Ismail: Sudan has proposed to boost the AU force in Darfur

Anything that boosts the African Union force in Darfur is better than nothing. News reports from a year or two ago in Sudan Watch archives, show that the late John Garang proposed to help Darfur by suggesting a joint force of 30,000 troops for Darfur - 10,000 each from SPLM/AU/GoS. I don't understand why what Khartoum is proposing can't be made to work, especially if 2,000 UNMIS monitors were deployed with enough of the right equipment and helicopters. A year or so ago, some pundits said Darfur rebels would never agree to such an arrangement. Too bad. John Garang wouldn't have made such an offer if he didn't think it would work.

Sudan Tribune Aug 27, 2006 (KHARTOUM):

Sudan reiterated its rejection to transfer of the mandate of the African Union troops to an United Nation force, instead Khartoum proposed to boost the AU force in the region.

Presidential Advisor, Mustafa Osman Ismail told the press after a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jenday Frazer that he renewed Sudan's opposition to UN peacekeepers in Darfur.

Ismail further indicated that Sudan has proposed to boost the AU force deployed in Darfur. Further, the government intends to deploy regular troops in the strife-torn Darfur region, besides troops of the former Darfur rebel groups signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA).

The Arab League backed this proposal last week. Sudanese president told UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that Khartoum would deploy 10,500 Sudanese troops to Darfur to provide security. However, Frazer had stressed before its arrival to Khartoum that the Sudanese forces "aren't considered neutral and so we don't feel that the people of Darfur will get any comfort" from such a move.

Ismail said they have informed Frazer that US should gives a chance for the implementation of the PDA signed on 5 May, and to allow the president of the Darfur interim authority, Minni Minawi, to form his administration.

Ismail said he told Frazer that tension would increase if a UN resolution was approved to pave way for an international force in Darfur.

The US assistant secretary of state for African affairs did not get much during two other meetings held with the Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol and Majzoub al-Khalifa who headed the government delegation to Darfur peace talks.

Lam Akol said he discussed with the visiting US official the government position that is opposed to the transition as well as the US vision in favour of the UN takeover of the AU mission in Darfur.

Sudanese presidential advisor Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed said a transfer of authority from African Union to UN troops would "imply lack of confidence by the UN in the African Union," adding that Khartoum continued to back the AU.

He further added "Sudan's decision is to stick with the African Union. As for their demand for a UN role - yes - but only in humanitarian assistance and in the strengthening of the AU forces - participation in strengthening the humanitarian role and support for the African forces so that they can complete their mandate of organizing security."

Sudan's Darfur plan envisages a joint force of 26,500 GoS/SLM-Minnawi troops by year end

Eric Reeves' latest opinion piece [hat tip POTP ] - excerpt:

As it [Sudan gov't] refuses an invitation even to discuss the UN Security Council resolution on security in Darfur, what has Khartoum proposed instead? Our best guide is again the report of Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi (to the Security Council, August 17, 2006):

"the plan does not indicate a willingness on the part of the Government of Sudan to agree to a transition to a United Nations operation in Darfur. In addition, the plan seeks to address the security situation outside the framework of the relevant Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) bodies. In particular, it envisages the combined deployment of 26,500 additional Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM)/Minni Minawi troops to Darfur by the end of the year. As members of this Council will appreciate, this would not only be inconsistent with the DPA's restriction on military deployments outside of agreed areas of control, but would also violate the arms embargo imposed by the Security Council in paragraph 7 of resolution 1591 (2005)." (Paragraph 8)

CHAD: NRF rebels aim to extend in South Darfur & Jebel Marra

Via Sudan Vision and African News Dimension Aug 27, 2006:

Reports from Sudanese-Chadian borders indicate that a Chadian cargo of gasoline and petrol is expected to be delivered to the National Redemption Front which rejects the DPA in the regions of Bahai and Al-Tina inside the Chadian frontiers.

Information obtained by Sudan Vision from Chad asserted that the process is being carried through follow up and coordination by Adam Ali Shogar in N'djamena. They added that the Redemption Front needs those supplies to achieve its objectives of extending in South Darfur and Jebel Marra after it occupied Kalkal and Sabah regions, which are still under their control.

