Sudan: Southerners get new assembly

The Interim Legislative Council of southern Sudan, which brings together many former military and political adversaries, was officially inaugurated on Thursday in Juba, the southern Sudanese capital, reports IRIN from Juba 30 Sep 2005. Excerpt:

The establishment of the new parliament constitutes a milestone in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed on 9 January by the Sudanese government and the former southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).

It also represents an important step in fulfilling the southerners' aspirations for greater political autonomy and the decentralisation of power, for which the SPLM/A fought during a 21-year war that claimed two million lives.

"This is clearly a significant and historic moment. This is what people have been waiting for since the signing of the CPA, and probably for the past 20 years," David Gressly, the UN deputy resident and humanitarian coordinator for southern Sudan, told IRIN at the ceremony.

Photo: A small child plays with a stick as if it was a rifle while a group of townspeople train to bolster the local security presence in south Sudan – a region where genocide has occurred, according to the U.S. and many human rights organizations.

[Image courtesy Ryan Spencer Reed. Information on Reed's "Hands of a Displaced Sudan" photo exhibit in Jackson will be available at the Sep 30 MSU teach-in that wants mid-Michiganians to understand the scale of the Darfur tragedy. See article at Michigan State University Newsroom: Darfur teach-in features firsthand accounts from Sudan]

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa oil University Michigan Juba human rights

Darfur: Chadian president in Libya to meet Gaddafi

Libyan news reveals Chadian President Idriss Deby flew to Libya today where he met with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Several international issues of common interest were discussed, including the outcome of the African Union conference held in Libya last July and the latest situation in Darfur.



Photo: Chadian President Deby arrived in Libya Thursday afternoon, Sept 29, 2005 at Sirte international airport where he was received by Major-General Alghwaldi Alhmeadi. (LJB)

Note, Chad hosts 200,000 refugees from the Sudan and Libya opened up a new trans-Sahara aid route for UN WFP aid trucks to enter Darfur.

Over the past year, President Deby and Colonel Gaddafi, along with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, helped overcome obstacles on the Darfur peace talks and worked to progress the talks.



Photo: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (R) and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (L) walk to the opening session of the third African Summit at Tripoli re Darfur, Sudan May 16, 2005. (Reuters). "The meeting between Kadhafi and Mubarak focused on the Darfur talks being held in Abuja and the means of ensuring that they are sucessful," Mubarak spokesman Suleiman Awad told reporters at the time.

Tags: Africa Darfur Sudan Chad Libya Mubarak Gaddafi UN WFP aid peace talks

Chad is co-mediator at Darfur peace talks

The present upsurge in Sudan's violence coincides with the final round of Darfur peace talks. Chad is co-mediator at the talks. Similar violence occurred last year when Chad's president threatened to pull out of mediating the talks because of Janjaweed attacks in Chad.

Reuters report Sep 25 confirms Chad and Darfur's JEM rebel group have agreed to cooperate. Excerpt:

The African Union, which is mediating the peace talks, said on Sunday a JEM delegation met Chad's President Idriss Deby in N'Djamena to dispel misunderstandings and the JEM had accepted Chad as a co-mediator in the peace process.

Detailed discussions at the Darfur peace talks on power sharing, wealth sharing and security arrangements were due to begin on Monday.

Tags: Africa Darfur Sudan Aro Sharow Chad SLA JEM rebel groups refugees security Janjaweed

Chad accuses Janjaweed of attack that left dozens dead

Chadian President Idriss Deby has accused Sudanese militiamen of being behind an attack on Thursday that left 36 dead near Chad's eastern border with Sudan.

"We are absolutely certain that the perpetrators were Janjaweed militias, but we still do not know the reasons for the attack,'' he told Radio France International.

President Deby said that the assailants, who attacked Chadian villages on horseback in the east of the country, were armed with new weapons, dressed in military uniform, and were supplied with plenty of ammunition:

"Who gave this to them, was it the Sudanese government or another, we will find out," Deby added.

Full report Sep 29, 2005 ReliefWeb via DPA

Tags: Africa Darfur Sudan Aro Sharow Chad SLA JEM rebel groups refugees security Janjaweed

29 dead in attack on Darfur's Aro Sharow camp

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that according to initial reports the Aro Sharow camp was attacked by 250-300 "armed Arab men on horses and camels" late on Wednesday Sep 28.

Twenty-nine people were reported to have been killed in an unprecedented attack on a refugee camp in the north-west of Darfur, the UN said on Thursday Sep 29.

