Nubians will be displaced from ancient seat by lake built for Merowe Dam

Far away from the war in Darfur in western Sudan, Nubian peasants in the Fourth Cataract of the Nile in northern Sudan are coming to terms with the fact that their centuries-old way of life is coming to an end soon.

'Until the Chinese actually moved into Merowe a few years ago, we all thought that all government talk about a dam was just a joke. But now we have to accept that it is becoming reality and we all have to go within the next years,' Ali Yousif Ali (47), the spokesman for the hamlet of ed Doma said.

The Merowe Dam Administration in Khartoum finally gave The Irish Times permission to visit the area over Christmas. Living conditions for the peasants on the Nile bank in the Nubian desert and the numerous islands on the Nile are still very much as they were 2000 years ago." Full story.
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Large bridged water channel



Photo: Large bridged water channel. The materials used look much better than ugly man made concrete. Maybe there are no wood eating termites in the Sudan.

Merowe Dam engineer city



Photo: Merowe Dam engineer city near the Nile's fourth cataract, where a $1.8 billion dam is to be built.

The above two photos, courtesy David Haberlah's photostream at Flickr, were taken as part of the scientific effort of the salvage archaeologist team H.U.N.E. to document the Sudanese Arab tribe of the Manasir and their cultural landscape 'Dar al-Manasir' situated at the Fourth Cararact of the River Nile.

David says the homeland of the Manasir will be submerged by the reservoir lake of the Hamdab High Dam (Merowe Multi-Purpose Hydro Project) in the very near future and all inhabitants have to be relocated by the Sudanese government.

See 4th Nile Cataract Sudan 2003 - another of David's photoset on Flickr.

Further reading

May 2, 2005 Sudan Watch: The Merowe/Hamadab Dam Project.

Can bloggers change the world?

Excerpt from The Times Online Dec 23, 2005:

In 1999 there were some 50 bloggers on the web; today there are more than 23 million. In Iran, which seen a huge surge in this area, and where reformist newspapers have been closed down and many editors imprisoned, blogs offer a huge opportunity for dissent and discussion. On the other hand, many can be inaccurate, hysterical, or just plain boring. Do you read blogs? How important are they in keeping free speech alive - and can they change the world? Read the article and send us your views using the form below. Your replies will be posted here. Also: visit the Times Online weblogs. Full story.

Sudan to close its embassy in Baghdad - official

This is interesting - via Passion of the Present:

Sudan to close its embassy in Baghdad - official

UN warns of growing catastrophe in Sudan

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned on Thursday that the security situation in Darfur continued to deteriorate.

In his latest monthly report on Darfur, he called it a "deeply disturbing trend" with "devastating effects on the civilian population".

"Civilians continue to pay an intolerably high price as a result of recurrent fighting by warring parties, the renewal of the scorched earth tactics by militia and massive military action by the government," he said in the report released on 29 December.



Photo: The destroyed village of Kamungo just east of Kabkabiya town, North Darfur State. (IRIN)

Some 3.4 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, according to the UN, of whom 1.8 million are internally displaced and 200,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad.

Note the Financial Times Jan 2, 2006 provides an excellent summary of Darfur news over past few months:

A new wave of violence in Sudan's Darfur region is a "shocking indication" of the international community's collective failure to stem "horrendous crimes" there, the United Nations has warned, amid daily reports that the killings continue unabated.

Despite regular Security Council discussions and an African Union (AU) mission, a new UN report says: "Large-scale attacks against civilians continue, women and girls are being raped by armed groups, yet more villages are being burned, and thousands more are being driven from their homes."

Its findings leave few doubts that the world's efforts to stem Sudan's catastrophe are not working, despite its leaders' assertion at last year's UN summit that all nations bore a "responsibility to protect" civilians from crimes against humanity. Full report.

Further details can be found by scrolling through Sudan Watch archives November and December 2005.

Southern Sudan govt condemns refugees massacre in Egypt

LA Times reports the death toll from Egypt's violent clearing of a Sudanese refugees camp rose to at least 27 on Jan 1 as a presidential spokesman expressed sorrow.



Photo: Egyptian riot police surround and attack Sudanese men and women during a forceful evacuation of thousands of Sudanese refugees on their third month protest outside UN offices in Cairo, Dec 29, 2005 (AFP/ST)

According to the Khartoum Monitor, a 4,000 strong force of Egypt's riot police had attacked hundreds of Sudanese families resulting in a death toll of 35 including women and children.