Observers stated that the support processes by Chad for Darfur rebels who reject the DPA are still going despite all the agreement and means of understanding signed between the Sudanese and Chadian governments and despite Chad's pledges of abstaining support for rebels.

A Redemption Front force, led by Hassan Bijo, had recently stopped and robbed (17) tankers which contain Avgas that belonged to the African Union and some organizations on their way between Al-Fashir and Um Kadoda and at about (20) kilometers from Um Kadoda.

Information indicate that the whole cargo arrived at Bir Mazza region where Commander Adam Bakhit is stationed and the cargo is on its way to Chad to be swapped for ordinary fuel, arms or land-cruiser vehicles.

These same observers stated that Chad might be unable or unwilling for some internal or external reasons to stop support for groups rejecting the DPA. They asserted that such support will definitely disturb Darfur as well as regional peace and will violate the agreements and all memos and pledges between the two governments.

It is worth noting that a senior delegation from has arrived in Khartoum headed by the Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Alami. It is believed that the Sudanese government will deliver to him a strong message on the continued Chadian support to rebels, especially at a time when Sudan is striving hard to implement the DPA in accordance to visions of international intervention, which is still rejected by the Sudanese government.

US envoy Frazer gets a chilly welcome and a "NO" from Sudanese president

Sudan has reserved a chilly welcome to US envoy Jendayi Frazer who arrived yesterday to persuade a defiant president to accept the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, Sudan Tribune reported 27 Aug 2006. Excerpt:

After the angry mob at the Khartoum Airport orchestrated by the ruling National Congress Party, Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir said that Frazer's mission would do little to change his country'sposition.

"We will not hand over our country to international forces, whether Frazer comes here or not... Frazer might be accustomed to hearing 'yes' from many leaders but here she'll get a 'no'," Beshir said Sunday.

Bashir was speaking before a meeting with the Sudanese journalist in Diaspora. It was not immediately clear who Frazer would be meeting during her visit.

Reeves: If Khartoum's massive military offensive in N Darfur takes place, there will be massive civilian destruction

Coalition for Darfur points today to an interview with Eric Reeves at Democracy Now! Excerpt:

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about this latest news and the reaction of the Sudanese government?

ERIC REEVES: There are many facets to Khartoum's decision. It's to date paid no real price for its obduracy, its refusal to abide by international norms, either in the North-South conflict, which nominally ended in January 2005, or in its genocidal conduct of war in Darfur. What I am hearing from my sources on the ground and what the Hedi Annabi, the head of U.N. peacekeeping, recently said in a report to the Security Council that I have seen, is that Khartoum is right now planning a massive military offensive in North Darfur, which has been the most violent of the three Darfur states.

If this offensive takes place, there will be massive, massive civilian destruction. I think we're also likely to see a withdrawal of virtually all humanitarian workers. This will leave some 1.2 million people completely dependent on humanitarian aid, without any assistance whatsoever. By my own calculation, some 500,000 people have already died. As many more could die in the coming year if current trends continue.

Only with the deployment of an effective -- and I emphasize effective -- international force can genocidal destruction be brought to a halt. Khartoum gives no sign of capitulating on this, and I'll be very interested to know what Jendayi Frazer, President Bush's envoy to Khartoum, takes with her in the way of sticks and pressures to bring to bear on this recalcitrant regime.

AU and European diplomats say Taha had in private agreed last year to a UN takeover in Darfur

Reuters' Opheera McDoom report 26 Aug 2006 - Pressure Mounts on Sudan to Accept UN Force [via CFD] excerpt:

"... any reported divisions between Bashir and his deputy on a UN presence in Darfur have disappeared with Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha's first direct and public rebuke of the international community.

"Dialogue is maintained with the international community and it is one of the principles of the foreign policy of Sudan, but it does not mean surrender and cancellation of the national identity and the national will," the state news agency SUNA quoted Taha as saying on Thursday.

AU and European diplomats say Taha had in private agreed last year to a UN takeover in Darfur once a peace deal was reached. Since the AU-brokered deal was signed in May, Taha had kept largely quiet on the issue.

In contrast Bashir has made speeches almost daily for the past few weeks, on each occasion making sure to repeat his rejection of the force.