Another 10 people were reported to have been seriously wounded and the nearby village of Gosmeina was also reportedly attacked and burnt, the agency said. The death toll referred only to camp dwellers.

Full report 29 Sep 2005 Reuters, Geneva.

Tags: Africa Darfur Sudan Aro Sharow Chad SLA JEM rebel groups refugees security Janjaweed

Timeline of events since fighting began in Darfur, Sudan

In June of this year, CBC News published a timeline of events in Sudan starting with April 2003 when the fighting in Darfur began.

In April 2003, refugees began arriving in eastern Chad to escape the conflict that erupted after the two main rebel groups in Darfur, SLA and JEM, began attacking government forces and installations in Darfur, western Sudan.

Tags: Africa Darfur Sudan timeline CBC Chad SLA JEM rebel groups western Sudan security military fighting

UN relief operation in Darfur could all end tomorrow?

Today, the BBC reports escalating violence in Darfur is threatening to halt relief efforts in the area, the UN's chief aid coordinator has said. Excerpt:

'Jan Egeland said violence in Darfur had become so bad that the UN operation could "all end tomorrow - it's as serious as that". Mr Egeland said that international aid workers were increasingly being targeted by armed groups.

His comments came as violence flared on the border between Darfur and Chad.'

Mr Egeland habitually issues alarming politically charged messages to the press. Darfur's security situation was much worse in June of last year when the UN was pushing to get aid in - not pull it out.

Note how the media is used as a weapon of war. Even though the message from the UN's aid chief to the media is not really hard news, it is zipping around the world right now, making headline news.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said in an off the cuff talk to reporters that some of what he says to the media are veiled messages to various people on the ground in Sudan.

Tags: Africa Darfur Sudan Janjaweed attacks Chad Janjawid Khartoum Central African Republic CAR wadi UNHCR Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch Jan Egeland.

Janjaweed attack E Chad: French troops step up patrols

Today, IRIN reports Chad's Government says Sudanese 'insurgents' killed 36 herders on Monday in East Chad. The report explains eastern Chad has been gripped with tension since the Darfur conflict in western Sudan broke two years ago. Excerpt:

Hostilities have repeatedly spilled across the border into the region where some 200,000 Sudanese refugees are living in camps.

An aid worker in Adre, a border town near the site of Monday's attack, told IRIN that French troops in eastern Chad have recently stepped up patrols in the area after increased activity by armed groups on the Sudanese side.

Chad President Idriss Deby, who initially took office in a coup in 1990 with the backing of Khartoum, has long had to perform a delicate balancing act in eastern Chad, the site of sporadic rebel movements over the last 15 years.

Note also, the report points out that last April, Chad accused Sudan of backing a 3,000-strong rebel force operating on the border and goes on to say:

"Tuesday's government statement said the authorities had contacted the Sudanese embassy in Chad to make known its worry about this grave situation and to invite the Sudanese government to take the necessary measures at its borders from where these insurgents came. A delegation of government ministers and military leaders left N'djamena for the border area on Tuesday afternoon."

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Chad says Sudanese insurgents killed 36 herders in East

The above IRIN report says a group of unidentified armed men in military uniform crossed into Chad from Sudan early on Monday, killing 36 herders and stealing livestock. Excerpt:

"The Chadian government said, in a statement on Tuesday, the attack took place in the village of Madayouna in the Ouaddai region of eastern Chad.

"The riposte by the armed forces stationed in the region was rapid," the statement said.

Seven of the assailants were killed and eight detained, one of whom later died in detention, it added. Two Chadian soldiers were killed and five injured."

Photo: Chad's camel guards patrol on the Sudan-Chad border in Abulu Kore (Darfur), Eastern Chad, in 2004. (AFP/Thomas Coex/Yahoo)
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Darfur rebels blame Janjaweed for attacks in Chad

AFP reports 50 [not 36] people [where do they get such information?] were killed in eastern Chad when, quote "armed horsemen from neighbouring Sudan attacked a village and later clashed with Chadian forces, the government spokesman and army sources said."

A later AFP report says the Darfur rebels blame the Janjaweed for the attacks and said they never attack civilians, let alone Chadian villages.