The report says the government of Southern Sudan is demanding explanations from both the Egyptian Government and the UNHCR as to why a peaceful demonstration should have led to such extreme measures of brutality resulting in unnecessary deaths and injuries.



Photo: Some Sudanese protesters praying as they were sprayed with water canon during a forceful evacuation of thousands of Sudanese refugees on their third month protest outside UN offices in Cairo, Dec 30, 2005 (AFP/ST)

Further reading:
Jan 1, 2006 Sudan Watch - The Slow Death of Darfurians out of Sight in Egypt.

Pope urges UN to face its responsibilities and calls for protection of rights of people in crisis in Darfur

Times of Oman January 1, 2006 prints AFP report saying Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on the UN to live up to its responsibilities and promote justice, solidarity and peace in the world.

The world must show "courage and faith in God and mankind to choose the path of peace," said the head of the Roman Catholic Church in his first New Year's message from the Vatican. In his appeal the pope included "everybody -- individuals, peoples, international organizations and world powers".

The United Nations in particular "must again be aware of its responsibilities to promote the values of justice, solidarity and peace, in a world more and more marked by the huge phenomenon of globalization," he said at Saint Peter's Basilica.

In the message in which the pope traditionally focuses on the world's trouble spots, Benedict called for protection of the rights of people "experiencing tragic humanitarian crises, such as those in Darfur and other regions of central Africa."

Sudanese Islamist leader Turabi attacks foreign presence

BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum files a report today saying veteran Sudanese Islamist leader Turabi attacks foreign presence. Note Mr Turabi shows no compassion for the millions of Sudanese driven from their homes and forced to flee for their lives from the government's militia:

"Look at Sudan now - it has tens of militias independent of the army. And we have so many African armies here... and other armies of the United Nations," Mr Turabi said.

"We don't have an army here. We have a record of how many armies you have in one country. Would you call that independence?"

Further reading
Dec 10, 2005 Sudan Watch: Sudanese islamist Turabi, is back on the scene.

Egypt, Chad discuss means to defuse tension with Sudan

Egypt's Foreign Minister conferred Saturday with a visiting Chadian delegation on means of defusing the current tension between Chad and Sudan.

The Slow Death of Darfurians out of Sight in Egypt

Sudanese refugees and migrants, pictured below, stand defiantly as Egyptian security troops fire water cannons on them before storming the protest camp housing hundreds of Sudanese where they had lived for three months demanding resettlement outside of Egypt, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday.


(CP/AP/Ben Curtis/Yahoo)

Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, founded by leaders of the representatives of the Massaleit Community in Exile (RMCE) asks the UN and the international community to:

"Provide immediate aid to the Sudanese refugees, many of whom are homeless and lack basic necessities such as food and protection. UNHCR should continue to protect refugees until conditions in Sudan allow their return in security and with dignity. That protection must include the usual resettlement activities. If Egypt provided protection, including protection from hunger, refugees would not think of moving to other countries. Some refugees crave resettlement in third countries as a way to enhance protection, since the options of staying in Egypt or being forced to return to Sudan provide them with no hope for their future lives."

Damanga advocates for the human rights of the people of Darfur and for the preservation of their ethnic communities. Damanga seeks guarantees of equality, freedom and democracy for the people of Sudan and elsewhere in the world.



Photo: Human Rights Watch counsel Jamera Rone listens to Western Darfur native Mohamed Yahya, Damanga's Chairman, talk about the genocide in Darfur at the University of Virginia, School of Law.

Read 'The Slow Death of Darfurians out of Sight in Egypt' authored by Leben Nelson Moro, a D.Phil. candidate at University of Oxford, UK and Gamal Abdel Rahman Adam, a PhD candidate at York University, Canada.

More photos - Sudanese refugees protest UN policies in Cairo, Egypt



Photo: Egyptian riot policemen storm the protest camp housing hundreds of Sudanese refugees where they had lived for three months demanding resettlement outside of Egypt, after firing water cannons at the site in Cairo, Egypt Friday, Dec. 30, 2005. After a night-long standoff during which the camp was surrounded by thousands of riot police, the security forces charged in wielding batons and sticks. (AP/Ben Curtis)

See post and pictures at Opinionated Voice and photoset on Flickr created by Fahamu and Pambazuka News.