One Western diplomat who declined to be named said: "I think there is little to be positive about at this stage." [edit]

Bashir depicts a U.N. presence in Darfur as a Western attempt to colonise Sudan. But other politicians say his party is worried the troops would be used to arrest officials likely to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigating alleged war crimes in the region.

"(There are some who) don't want to accept the U.N. forces if this at the end will mean the signature of their own death certificates," said Ghazi Suleiman, a member of parliament for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which formed a coalition government with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in 2005.

He said the SPLM would not be part of any confrontation with the international community and said privately Bashir's only worry was about the mandate of the U.N. troops.

"There are reactionary statements but when it comes to real diplomacy real decision-making, the president just wants to be satisfied about the mandate of these forces," Suleiman added.

Sudan's implementing Darfur Peace Agreement with no need for permission or input from UN or anyone else (Polgreen)

Copy of commentary by Lydia Polgreen, New York Times 26 Aug 2006 [US to press Sudan's leader to accept UN Force - hat tip POTP] Excerpt:

Sudan's foreign minister, Lam Akol, said in an interview here [Khartoum] that the plan to use troops to pacify Darfur is already in motion.

"With this plan, we are implementing the Darfur Peace Agreement," Mr Akol said. "We do not need the permission or the input of the United Nations or anyone else." [ ...]

Mr Morrison, who proposed the blueprint that led to United States engagement with Sudan to end its war in the south even before Sept 11, said with little leverage left, the United States should focus on preventing the total collapse of the vast aid effort in Darfur, a lifeline to millions, and on stopping the bloodbath of that the impending onslaught by the Sudanese Army would surely cause.

"I don't mean to pretend there is any fix here," Mr. Morrison said. "What is an option is to face up to a fact that we are in a slide right now and we need to push back and contain the slide to prevent a catastrophe."

Sudanese protesters mob US envoy's car

Angry demonstrators mobbed the car of US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer after she arrived in Sudan, and demanded that she return home.



Photo: Dozens of protesters, chanting slogans and raising banners reading "Go Back Home", "You Want War" and "We Want Peace" showed up at the airport, covered her car with banners and blocked her way before police intervened. (AFP) Full story Sudan Tribune 26 Aug 2006.



Photo: Sudanese demonstrators cover the windshield of the official vehicle of U.S. diplomat to Africa, Jendayi Frazer, with placards as she leaves the airport in Khartoum, August 26, 2006. (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdalah)



Photo: U.S. diplomat to Africa, Jendayi Frazer, smiles as she arrives in Khartoum, August 26, 2006. As pressure mounts on Sudan to accept UN troops in Darfur, the Khartoum government is closing ranks in defiance, rising fears of a deadlock that could hasten Darfur's descent into chaos. (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdalah)

US warns of security crisis in Darfur unless UN force deploys

Note the last line of this excerpt (from VOA report 25 Aug 2006) tells us Frazer said she does not expect a Chinese veto of the resolution enabling the new UN force, despite reservations expressed by Beijing:

The U.S. State Department's Africa policy chief warned Friday of a severe deterioration in security conditions in Sudan's western Darfur region, unless a proposed United Nations force is allowed to deploy. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer is heading to Sudan for a new effort to persuade authorities to accept an upgraded peacekeeping presence.

Assistant Secretary Frazer gave the grim assessment as she prepared to depart for Khartoum to deliver a message from President Bush to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, urging him to end delaying tactics and accept a revamped Darfur security force.

She said that with Sudan threatening a new military offensive in Darfur, and local rebel groups apparently making similar plans, the security situation could lurch out of control unless the proposed upgrade of the current African Union monitoring mission into a full-scale U.N. peacekeeping force goes forward:

"We're very concerned. It's not just the government of Sudan that's preparing for an offensive. We also have heard reports that the non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement, the National Resistance Movement and others, are also preparing and rearming themselves and preparing for an offensive. So we think the security environment is deteriorating and deteriorating very quickly and we're extremely concerned about this," she said.

When they signed the Darfur peace accord in Nigeria in May, leaders of the Khartoum government signaled acceptance of the plan to upgrade the current seven-thousand member A.U. mission into a much larger United Nations force.