As I recall, similar incidents happened last year, reportedly involving the Janjaweed in Chad. See Google search Janjaweed Chad 2004 and this excerpt from a 22 June 2004 report at Human Rights Watch:

Sudan: Darfur Atrocities Spill Into Chad - Despite Ceasefire, Sudanese Troops and Militias Continue to Kill, Rape and Loot

(New York, June 22, 2004) -- Backed by the Sudanese government, Janjaweed militias are launching assaults across the border into Chad, attacking and looting Chadian villagers as well as refugees from Darfur, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite a ceasefire agreement in Darfur, government troops and Janjaweed militias continue to commit atrocities in the western Sudanese region.

Human Rights Watch documented at least seven cross-border incursions into Chad conducted by the Janjaweed militias since early June. The Janjaweed attack villages in Chad and refugees from Darfur, and also steal cattle. The same Arab and African ethnic groups live on both sides of border in Chad and Darfur.

Photo: A soldier from the National Army of Chad patrols the wadi Tine, the empty bed of seasonal river that runs between Chad and Sudan in Tine, in 2004. (AFP/File/Marco Longari)
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Over 600 Chadians returned home from CAR, UN refugee agency says

Over six hundred out of some 1,500 Chadian refugees who have spent the past two decades in exile in the Central African Republic (CAR) after fleeing civil war in their country have been returned home in an operation that began last week, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

The 609 Chadians were transported in two convoys, according to a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as part of an operation that is expected to be completed by early October. Full story by UN.org.

Also, note the report states:

With the growing insecurity in northern CAR since the end of 2004, the group approached UNHCR to organise their return to Chad. Many of the refugees reported attacks by bandits who stole their cattle and prevented them from working in their fields.

At the same time, UNHCR is looking into reports from local authorities of some 170 refugees who may have crossed the border from northern CAR into Chad two weeks ago after fleeing attacks by armed groups on their villages. It is also continuing the relocation of more than 2,000 other CAR refugees who crossed over for similar reasons in August.

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Sudan's Turabi says new unity government a fraud

Sep 28 Reuters SA report says Opposition leader Hassan Turabi said the new government failed to include enough representation for the east and Darfur, the western region of Sudan, where rebels took up arms in 2003:

A major political force in Sudan, Turabi backed the bloodless military coup that brought [Sudan's current President] Bashir to power in 1989 and became one of its most important defenders.

But the two fell out and Turabi has since spent around four years in detention. He was most recently released in July after being accused of arming the Darfur rebels and plotting a coup.

He said on Tuesday he supported the struggle of the Darfur rebels for a more federal system of government but denied arming them.

[I wish someonee would explain who is arming them]

Tags: Africa Darfur Sudan Janjaweed attacks Chad Janjawid Khartoum Central African Republic CAR wadi UNHCR Human Rights Watch

Viral technology will be a key competency for Africans

Excerpt from Africa Blogging, a commentary on the emergence of social software and hypernetworking technology in Africa:

"Experts predict that the 21st Century will be Africa's Century."



Photo: East Africa - Computer education in secondary schools in remote areas (via Africa Blogging)
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Considering Africa

From American blogger Steve Nicholson [newly arrived in Africa] Sept 22, 2005:

African landline phones, 2003: 25 million

African cell phone subscribers, 2003: 52 million

Personal computers in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2003: 12 per 1,000 people

Percent of population with access to improved drinking water: Sub-Saharan Africa - 82 urban, 45 rural

Infant mortality rates (birth to one year old): Sub-Saharan Africa - 102 of 1,000 children

Average life expectancy: Sub-Saharan Africa - 46 years

Poorest nations: Burundi, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Somalia - per captia GDPs of $600

Richest nation: Mauritius - per capita GDP of $12,800

US per capita GDP: $40,100

Tags: Africa Darfur viral technology Africa Blogging computer remote hypernetworking social software East Africa

Darfur Sudan: Mini Mubarak and Gadhafi summit in Cairo

A video grab from the El-Masriyya satellite channel shows Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (L) shaking hands with Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi in Cairo. The two leaders held talks on how to prevent the failure of peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Darfur. (AFP/El-Masriyya/Yahoo) Sep 27 2005.



Mubarak's spokesman, Suleiman Awwad said Egypt urges the Darfur rebels to follow the lead of the SPLA/M which signed a peace agreement with Khartoum ending Sudan's long-protracted civil war last January.

'There is a live example before the Darfur rebels that agreement could be reached on sharing power and wealth and that they could join in the nationwide reconciliation and peace process in Sudan,' Awwad said.