Photo: Sudanese refugees and migrants stand with their makeshift tents behind rows of Egyptian security troops who fired water cannons on them. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis/Yahoo)



Photo: A Sudanese man is beaten by Egyptian riot police. Egypt is under fire over the deaths of 25 Sudanese refugees after riot police wielding sticks and water cannon forcibly removed hundreds of demonstrators camped outside UN offices in Cairo. (AFP/Cris Bouroncle)

U.N. refugee agency will repatriate 60,000 refugees to S Sudan by May?



Photo: Jean-Marie Fakhouri, the head of operations in Sudan for the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees tells journalists in Nairobi, Kenya Monday Dec. 19, 2005, that the U.N. refugee agency will repatriate about 60,000 refugees to southern Sudan by May. He said that it could take up to five years to repatriate all 560,000 southern Sudanese refugees in seven neighboring countries Central African Republic, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi/Yahoo).

Probe into deaths of 23 Sudanese refugees at Cairo camp

January 1, 2006 Washington Post report excerpt:

"New York-based Human Rights Watch called for an independent investigation into the deaths, which took place near the Cairo offices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The United Nations had said the Sudanese were mostly economic migrants, not people in danger of persecution if they went home.

'President Hosni Mubarak should urgently appoint an independent commission to investigate the use of force by police against Sudanese migrants,' Human Rights Watch said.

'The high loss of life suggests the police acted with extreme brutality. . . . A police force acting responsibly would not have allowed such a tragedy to occur,' said Joe Stork, deputy director of the group's Middle East division.

Eleven Egyptian groups blamed the Interior Ministry for the events and also called for an inquiry.

The ministry 'knows no way to deal with people, whether citizens or refugees, other than by beating, crushing, extrajudicial killing, or transfer to illegal detention centres,' the groups said in a joint statement.

Presidential spokesman Soleiman Awad said Egypt had no choice but to intervene and said the UNHCR office had asked authorities three times to break up the sit-in."

Further reading Dec 30, 2005 Sudan Watch: Darfur genocide continues into 4th year - Ten Sudanese die as camp in Cairo stormed

Kidnapped Sudanese 'free' in Iraq

Five kidnapped members of staff from Sudan's embassy in Iraq have been set 'free' in Iraq. A web statement attributed to al-Qaeda in Iraq had demanded that Sudan cut diplomatic ties with Baghdad.

Chad steps up claims of Sudanese subversion

Further to next post here below, AFP Dec 30 reports that "Sudan is arming, financing and equipping Chadian rebels on its territory to destabilise Chad," Chad's Deputy FM Lucienne Dillah told parliament in Ndjamena, which then voted to back President Idriss Deby's efforts to defend the country.

Chad angry at World Bank over oil - Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan - Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Some days my imagination works overtime wondering about the possibility of security forces diplomatically (read covertly) intervening in Darfur via Chad using international community clout, Chadian personnel and Sudanese refugees. This is one of those days. It's a recurrent thought whenever Chad and other countries neighbouring Sudan hit the headlines.

A curious story has been developing over the past few months re a World Bank loan to Chad of more than $39m (23m pounds) to build a pipeline with an estimated total cost of almost $4bn. The loan was on condition that Chad's churches, trade unions and non-governmental organisations monitored how oil revenues were spent. This was meant to guarantee that oil money was used to help reduce poverty in Chad.

Today, the BBC reports on Chad's angry reaction to warnings from the World Bank, after its parliament voted to relax controls on the use of its oil revenues. The Chadian government has accused the World Bank of acting like a coloniser.

The new laws introduced by Chad's parliament would give its country more control over the money.

Note, Chad's oil pipeline is barely two years old.

Further reading:
Dec 24, 2005 Sudan Watch: Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan
Dec 21, 2005 Sudan Watch: Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Arab and African leaders to Darfur: we don't care

"The Sudan story is chilling as it shows the real nature of Islam", writes one commentator at Harry's Place (UK) re Gene's Dec 30 Darfur post entitled Arab and African leaders to Darfur: we don't care - excerpt:

"If the West's shamefully half-hearted response to the continuing genocide, and China's and Russia's obstruction of UN sanctions against Sudan, haven't outraged you yet, now comes the news that the Arab League and the African Union will hold upcoming summit meetings in the Sudanese capital Khartoum."