But they have since reneged, with President Bashir even suggesting that Sudan might forcibly resist the introduction of U.N. soldiers.

Assistant Secretary Frazer said one reason for her hastily arranged mission will be to brief the Sudanese leader on details of the peacekeeping plan, and counter complaints by the Sudanese government that it has not been adequately consulted. "We believe that we have consulted them. But we will go the last mile to make sure that we have been able to directly talk to them about the re-hatting (converting) of this force and what U.S. intentions are. This is, of course coordinated with other international actors who I think are delivering a very similar message. But I think that the key to success in Darfur in terms of getting a credible, non-partisan, as such, peacekeeping force there, is for the international community to act together," she said.

The African Union mission has suffered from logistical and budget problems and its mandate expires at the end of September.

Frazer said the United States and its allies want a Security Council resolution enacted by the end of this month that will authorize the force upgrade.

The State Department official said more than five thousand of the best-trained A.U. troops would form the nucleus of the United Nations force on October first, and at least 12,000 more U.N. soldiers would be phased in later.

She said if the transformation was not to occur until the beginning of next year, as some U.N. officials have proposed, the situation in Darfur could slide back to the level of violence that prevailed in 2004, which the United States termed genocide.

In the talk with reporters which immediately preceded her departure for Khartoum, Frazer said she did not expect a Chinese veto of the resolution enabling the new force, despite reservations expressed by Beijing.

Photo: Assistant Secretary Frazer (Aug. 24): "I will stress the United States commitment to ending the suffering of the people of Darfur. We cannot let the violence and atrocities continue. We cannot let humanitarian workers and peacekeepers continue to come under attack and we cannot let the DPA (Darfur Peace Agreement) fail." [Hat tip POTP]

Aug 25 2006 U.S. Department of State report on Assistant Secretary Frazer: Travel to Khartoum, Sudan.

See Remarks by Frazer 24 Aug 2006.

Aug 25 2006 Reuter's Sue Fleming report: US Says Darfur Is Getting Worse, U.N. Must Go In- "We believe that the time to act is now and that there can't be further delay," Frazer told reporters. "The security environment is deteriorating and deteriorating very quickly."

US says UN force needed to stop Sudan offensive in Darfur

Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer spoke to reporters hours before leaving for Sudan to exhort Sudanese officials to accept the presence of a UN peacekeeping force, Sudan Tribune reported Aug 25, 2006. Excerpt:

Frazer said the people of Darfur wouldn't regard government troops as a neutral force because of Khartoum's record of supporting Janjaweed militias who have terrorized the region.

At the same time, she said, the abuses of anti-government rebel forces in Darfur shouldn't be ignored.

Frazer, who will meet with el-Bashir in the coming days, said she is willing to go the "last mile" to overcome his opposition to a UN force.

The financially strapped 7,000-strong AU force now deployed in Darfur is to cease to exist on Sept. 30. Under a proposal that Frazer says has broad backing in the UN Security Council, the Africans would be "rehatted" as a U.N. force the next day and eventually be joined by other soldiers.

Unless the UN force can be created, there will be no force in place in Darfur "to stop this government from carrying out what has been the genocide," Frazer said.

She predicted that her mission to Khartoum will be successful.

"I'm fully confident there will be a transition to a UN force," she said.

Vatican Radio: Keeping Peace in Darfur

Vatican Radio news report 25 Aug 2006:

Hopes for peace in Darfur have suffered after Sudan rejected a proposal for peacekeepers from the United Nations. Tens of thousands of people have died and 2.5 million been driven from their homes by violence in Darfur since early 2003. Marina Peter is the director of Sudan Focal Point Europe, an international network of mainly church-based organisations working in the region. She said the chances of reaching agreement over a peacekeeping force were bleak...

PHR condemns Sudanese gov't plan

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) strongly condemns the Government of Sudan's plans to send 10,500 of its own troops to quell continuing violence in Darfur, and calls on the UN Security Council instead to pass the resolution expediting the deployment of a robust UN force to the region. Full report via Coalition for Darfur.

I wonder if it could be possible for the proposed 10,500 Sudanese troops being deployed to Darfur to act as a peackeeping force and operate under the same mandate (not Chapter 6 or 7) as that of the African Union mission in Darfur.