Tags: Africa Darfur Egypt Libya peace talks Mubarak Gadhafi

United Nations Sudan Situation Report 26 Sep 2005

Re final round of Darfur peace talks held in Abuja, Nigeria, the UN's Sudan Situation Report 26 Sep 2005 says the six-day workshops on power-sharing, wealth-sharing and security concluded on 24 Sept, and on 25 Sept. the rest of the Minni Minawi faction of the SLM/A arrived in Abuja. The technical workshops were well-attended and informative and official negotiations will start this week.

Click here to read the UN's report on security issues concerning North Darfur, South Darfur and West Darfur.

Note, the above report states Chadians dressed in military uniform were seen in a market in West Darfur. Also, it confirms the Government of Sudan is attempting to get the situation under control there by sending SAF and police patrols in and around the market area. The report advises UN Staff to exercise extreme caution and avoid the market area.

Also, it explains that in North Darfur on 24 Sept:

'The town of El Fasher witnessed a military show of force as SAF troops armed with RPGs, AK-47 and 50 cal. machine guns and moving in large trucks, land cruisers, armored scout vehicles and T55 tanks paraded through El Fasher to Abu Shouk IDP camp. The parade ended with a drive-by salute for the Wali and military commanders near the Wali's house. The Wali announced the activation and full implementation of the Emergency Act, which gives full authority to the military and police forces to maintain the security and sovereignty of the state. He also told the armed forces that they should be ready to protect the state and civilians against any rebel attacks.'

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Reps of S Sudan's ex rebel group SPLM/A to attend Darfur peace talks

The above UN report confirms the SPLM/A will send representatives who have close relations with the armed groups in Darfur to Abuja.
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UPDATE Sep 27: From Passion of the Present with thanks - two stories: 50 killed in attack on Chadian village / Chad says gunmen from Sudan kill 36 in border raid.

Tags: Africa Darfur Nigeria Chad peace talks Abu Shouk

Who disarms first: Janjawid militia or Darfur rebels?

Note this excerpt from an IRIN report from Khartoum 27 Sep 2005:

'The disarmament of the Janjawid would help the government reach a peaceful solution," Juan Mendez, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, said in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2004, Juan Mendez said his mandate was preventive and designed to offer recommendations to Annan in order to avoid massive violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law which, if not stopped, could lead to genocide.

Mendez said according to the IDPs, "the disarmament of the Janjawid militia is a priority for them to return to their homes".'

Well, internally displaced people would say that, wouldn't they? Since when do top UN officials quote displaced people who are on the side of the rebels?

It would be more helpful if the UN would explain how to disarm the Janjawid. It is easy to say "disarm the Janjawid". How about disarming the rebels? And explain how it is to be done? Who disarms first, Janjawid militia or rebels?

Imagine telling coalition forces in Iraq to "disarm the insurgents otherwise there is no possibility of reaching a positive solution, the disarment of the Iraqi insurgents would help the government". It is a nonsense.

Beware of propaganda. All sides are at it, turning up the heat, with carrots and sticks. Psychological pressure. A war of words. There is a lot at stake.

The present series of Darfur Peace talks are viewed by the African Union as the final round. UN special envoy Jan Pronk has suggested setting a deadline of December 31. This time last year, during the run up to the signing of a peace deal between Khartoum and southern Sudan's rebels, there was an upsurge in violence and relentless beating of war drums from all sides.



Photo: Juan Mendez, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (IRIN)

"The situation in Darfur now is disturbing, violence is spreading, and the displaced don't trust the Sudanese police or the Sudanese judiciary system," Juan Mendez told reporters Sep 27 after his second assessment visit to Darfur. His first visit was a year ago.

Tags: Africa Darfur genocide propaganda Sudan peace talks aid worker UN oil human rights African Union Khartoum

Darfur rebels causing upsurge in violence and insecurity

Jonathan Steele's report from Darfur in the Guardian Sep 26, says the latest violence, involving attacks on aid convoys and government officials as well as the theft of large numbers of camels - the main source of wealth for local nomads - comes from the rebel side. Excerpt re latest attacks:

"In one assault, which sparked a chain of clashes, the SLA seized thousands of camels in a well-prepared raid on a nomadic tribe that had previously not been part of the conflict. Tribal leaders appealed to the AU, which publicly used strong language to denounce the attack.

The owners of the camels got help from the militias and converged on villages at Tabit, west of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, that they suspected of holding the stolen animals. An estimated 3,000 people then fled.