So far, Gene's post has attracted 95 comments, the most I've ever seen on a blog entry on Darfur. Here are some examples:

Stuart:

"African governments never criticize each other. To expect them to intervene successfully is foolhardy. Even the lauded rulers of states such as Uganda and Ethiopia are now jailing oppostion members and attempting to futher cement their rule. In the forty years since colonial withdrawal Africa's 48 sub-saharan states have produced one substantive statesman in Nelson Mandela. Is it too much to hope for just one more in 2006."

Daffersd:

"People refuse to speak the truth because no one wishes to be seen as anti-Islamic, especially not at the UN."

In 1948 the UN declared the UDHR, now we have an Islamic UDHR which is a complete contradiction of the UDHR. Now we have the UN promoting religions and their value systems over and above the UDHR.

Are we happy to see the value system of Islam, promoted above the UDHR?

We have the obscene sight of the EU and the UN attacking the Danish PM for refusing to intervene in a dispute over cartoons, he declared that it was not correct for a PM in a free country to intervene over what the press prints, if they broke any laws sue them. It is evident that they prefer to put pressure on in an undemocratic way rather then face the issue in court over a point of law.

At this point I think that the most important defence of our freedom, the ability to speak up about something in safety from fear of death or persecution is being eroded.

Islam is a religion (not to me, it's a death cult), but it also has a system of law and government which I can only describe as undemocratic and allows the strong and powerful to rule the weak and poor. I hope that more people see this, especially the liberty loving and equality driven people on the left.

Dafur shows the moral corruption to the world of Islam, but most people chose to ignore it."

Tom:

"So wtf are you saying? Because atrocities have happened in every century on every continent and didn't involve Muslims, then the genocide and other atrocities carried out in Dafur should not be viewed in a religious ie 'Muslim' context. An interesting notion ! rather like an ostrich's view of danger...me thinks."

Ami:

"You mentioned Zimbabwe, Alec. What does the world's inaction there have in common with Darfur? (Of course there are multiple factors, so leave aside for now other common or country specific factors)

Answer: China, the winner so far in the new scramble for Africa Both cases, China has blocked any Security Council resolutions.

In Darfur's case, it really is all about oil.Zimbabwe,semiprecious metals an economic power.
http://www-hjs.pet.cam.ac.uk/sections/africa/document.2005-05-09.6105323022

No doubt it suits other powers to have China doing the blocking, but there are those in the U.S and elsewhere who genuinely would intervene if there was Security Council authority."

Note, this Sudan Watch post opened with an extract from a comment by Daffersd. Here is the whole comment:

"That Sudan story is chilling as it shows the real nature of Islam, but no one seems to listen, it can't happen here in the West can it? We will find out I guess..."

World's worst dictator hopes to be voted chair of African Union - African leaders to meet in Libya Jan 4 on Darfur

Chad rebel groups opposed to President Idriss Deby said on Friday they had formed a military alliance to try to overthrow him, increasing pressure on the Chadian leader who accuses Sudan of backing the insurgents.

Leaders from eight African countries Nigeria, Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt, Chad, Central African Republic, Libya and Gabon, will meet in Libya Jan. 4 for a special African Union mini-summit on Darfur crisis and growing tensions between Sudan and Chad, officials said Friday.

Note, the mini summit comes three weeks before the African Union holds its annual summit involving all 53 members in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Sudan's President Omar el-Bashir hopes to become the next chairman of the African Union during the summit. That will only be decided after a vote by members of the bloc.

Surely, the AU's 53-member states won't vote for the world's worst dictator to preside over them as chairman? Surely, ordinary African and Arab folk will be outraged? If not, why - can anyone please explain?
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Sudan's President Omar Bashir named as world's worst living dictator

Pictured below is the Republican Palace in Khartoum, where Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir lives.



Photo: His Excellency General Omar al- Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan [click photo for details]

Last year, President al-Bashir ranked a mere seventh among the 10 worst dictators but this year's list- published ten months ago when Darfur death toll was reported at 70,000 - has him as the worst of the worst.

This week, Darfur genocide enters its 4th year with the death toll estimated at 400,000 and rising.



Despite UN resolutions and the international community imploring President al-Bashir to rein in his Janjaweed militia, he and his regime denies backing the Janjaweed. In October 2004, BBC correspondent Koert Lindijer filed a news report entitled "Reining in the militia" in which he said he saw the President five months earlier addressing a meeting of his supporters in Nyala, south Darfur, and saluting the assembled Janjaweed fighters: "Long live the Mujahideen."