Sudanese Islamists threaten to fight UN Darfur force

Reuters' Opheera McDoom report 25 Aug 2006 via ReliefWeb - excerpt:

Khartoum's many Islamic groups have delivered a clear message.

"We categorically refuse U.N. troops in Darfur," said Abdel Wahhab Mohamed Ali Ahmed, head of the Sudanese higher council for the coordination of Islamic groups, formed last year.

"And if they come we will fight them until they leave."

The council is composed of representatives from Sudan's main Islamist movements, including Ansar al-Sunna and the Hizb ut-Tahrir group, outlawed in neighbouring Egypt.

"The colonialists have united all the Muslim groups in Sudan ... and we support the government in this position," said Ahmed Malik, another member of the higher council.

University professor and respected Islamist preacher Sadiq al-Hajj Abu Dafirah said any U.N. troops had to be given the choice to convert to Islam or leave the country.

"We will use dialogue but finally we would be obliged to fight them if they don't see the validity of our arguments," he said. He added talks could last years.

"A Muslim, when he is forced to fight, does so with sorrow."

Al Qaeda's statements on Sudan raise the spectre of a wider conflict, that could draw in foreign fighters. Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri have said their movement would fight in Darfur if U.N. troops deploy.

While Sudan hosted bin Laden in the 1990s, relations soured and under U.S. and regional pressure Khartoum asked him to leave in 1996. In April this year, Bin Laden criticised Sudan for agreeing the U.S.-backed peace deal for the north-south war.

Sudan's Islamists say they are not entirely in agreement with Al Qaeda's methods but Ahmed said they would happily take help from anyone to prevent U.N. troops deploying.

"We have camps here and we are training. We are ready."

Others, like preacher Abu Dafirah, were more circumspect.

"I'm sorry to say that yes (Al Qaeda) would find some support here," he said.

The United Nations is aware of the hostility.

It recently raised its security level in Khartoum, where hundreds of U.N. staff live and work, because of what officials called "credible threats to their security."

Islamist leaders said even Bashir would have cause to fear them if he gave in to international pressure on a Darfur force.

"Bashir cannot give in now, his people would not respect him, even his wife would not respect him if he did," said Malik.

Ahmed sai if Bashir's government agreed to allow U.N. troops in Darfur, "Then we will fight them too."

Bush sends envoy to Sudan to push for 2,000 UN troops in Darfur by Oct 1

The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer, announced Thursday that she will travel to Sudan on Friday.

The secretary said she would carry a letter from US President GW Bush stating the need for urgent action to halt the violence in Darfur. She said the goal would be to get the first few thousand troops on the ground by October 1. - VOA 24 Aug 2006.

UN Security Council to meet Monday on Darfur without Khartoum attendance

The UN Security Council will hold a meeting next week to discuss Darfur despite Khartoum's refusal to participate, the council president said Thursday.

The meeting on Monday will discuss further a draft resolution by the US and Britain to transfer the AU peacekeeping operation in Darfur to the UN, a move opposed by Khartoum.

Full report by DPA 24 Aug 2006 via M&C.

Sudan's leader postpones UN meeting on Darfur

Sudanese President Bashir on Wednesday declined an invitation to attend a UN Security Council next week to explain his plan to deploy more than 10,000 Sudanese troops to Darfur instead of a UN peacekeeping operation, DPA/M&C reported today - excerpt:

Al-Bashir said such a meeting was welcome to consolidate the peace process in Darfur.

But he added, 'In view of having a fruitful discussion of the council on the matter, with the effective participation of regional organizations strongly engaged in the situation in Darfur, we deem it appropriate to postpone the meeting to enable better preparations.'

There was no immediate response from Effah-Apenteng as the council had no formal meeting on Wednesday. The three organizations invited [the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conference and African Union] did not respond.

Sudan rejects draft UN Security Council resolution on Darfur

Sudan's ruling party has rejected a US-UK draft Security Council resolution to deploy UN peacekeepers in Darfur, saying it would violate national sovereignty, the official media reported Thursday: Aug 24 2006 AP report via Sudan Tribune Sudan rejects draft UN Security Council resolution on Darfur - excerpt:

According to Radio Omdurman and the SUNA news agency, the draft was discussed by the National Congress Party's ruling council and a parliamentary group chaired by President Omar al-Bashir at a meeting Wednesday night.