Yesterday, Osman Mohammed Yusuf Kibir, the governor of North Darfur, did not deny the attacks. "But it's not true the attackers were supported by the government. There was not a single soldier with them. The camel owners waited 13 days for the AU and the international community to respond," he told the Guardian."

During the current and final round of Darfur peace talks, the report reminds us it is the Darfur rebels who are responsible for the insecurity that stops people from returning home:

"The SLA rebels last week entered Sheiria, north-east of Nyala. Although they did not attack the government garrison, they paraded in the streets in a show of strength and claimed they had killed 80 troops. They withdrew the next day. The government said they had been driven out after "heavy casualties". AU monitors who talked to residents said that they had found no evidence of serious clashes or killing."

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Sixth round of Darfur peace talks to start in Nigeria this week

The ongoing sixth round of peace talks for Darfur is scheduled to start in the Nigerian capital this week, chief negotiator Sam Ibok told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) on Monday.

The negotiations are taking place between Khartoum and the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement and Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

"We have not fixed any specific date. We are beginning separate consultations with the three parties today (Monday) and hopefully we will begin the main negotiations by Wednesday,'' Ibok said.
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Darfur rebel group JEM and Chad agree to cooperate

Sep 25 Reuters report says Darfur rebel group and Chad agree to cooperate:

The African Union, which is mediating, said on Sunday a JEM delegation met Chad's President Idriss Deby in N'Djamena to dispel misunderstandings and the JEM had accepted Chad as a co-mediator in the peace process.

The JEM, the smaller of two armed groups that rebelled against Khartoum in early 2003, has accused Chad of supporting some rebel factions over others, playing into the hands of the Sudanese government. Chad countered that it had no interest in prolonging the conflict and the rebels were looking for reasons to avoid making tough commitments to achieve peace.

The wrangling was one of the problems that have plagued peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja, now in their sixth round. A wider problem is disunity within the JEM and inside the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), the larger rebel movement.

The sixth round of talks started with a week of workshops during which the parties discussed power sharing, wealth sharing and security arrangements. Detailed discussion of these issues was due to begin on Monday.

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Darfur rebels say only war would bring fair rule

Reuters Sep 22 says Darfur rebel faction, which recently captured a town in Darfur, denounced Sudan's new coalition government on Thursday as exclusionary, adding only war would bring fair rule.



Photo: An internally displaced Sudanese man awaits the arrival of the UNHCR High Commissioner in Riyad camp in the west Darfur region of Sudan August 24, 2005. Photo taken August 24 2005. (Antony Njuguna/Reuters/Yahoo)

The United Nations Human Development Report says there are only 16 doctors for every 100,000 people in Sudan.
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Russian peacekeepers ready to join UN mission in Sudan

10,000 UN peacekeepers are earmarked for Southern Sudan to monitor January's peace agreement. During the last few days, Jan Pronk told the press the reason for the slow deployment of UN peacekeepers in S Sudan is due to disappointing numbers of troops offered by the international community.

[Maybe funding of peacekeepers is for a specfied amount of time and some are being held back until their presence becomes absolutely necessary. Sudan's infighting looks set to go on for many years.]



Russian helicopter pilots are ready to participate in a UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan, said an official from the Torzhok Combat Training Center, whose pilots have recently finished a similar mission in Sierra Leone.

The official said the issue had already been discussed and the pilots had studied Sudan's geography and climate.

"The climate in Sudan resembles that in Sierra Leone and the Russian Mi-24 helicopters performed well in these hard conditions," the official said. - Novosti Sep 26, 2005.

Tags: Africa Darfur Russia Sudan peacekeepers rebels Chad

Uganda seeks extradition of deputy LRA leader

Uganda is negotiating with Congo and the UN for the extradition of a leader of the notorious rebel Lord's Resistance Army, the foreign minister said on Monday. Ugandan officials had said on Friday that LRA deputy chief Vincent Otti and 50 other rebels had fled to north-eastern Congo and were seeking asylum. Full report Sep 26, 2005 (AP/IOL)

Note, the above report ends by saying:

The rebel force once had the support of Sudan, which had allowed it to use Sudanese territory as a rear base, because Uganda supported the then rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

Since a peace agreement was signed in January between the former southern Sudanese rebel group and the Sudanese government, Sudanese officials have been discussing with Uganda how to end the northern Uganda rebellion.

