Takirambudde said Mr Foreman's arrest was "a perfect illustration of how far the Sudanese government is prepared to go to silence criticism and deny its own responsibility for massive atrocities in Darfur."

Tags: Darfur Khartoum Sudan MSF Kofi Annan Jan Pronk BBC Africa UN

W F Deedes: Not all African woes can be attributed to neglect by the West

An opinion piece in today's Telegraph by W F Deedes jumped out from my screen because it describes my views exactly. It was refreshing for me to finally hear another voice saying the things I have been banging on about in my blogs for the past year. Especially the penultimate paragraph, quote:

"It is my conviction that little will change in Africa until its women have a bigger say in running their own lives and Africa's affairs. The dominant male has much to answer for: the proneness to fight, the promiscuity that speeds Aids, the enslavement of so many women."

Here's saying a big warm thank you to Lord Deedes for writing what I have been thinking and saying here all along.

A copy of the piece is copied here for future reference [plus a ping to Carine and Bill, following our recent discussions on African leaders - to point out this line from the piece: "There is no sensible way forward for Africa until we recognise the extent to which African rulers rather than the West are so heavily responsible for its plight"]

Don't blame it all on the West

As Bob Geldof and his supporters seek to raise our feelings for Africa with a march on the G8 summit and a second Live Aid concert, it is relevant to recall how he sprang to fame.

He inspired the first concert 20 years ago on behalf of Ethiopians starving to death under the rule of a tyrant.

Ethiopia was an independent state, never a colony, which had been governed in feudal style by Emperor Haile Selassie. It was plundered by Mussolini in 1935-36 and recovered by British and Commonwealth forces early in the Second World War and restored to the emperor. He was deposed and murdered by a Marxist revolutionary, Col Haile Mengistu, under whose harsh rule the people starved.

Why is all this worth recording? Because it is a reminder that not all African woes can be attributed to neglect by the West. That claim raises the temperature, sets people marching to attack greedy nations that misruled Africans in the past and now turn a cold shoulder to their needs. It also falsifies history. I have always conceded that we granted independence to Africa on the tail of Harold Macmillan's "wind of change" too precipitately. No administrative framework was in place. The countries hastily granted independence were up for grabs.

By contrast, Southern Rhodesia was put on the road to freedom by Margaret Thatcher and with an orderly election. And who won? Mugabe, of whose misrule we still read most days of the week. There is no sensible way forward for Africa until we recognise the extent to which African rulers rather than the West are so heavily responsible for its plight.

Have Geldof and his friends any idea how much African nations spend on armies and arms? The total in any one year, if we ever knew it, would astound the world. Guilty men such as Mugabe and those who hold sway over Sudan from Khartoum spend a lot of money defending their backs, against enemies real and imaginary.

Is it any wonder that budgets for health and education suffer? What always distresses me most is that in countries such as Sudan, the Congo, Angola, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Liberia, all of them laid low by internal conflict, restoration will be in the hands of Africans who have been denied education.

Then look towards Kenya, a potentially prosperous country so racked by corruption that it yields a fraction of its potential.

I once asked a leading African why so many of his continent's rulers felt the need to acquire colossal wealth, spend much of it extravagantly and place the remainder in Swiss banks.

"In Africa," he replied, "great wealth is the measurement of a top man. And when he acquires power he is surprised by the number of relatives who expect to share the spoils. Then when he falls to a coup, it is expensive to go into exile with an entourage and guard."

I am as sympathetic as Geldof to the long-suffering African people who endure so much, expect so little and I accept that the West could give a helping hand over trade and debt.

But I also have a clear impression of our limitations and, when I hear President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa defending Mugabe and ticking us off for failing to understand him, I recognise what those limitations are.

It is my conviction that little will change in Africa until its women have a bigger say in running their own lives and Africa's affairs. The dominant male has much to answer for: the proneness to fight, the promiscuity that speeds Aids, the enslavement of so many women.

So have a good concert, Bob, but change that great lyric about Christmas: "Don't they know how much more they must do for themselves?"

Tags: W F Deedes Sudan Ethiopia Geldof Congo Mbeki Uganda Africa Dictators Corruption