"The draft resolution is worse than the previous ones because it constitutes an attempt to impose complete guardianship on the Sudan," lawmaker Ghazi Salah Eldin Atabani said after the meeting.

"It did not pay any consideration to the bodies set up for implementation of the Darfur peace agreement and was not presented to the Sudanese authorities."

He said any council member who supported the draft would be considered an enemy of Sudan.

Photo: Members of the Sudanese Popular Defence Forces, hold knifes and guns while another carries a banner with Arabic writing reading 'Death to America' during a demonstration, in Kartoum, Sudan, Mar 8, 2006. (AP)

Aug 24 2006 Sapa/AFP report by Mohammed Ali Saeed in Khartoum via Mail & Guardian: Sudan reiterates rejection of UN peacekeepers

"The draft resolution is worse than previous ones as it is an attempt to impose complete tutelage on the Sudan," National Congress Party chairperson Ghazi Salah Eldin Atabani was quoted as saying after a meeting on Wednesday.

"Any state that sponsors this draft resolution will be regarded as assuming a hostile attitude against the Sudan," said the official, describing the draft as "unacceptable and not negotiable under any sort of pressure".

UPDATE: Aug 24 2006 IRIN via ReliefWeb: Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir has called on the United Nations Security Council to "be patient" in resolving the conflict in Darfur and indicated, in a letter to the Council President earlier this week, that the UK-US draft resolution for a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur was unacceptable to Khartoum.

"We request the Security Council to be patient and not to be in a hurry to adopt a new resolution on the matter, and to allow the government of the Sudan sufficient time to resolve the situation in Darfur," according to the August 21 letter to Council President, Ghanian Ambassador Nana Effah-Apentang.

Sudan's leader asks UNSC to delay UN force to give him time to bring peace to Darfur

My take on the following excerpt from today's AP report by Edith Lederer is that Sudanese President Bashir has explained in writing to the UN Security Council that Sudan's six-month plan for Darfur is to implement the Darfur Peace Agreement calling for GoS/AU/UN to "return security and humanitarian situation in Darfur to normal", that he wants to be given time to succeed in this within six months, and urges the Council to delay transferring peacekeeping duties to a UN force because such a force would lead to violence and UNMANAGEABLE CONFRONTATIONS among all parties in Darfur, including the UN forces. Also, I take the President's letter to mean Sudan won't be explaining its plan further to an open UN Security Council next week. Ball appears now to be in Arab League court. Everyone has to pull together to fund the AU in Darfur for 6 months from Sep 30 and ensure it receives the right equipment asap.

Excerpt from AP report Aug 23, 2006 (via Forbes.com):

Sudan's president asked the UN Security Council to give him time to bring peace to conflict-wracked Darfur and urged it to delay action on transferring peacekeeping duties to a UN force, according to a letter circulated Wednesday.

Omar al-Bashir said there was strong opposition from residents and leaders in Darfur to the UN force and warned that deployment would lead "to acts of violence and unmanageable confrontations among all parties in Darfur, including the United Nations forces."

Al-Bashir's letter seeking more time to restore peace appeared to be a response to an invitation from the current Security Council president to the Sudanese government and other key players in Darfur to a meeting Monday to discuss the draft resolution.

The Security Council was scheduled to meet Thursday morning to discuss Al-Bashir's letter.

In the letter, Al-Bashir said he wants to concentrate on implementing the peace agreement under a six-month plan he already submitted to Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He said it calls for the government, in cooperation with the African Union and U.N. agencies, to "return the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur to normal."

Floods kill 27, damage 10,000 houses in Sudan - AU soldiers battle sand, rain, mud

The Blue and White Nile rivers, which meet in Khartoum, are threatening government ministries and the Republican Palace as the water in the capital rose to less than a metre below Nile street, home to the government's main buildings, Reuters' Opheera McDoom reported today:

Tens of thousands of square kilometres of farmland, in a country where most people depend on agriculture as a way of life, have been engulfed by the water.