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Uganda's peace process is extremely fragile

Sep 26 BBC confirms DR Congo to deport Ugandan rebels.
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Ugandan Police Deployed in Darfur

Sep 26 report at the Monitor says at least 56 Ugandan police officers have been deployed to Darfur in Southern Sudan [Darfur is in Western Sudan] on a peacekeeping mission.

Tags: Africa Uganda LRA Sudan DR Congo

Congo army says will forcibly disarm Ugandan rebels

MONUC report Sep 26 confirms the Democratic Republic of Congo's army said on Sunday it would forcibly disarm 400 Ugandan rebels who have crossed into the northeast of the country and are refusing to lay down their weapons:

"A regional military commander, General Padiri Bulenda, told Reuters he would have to disarm the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in order to prevent thousands of Ugandan soldiers from crossing the border into the Congo to hunt them down."

The report ends by saying:

"Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has repeatedly warned Congo's fragile transitional government that he would take action against Ugandan rebels in Congo if he felt they were a threat to his country.

A source close to Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila called the presence of Ugandan soldiers on Congo's border "a distraction from pressure being applied on Museveni because of his meddling in Congo and attempts to prolong his presidency at home"."

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Museveni to occupy Southern Sudan?

A blogger in America, Menya Kilat, has an interesting theory on connections between Uganda and Southern Sudan and wonders if LRA leader Kony is the red herring to allow Museveni occupy Southern Sudan.

It is a theory I do not share. But, when it comes to African politics, nothing would surprise me.

The US recognises the LRA as a terrorist organisation.

A report today by the BBC says Kony remains with his fighters in southern Sudan and the UN says it has held a meeting with LRA rebels for the first time.

Kony's deputy Vincent Otti is in DR Congo talking to the UN. Uganda says Otti and about 50 fighters left their hideouts in southern Sudan's lawless mountains last week and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday.

[Cross posted from Congo Watch and Uganda Watch]

Tags: Africa Uganda LRA Sudan DR Congo

MIT Media Lab: $100 Laptops for the Third World

The MIT Media Lab has launched a new research initiative to develop a $100 laptop - a technology that could revolutionize how we educate the world's children.

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) was announced by Nicholas Negroponte, Lab chairman and co-founder, at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland in January 2005.

See Superintendent Notebook for Negroponte's answers to questions on the initiative.

Multi-tasking and short attention spans

Tom McHale, an educator in New Jersey, USA writes a notable post Portrait of a Digital Native about childrens' use of technology and their ability to multi task.

The post features a student named Meredith Fear who is working on her independent study for social studies and chosen a topic that is important to her, the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Meredith catalogues her research through Furl and bookmarking and follows the news and blogs about Sudan through a news aggregator. She finds this process to be very different than her classroom experience.

"The computer gives me a contact to all the people I need to talk to," Fear says. "It's a gateway to the world."

"What I make of it is entirely dependent on me and the effort I'm willing to put into it," she says. "It's a much, much more specialized and detailed level of thinking than I've been exposed to in any of the classes the school provides."

Tags: Africa Uganda LRA Sudan DR Congo Ethiopia Niger MIT laptop Third World Davos OLPC Negoponte Digital multi tasking thinking problem solving

UN officials meet Ugandan rebels

The UN says it has held a meeting with a group of the Ugandan rebels, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), for the first time. Full story (BBC)

Note, the report says LRA commander Joseph Kony remains with his fighters in southern Sudan. Reuters says his time may be running out.
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Uganda's rebel LRA use torture to instil fear

Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has become synonymous with torture, abductions and killings.



BBC photo: The LRA use torture to instil fear

"They tied me and laid me down. They told me not to cry. Not to make any noise. Then one man sat on my chest, men held my arms, legs, and one held my neck".

"Another picked up an axe. First he chopped my left hand, ... read the rest in "Uganda's atrocious war" by Will Ross, BBC Kitgum Uganda.
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Who are the LRA?

See Uganda Watch Q&A: Uganda's northern rebellion.

Tags: Africa Uganda LRA Sudan DR Congo

British Council holds festival for African writers

Forty-five African writers from 19 countries including Nigeria would next month participate in a literature festival in Kampala, Uganda.

Tagged "Beyond Borders: A Festival of Contemporary African Writing", the event will be held between October 19 and 21.

The Director of British Council Uganda, Mr. Richard Weyers, says, "The literature festival will be one of the largest gatherings of African writers in Africa to take place for several decades. It is a unique creative networking event that would broadcast to the world the richness of African and UK writing."

