The Hague: The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has nearly completed an investigation into war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region and has sufficient evidence to file charges soon, he said on Thursday.
"Based on a careful and thorough source evaluation of all the evidence collected, we were able to identify the gravest incidents and some of those who could be considered to be the most criminally responsible," Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a speech to the annual meeting of the court's member states.
"I plan to have collected this information by the beginning of December," Moreno-Ocampo said.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Rape and torture among war crimes in Darfur, says international court
Nov 24 2006 Reuters report via Gulfnews. Excerpt:
Sudan Closing off Darfur to Outside World
Excerpt from commentary by Katharine Houreld, Christian Science Monitor (hat tip Sudan Man)
Nov 17, 2006 (AL-FASHIR) - The African Union patrol was only seven miles from Sirba, the site of one of the latest Darfur massacres, when they were forced to turn back. Nearly 400 Arab militiamen in Sudanese government uniforms, with new Land Cruisers and weapons, blocked the dusty track.
Tuesday's incident was only the latest in a crackdown on access for international observers, journalists, and humanitarian organizations - a pattern that is becoming wearily familiar to those working in Darfur. "The timing is no coincidence," says Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch. "[Sudan is] stemming the flow of information from Darfur while it continues to commit massive crimes and run a military campaign."
As outgoing UN chief Kofi Annan began a major push to stem the escalating crisis during high-level meetings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, the Sudanese government told top UN humanitarian official Jan Egeland that all his proposed destinations on a three-day trip to Darfur are too insecure to visit this weekend.
Last week, the Norwegian Refugee Council announced it was being forced out of Darfur after its permit to operate had been indefinitely suspended for the fifth time, making working conditions "impossible." Other foreign aid workers say they have been denied permission to reenter the country after leaving to attend a family emergency or to seek medical treatment.
Thirty villagers were reported killed this week in Sirba, but no outside investigators have been able to enter the town to confirm the reports. Sudanese rebels accused government troops and militias Thursday of killing more than 50 people in another attack. Two weeks ago, 63 people were reported killed in Jebel Moon, and their bodies buried in the desert.
In that case, investigators were able to access the massacre site, and found that more than 20 of the victims were children. Some of them had been shot through the head. Survivors described Arab men in uniforms, with Thuraya satellite phones, new vehicles, and animals, similar to the group seen only a few miles away barring the road to Sirba.
After the government signed a peace deal with one of the three rebel factions last May, the militias, known as the janjaweed, were supposed to be disarmed. Instead, the government appears to be using them as a proxy force to avoid accusations of cease-fire violations. But accurate reporting of militia movements, and alleged massacres, is becoming increasingly difficult.
Journalists able to secure a visa face a bewildering array of permits and paperwork; the Sudanese government must be informed in advance of any travel in Darfur. Officials insist on listening to interviews; they intimidate interviewees, and have attempted to confiscate notebooks.
"I can take any of [your permits] I want ... you're going to hell," one official hissed at this reporter. "Do you think this is a free country?" Last week, all permits for journalists to travel to the region were being denied.
The African Union (AU) monitoring force of nearly 7,000 soldiers is also frequently stymied in its investigative attempts. Officials say fuel is stolen, government permission for them to leave their bases is refused, and their soldiers have been killed when convoys were attacked.
During the one-day talks in Ethiopia with UN, EU, and Arab League officials Thursday, Mr. Annan pushed for a "hybrid" force of AU and UN peacekeepers to be allowed into Darfur. But early indications were that Sudan would reject this.
Sudan FVP Kiir to visit S. Africa on Darfur, post-war rebuilding
Nov 23 2006 Xinhua report via People's Daily Online - excerpt:
Issues to dominate discussions between Mbeki and Kiir would include the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan, the situation in Darfur and the situation with regard to the expiration of the mandate of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) at the end of this year, according to the statement.Nov 22 2006 ST article - Salva kiir holds talks in Cairo on South Sudan development: The two parties signed a number of memos of understanding in the field of irrigation, including completion of studies on Jonglei canal and other projects.
They will also discuss post-conflict reconstruction and development initiatives within the context of the April 2005 Oslo Pledging conference and the Capacity and Institution Building Project for Southern Sudan.
South Africa now chairs the African Union's Post-conflict and Reconstruction Committee on the Sudan.
Sudan FM wants international border patrols
Nov 23 2006 MND report - excerpt:
Sudan's minister for foreign affairs says an existing agreement to form a special AU patrolling unit between Sudan and Chad and the Central African Republic, must be activated to monitor arms trafficking and stabilize the borders. The minister spoke in Tripoli where he attended an AU/EU conference on migration. From there, Sabina Castelfranco reports.
Khartoum's minister for foreign affairs, Mohamed El-Samani El-Wasila, says a joint patrol, under control of the African Union, must be deployed to put an end to arms smuggling between Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic.
He says the recent instability in Chad is not related to Sudan, but due to internal political developments that have led to unrest. Sudan, he added, wants stability in Chad because this affects the situation in Darfur.
"The internal political developments in Chad led to the support of the rebellious from Sudan because there are some factions in the Chadian government supporting the factions of rebellious from Darfur," he said. "And due to the fact that the border between Sudan and Chad is open and uncontrollable, and moreover we share about at least 20 tribes, so nobody can know who is who crossing."
He said, "What we need now from the international community is to encourage getting on board all the factions because no matter how the volume of troops, the nationality of troops, or the composition of troops, if you bring them there in Darfur, unless you get and involve all the factions from Darfur you cannot make sure that you are going to achieve peace," he said.