A boy washes rickshaw



Aug 22, 2006: A boy washes a rickshaw in the overflowing Nile river in Omdurman, near Khartoum Aug 22, 2006. (Reuters/Candace Feit)

Rain storm



Aug 22, 2006: Yesterday morning we had a very large rain storm that lasted about ten to twenty minutes. (Soldier of Africa in Darfur, W Sudan)

Alotta water



Aug 22, 2006: As you can see from this photo a lot of water flowed off in a very short time. For some reason water in Darfur stays on the surface for hours and does not sink into the earth like in South Africa. (Soldier of Africa in Darfur, W Sudan)

Well stuck



Aug 20, 2006: This APC deviated just slightly from the road and this was the result. These vehicles are armoured so they weigh many tonnes. Not only do they sink away easily, but if we are not careful we may damage certain areas of road like drifts and cause major problems for the local population. Under the surface of a drift an APC may leave very deep furrows, which can trap the vehicles of the local population passing through. (Soldier of Africa in Darfur, W Sudan)

Stuck in the mud



Aug 15, 2006: Being stuck in the sand has just changed to being stuck in the mud. George, one of the EU reps, from Slovakia managed to drive into this wadi. I pulled him out with my vehicle. The guy in white is our interpreter. He used to be the headmaster of one of the local schools. (Soldier of Africa in Darfur, W Sudan)

Mud



Aug 15, 2006: Another photo to show where George got stuck. The harder road was about ten metres further to the left, where we crossed. (Soldier of Africa in Darfur, W Sudan)

Green day



Aug 15, 2006: Hard to imagine that less than two months ago this was all just sand, now it is green. We were on our way to Ushara Hadahid, a very small village for a confidence building patrol this morning. (Soldier of Africa in Darfur, W Sudan)

Start of a Sandstorm



Aug 14, 2006: Yesterday afternoon we had another sandstorm and as usual afterwards a lot of rain. This photo does not do it justice. The wind was so strong I held onto the hardboard door in my tent lest it be blown off. (Soldier of Africa in Darfur, W Sudan)

Inaugural meeting of Sector 3 Cease Fire Commission (CFC)



Aug 15, 2006: Yesterday afternoon we had the inaugural meeting of the new Sector 3 Cease Fire Commission (CFC). Hopefully we will have success as they monitor the implementation of the DPA (Darfur Peace Agreement). (Soldier of Africa in Darfur, W Sudan)

New MILOB in Darfur



Aug 23, 2006: Capt Modipa is a new MILOB [military observer] from Pretoria. He arrived here yesterday. Good luck with your deployment. Poor guy. (Soldier of Africa in Darfur, W Sudan)

Detention of Sudanese journalists in Khartoum and Marawi

SOAT Human Rights Alert: 23 August 2006 - excerpt:

On 16 August 2006 at 02:30am, approximately twenty police officers arrested Naser Eldien Ahmed Altayeb, (26 yrs), journalist working for the Arabic daily, Alayam newspaper. Following his arrest, Mr. Naser Eldien was taken to a nearby police vehicle. Inside the car, Mr. Naser Eldien was beaten with sticks by two of the arresting officers.

Mr. Naser Eldien was arrested whilst reporting on the forced relocation of residents at Dar al Salaam, situated 20 miles South of Khartoum in Algazera province following a Court Order to evict the residents. The residents of Dar al Salaam, mainly IDPs from Southern Sudan and Darfur have resided in the area for over two decades and have refused to move pending a suitable alternative, which they were negotiating with the government. The land in Dar al Salaam has been sold to an Egyptian businessperson who planned to develop the land as a Theme Park.

In a separate incident, on 15 August 2006, at 02:00am, four journalists were detained and prevented from entering Amri, Marawi, Northern Sudan. The journalists had travelled to Marawi to report on the plight of thousands of people made homeless following flood caused by heavy rains on 10 August 2006, which destroyed all the homes constructed by the government to house the displaced population in the region. The details of the journalists are as follows:

1. Mougahed Abdalla; Ray Alshab Daily Newspaper

2. Aboulgasiem Farahna; Alowan Daily Newspaper

3. Moutaz Mahjoob; Al Adwaa Daily Newspaper

4. Mouheb Maher; Al Sudani Daily newspaper