Participating writers have been drawn from across sub-Saharan Africa and the UK. From Nigeria, writers like Chika Unigwe, Tolu Ogunlesi, Helon Habila, Olubunmi Julius-Adeoye and Rotimi Babatunde are taking part in the festival.

Renowned Sudanese writer, Taban Lo Liyong, and Ivorien Veronique Tadjo are other writers participating in the festival, which will provide a platform for established and emerging writers, those in exile or have now returned home, to discuss the role of a writer and the state of contemporary writing across Africa today.

See full story Sep 23 2005 (DI)

Tags: Nigeria Sudan African Writers British Council

BBC journalism course making progress in Sudan

International Journalists' Network reveals the BBC World Service Trust, whose two-year training program in Sudan lasts until March 2006, says it has so far conducted more than 60 training programs in six towns across the country.

More than 800 journalists have participated in the training. The goal of the BBC's Sudan program is to promote freedom of expression and information as a means to encourage better governance.

The European Union and the U.K. Department of International Development are sponsoring the program.

See full story Sep 23, 2005 (IJN)

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa BBC Journalism

SUDAN: Annan tells UN Security Council Darfur civilians must be better protected

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan pledges UN support for Sudan's new national unity government.

IRIN report Sep 23 goes on to say this:



Meanwhile, in his monthly report to the Security Council on Darfur, Annan said the region's civilian population must be better protected because they had fallen victim to attacks from armed groups and forced relocation by the previous government.

"One major issue is the protection of internally displaced persons," Annan said. "On some occasions, internally displaced persons who have returned to their villages of origin to cultivate their fields have been attacked, resulting in their re-displacement back to the refugee camps."

Government troops and military police forced their way into the Bella site near Saraf Omra, North Darfur, on 15 and 16 August, destroyed shelters and wounded eight people, Annan said.

"Once again, despite the agreements with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations, the government failed to notify the international humanitarian community of its intentions," Annan said.

He added that the establishment of the government of national unity and the normalisation of the situation in the rest of the Sudan offered tremendous promise for Darfur.

"These developments offer the parties an unprecedented opportunity to translate the present relative stability in Darfur into a lasting settlement, anchored in the new national political order," he said.

Further statements:

Sep 23 Statement by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on Sudan - The EU congratulates Sudan and also expresses its grave concern about recent reports of serious clashes in Darfur, apparently involving members of the armed movements, the Government of Sudan and Arab militias, including most recently on the Eastern slopes of the Jebel Marra, and in Sheiria, South Darfur.

Sep 23 AngolaPress Paris, France hailed the formation of a government of national unity in Sudan, saying this was a major stage in the implementation of the 9 January 2005 Nairobi peace accord. France was however "very concerned about" the decline in the security situation in the Darfur, and urged all the parties to the conflict in this region of Sudan "to display greatest restraint ... to scrupulously comply with the cease--ire concluded in N'Djamena on 8 April 2004 and to negotiate without conditions and in good faith in Abuja".

Sep 22 USINFO - Bush congratulates Sudan on new National Unity Government - calls it an important milestone, urges steps to stop violence in Darfur.

Sep 23 Government of Canada Statement by Minister Pettigrew on resumption of Darfur peace talks and recent events in the region.
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Fresh fighting in Darfur threatens peace talks, says AU mediator

"Military activities in all sectors in Darfur ... have negatively impacted on the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need and threaten the current round of the peace talks," Salim Ahmed Salim, the special representative of the AU overseeing negotiations, said in a statement on Thursday.

See full report Sep 23 2005 (IRIN)

UPDATE: Darfur rebels call for ex SPLM to join peace talks

This sounds promising. AFP report says the two main rebel groups from Darfur called Friday for South Sudan's former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to be included in African Union attempts to end their war with the Khartoum government.

Let's hope Rebecca Garang can attend:

Garang's widow is appointed MP

The widow of Dr John Garang de Mabior, Rebecca Nyandeng has been nominated as a member of southern Sudan Parliament.

She was among 161 MPs appointed in accordance with the January 9 Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in Nairobi.

Rebecca is among the top officials of Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/Army) that her late husband led for 22 years.

Garang died in a helicopter crash in Southern Sudan on July 30 and was succeeded by Salva Kiir.