Sudan buys presidential yacht for AU summit

Sudanese refugees won't be thrilled to know the presidential yacht from Czechoslovakia arrived yesterday in Khartoum. The yacht is to be used to ferry delegates to the outrageous AU summit in Khartoum next month. Full report (ST) 30 Dec 2005.

African and Arab politics never cease to amaze - along with ordinary African and Arab folk who keep quiet about NIF and Darfur but waste no time in slating the West when it promotes global awareness campaigns like Live Aid, Live 8 and Make Poverty History.
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Czech yacht arrives in Sudan for AU summit

Copy of report by BBC Monitoring, Al Ayyam, 28 Dec, Khartoum:

The presidential yacht from Czechoslovakia arrived yesterday in Khartoum among tightened security. The yacht is to be used to ferry delegates to the AU summit in Khartoum next January from the presidential villas to Friendship Hall, the summit venue. The yacht, which has two decks and measures 9.5 m by 36 m, completed an arduous journey from Port Sudan to Khartoum and took about 20 days to arrive in Giad town yesterday. The yacht, which was bought in accordance with Sudanese naval specifications, has been named Al-Qasr [palace] and will be put on the Nile at the Baburat area in Bahri [Khartoum North]. Al-Qasr is the first large yacht to arrive in Sudan for presidential services.

http://www.unmis.org/english/documents/mmr/MMR2006/MMR-jan02.pdf.

Darfur genocide continues into 4th year - Ten Sudanese die as camp in Cairo stormed

Eric Reeves explains genocide continues in Darfur into its fourth year because there is no real international pressure on the architects of the genocide, the National Islamic Front security cabal in Khartoum, to bring the killing to a halt and none of its African and Arab neighbors really cares what NIF does in Darfur.

Despite a consistent and forceful Security Council response to the crisis in Darfur, reports from there confirm a marked deterioration since September, including an increase in ethnic clashes, destabilizing elements crossing in from Chad and continuing banditry, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released yesterday Dec 29.

Note, the U.N. refugee agency in Cairo has broken off talks with thousands of Sudanese protesters camped outside its building because they are making impossible demands, a U.N. official said on Thursday.

The UN says the 3,000 Sudanese protestors living in Cairo are economic migrants rather than those fleeing persecution, and so do not qualify as refugees. The protestors had been demanding that the UN refugee agency place them in a country with better conditions.

UNHCR says it has to prioritise help for people genuinely at risk of persecution and cannot solve issues of discrimination and deprivation in Egypt, where unemployment is high. Full report (BBC) 30 Dec 2005.

UPDATE 31 Dec 2005 CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police end protest - Egyptian riot police on Friday stormed a protest camp in Cairo set up by thousands of Sudanese refugees, sparking clashes that left 23 Sudanese dead, officials and witnesses said.

EU provides EUR 165M for humanitarian crises in Africa

The European Union Monday earmarked EUR165 million ($195 million) for 10 crisis centers in Africa, saying droughts, floods and armed conflict ravage the continent like "silent tsunamis."

Sudan is the biggest beneficiary and will receive EUR48 million, while Congo has been allocated EUR38 million. Burundi, Chad, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda will each receive over EUR10 million in aid. Full report (AP) Dec 26, 2005.

Sudanese official nominated as Arab League envoy in Iraq

You have to wonder what the UN Secretary-General and International Criminal Court Prosecuters think of this. SUNA news reports 25 Dec 2005 Sudan's President has accepted a request by the secretary-general of the Arab League, nominating the "presidential adviser" Mustafa Osman Ismail as a temporary representative of the Arab League in Iraq until the completion of the Iraqi reconciliation.
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ICC has list of 51 names of suspected Darfur war criminals

The International Criminal Court has a sealed list of 51 names of suspected war criminals, among them, it is believed, senior Sudanese officials, writes Eric Reeves. Extracts:

"Certainly on the list is First Vice President Ali Osman Taha, presently the most powerful member of the NIF.

Interior Minister Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Hussein is also surely on the list, as he is, among other things, the primary architect of forced removals of internally displaced persons from camps of refuge in Darfur.

So, too, is the director of security and intelligence within the NIF regime, Maj. Gen. Salih Gosh."

European Union Statement on Darfur peace talks in Abuja

Statement by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the Darfur peace talks in Abuja. - Dec 21, 2005 (Brussels) via Sudan Tribune.