See full story Sep 24 2005 (Standard)
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Sudanese President swears in new government of national unity

See full report Sep 22 2005 (IRIN)
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UN envoy says LRA to blame for violence in South Sudan

The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative to Sudan, Jan Pronk, said a Ugandan insurgent group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), was to blame for much of the violence in southern Sudan. The group had hindered demining work and the opening of roads in the area, he added.

"The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, North-South, is on track," Pronk told reporters, after urging the UN Security Council to renew the mandate of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and expedite its deployment.



Photo: Jan Pronk of The Netherlands, UN special envoy to Sudan

Splits and splits and splits in Darfur rebel group SLA

Jan Pronk said peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Darfur between the government and rebels were under way in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

He said it was hard to pin down the causes of increasing violence in Darfur, but to "a certain extent" it was related to disputes between nomadic communities and farmers, and a split within the region's main rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A).

"There are groups that are not government and that are not SLM, but the result of splits and splits and splits," he added.

Pronk urges UN Security Council to issue December 31 deadline

Jan Pronk said he had urged the Security Council to issue an ultimatum to the parties to the conflict in Darfur to come to a comprehensive peace agreement by 31 December.

"There is no reason any more to solve the problem through further shooting and fighting. We don't accept it any more," he said, noting that a similar ultimatum had led to progress when the southern peace agreement was being negotiated.

Pronk said the riots in Khartoum following the death of SPLM/A leader John Garang, in a July helicopter crash, had exacerbated ethnic tensions.

The establishment of essential political institutions and legal reforms in line with the southern peace pact had been slow, he said.

New tensions in eastern Sudan and the fact that certain areas of the south had been left as ambiguous zones of "special status" in the peace agreement were other causes for concern, he added.

See full report Sep 22 2005.
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Large-scale camel and cattle rustling

International Committee of the Red Cross claims one factor for the fighting escalating in Darfur is the recent upsurge in large-scale camel and cattle rustling.
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Several factions claiming control of SLA rebels in Darfur

IRIN report explains the situation in Darfur is further complicated by the reported lack of cohesion in the SLM/A's chain of command:

Several factions have recently claimed to control the movement's forces on the ground.

The head of the SLM/A delegation in Abuja, Abdulrahman Musa, is thought to be representing the Fur ethnic wing of the movement, loyal to the movement's chairman, Abdul Wahid Mohammed Nur.

A second faction under SLM/A general secretary Mani Arko Minawi, however, represents the militarily powerful Zaghawa wing and has already boycotted the talks. Observers on the ground claim that it was fighters under the control of Minawi who took control of Shareya town.

See full report Sep 21 2005.
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Darfur peace talks: full political negotiations next weekend

IRIN report explains the sixth round of the Abuja peace talks between the government and the rebels resumed in the Nigerian capital on Thursday:

The parties are currently debating several issues - power sharing, wealth redistribution, security and governance issues - ahead of full political negotiations next weekend, but observers fear the talks might be called off as a result of recent violence.

Meanwhile, a humanitarian source in the capital of North Darfur, El Fasher, said two Rwandan soldiers of the AU Mission in Sudan were wounded on Monday in an ambush and the AU had stopped all activity in the area.

Some shooting could be heard outside El Fasher on Tuesday morning and government soldiers came out in large numbers to reinforce the outskirts of the town.

See full report Sep 21 2005 (IRIN)
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Sudanese President announced the national unity government

IRIN report notes observers said the formation of a unity government was another milestone in the implementation of the CPA that ended the country's 21-year north-south conflict:

Sudan's new interim National Assembly held its first session on 31 August.

The CPA, signed on 9 January by Bashir and the late first vice president of Sudan and chairman of SPLM/A, John Garang, in Nairobi, Kenya, attempts to encourage wealth- and power-sharing in the oil-rich nation.

The agreement, which began a six-year transitional period in the country, details protocols on sharing legislative power and natural resources. South Sudan will vote to decide whether to remain politically united with the north or separate from it after the transitional period.

Photo: Sudanese President el-Bashir. The war between his government and the SPLM/A rebel group in the south erupted in 1983 when the rebels took up arms against authorities based in the north to demand greater autonomy. The fighting has killed at least two million people, uprooted four million more, and forced some 600,000 to flee to neighbouring countries.

See full report Sep 20 2005 (IRIN)
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Major clash in Darfur reportedly killing more than 40

A large retaliatory attack by armed nomadic tribesmen on the rebel SLA on Monday left more than 40 people dead in Darfur, local sources said.

See full report 20 Sep 2005 (IRIN)

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa Congo Uganda