African Union accuses Darfur rebels of ambush plots
Rebels have long sustained their operations by ambushing and stealing from UN, aid and AU convoys in Darfur, condemned by UN officials. The rebels deny any looting but Reuters witnesses have seen UN trucks and other vehicles in rebel areas.
Full story by Opheera McDoom, Reuters, 23 Nov 2006.
Full story by Opheera McDoom, Reuters, 23 Nov 2006.
UN says 4m in Darfur need aid - UN & AU call meeting of rebel groups refusing to sign Darfur Peace Agreement
Nov 23 2006 AP report by Edith M Lederer - U.N.: Four Million in Darfur Need Aid - via Guardian. Excerpt:
In a report to the UN Security Council and comments to reporters afterward, he [Jan Egeland] said the best hope for peace is an agreement last week between Sudan and the United Nations that could open the door to the deployment of thousands of UN troops in Darfur as part of a "hybrid" UN-African Union force.
The agreement also called for a revitalized effort under UN and AU auspices to persuade more rebel groups to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, briefing the council later, said the AU and the UN would soon call a meeting of groups that have refused to sign the peace agreement "with the hope of resolving outstanding issues by the end of the year."
If there is "massive pressure on the parties" from all 15 members of the Security Council, and from Asian, African and Islamic countries, Egeland said, "we may make historic deals on the political front."
Hi and welcome to "We blog for Darfur"
This project is still in its start.
See Grandiose Parlor Blogging For Darfur:
More later. So much to track and absorb right now. Still reading and digesting important news reports, posted here below past few days. Scroll down this page and glance through headlines to see what I mean.
"We haven't officially launched it yet. Once we do, we hope that as many bloggers as possible will join us in spreading awareness. Let's not rely on the main stream media. Let us get the word out and spread awareness on the blogosphere instead. Let us inform. Let us give a voice to our voiceless fellow human beings. Let us blog, blog and blog some more."Blogging for Darfur
See Grandiose Parlor Blogging For Darfur:
"... a new blogging initiative: “We blog for Darfur” - launched by Drima, an African blogger at Sudanese Thinker, and some Middle Eastern bloggers - aims to shed more light on the events in Darfur. Drima, is a Sudanese student in South East Asia whose eight month blogging stint has been impressive.See Global Voices Online - Sudan: we blog for Darfur: Grandiose Parlor writes about a new blogging initiative, We Blog for Darfur.
More later. So much to track and absorb right now. Still reading and digesting important news reports, posted here below past few days. Scroll down this page and glance through headlines to see what I mean.
Annan awaits Sudan letter on hybrid UN force for Darfur; UN aid chief warns of 'abyss'
Nov 23 2006 African News Dimension report:
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said he was awaiting a letter from Sudan's Government regarding the agreement reached last week on a hybrid UN-African Union force for strife-torn Darfur, while the world body's top aid official warned the Security Council that the region was heading towards an 'abyss' of suffering.
"I spoke to President [Omar Hassan Al] Bashir today and he has indicated that he will be writing to me shortly and I think I should wait for his letter. But in Addis Ababa we agreed to the three phases," Mr. Annan told reporters after briefing the Council on last Thursday's deal reached in the Ethiopian capital.
"The Sudanese delegation had a few questions [on the force] that they wanted to go back and discuss and that's why in presenting the issue to the public I said they had agreed to hybrid operations in principle subject to the clarification of the three issues. And the three issues were the size of the force, the appointment of the Force Commander and the Special Representative, which would be jointly reporting to UN and African Union."
The communique that came out of last week's high-level meeting recommended a peacekeeping force of 17,000 with 3,000 police however, as the UN's top aid official warned the Council today before Mr. Annan's briefing, it may take months for these forces to be deployed but "Darfurians can not wait another day."
"We need therefore the attacks to stop now... All of this leaves the situation in West Darfur, and in Darfur at large, closer to the abyss than I have witnessed since my first visit in 2004," said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland, who recently returned after his fourth mission to the region was cut short because the Government refused him access to several areas, citing security concerns.
"The Government's failure to protect its own citizens even in areas where there are no rebels has been shameful, and continues. So does our own failure, more than a year after world leaders in this very building pledged their own responsibility to protect civilians where the Government manifestly fails to do so."
Painting a particularly grim picture of the humanitarian situation in Darfur, where 4 million people - two thirds of the region's population - are now in need of emergency assistance, Mr. Egeland also repeated his warning of the conflict's wider impact in Africa, while criticizing the Government for its state of denial toward the atrocities.
"Large new militias are being armed as we speak while none are being disarmed... New displacement is also fuelled by cross-border raids of armed groups who receive arms and safe haven on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border, thereby rapidly pushing the conflict towards a regional escalation," he said.
"The rampant insecurity, proliferation of arms, and banditry on roads has taken its toll on the delivery capacity of an increasingly beleaguered humanitarian community... If this trend continues and the world's largest humanitarian operation falters, if the lifeline for millions of civilians collapses, the situation in Darfur will spiral out of control," he warned.
"Earlier, each time I have travelled to Sudan, I have hoped to see a fundamental change in the attitude of the Government, an attitude that has been characterized by denial, neglect and the blaming of others. Yet again, I saw this time no such change, but rather a further entrenching of this attitude. Senior Government officials continue to deny the killings, the displacements and the rape of women."
Mr. Egeland expressed his hope that last week's deal reached in Addis Ababa can "mark an historic turning point to something better," but he also expressed the fear that "time is now lost in talks on the intricacies of the AU/UN partnership rather than the immediate deployment of a more effective force with a more proactive mandate."
At least 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Darfur as a result of the conflict between Government forces, allied militias and rebels seeking greater autonomy, and more than 2 million others have been displaced.
But the Government has rejected the expansion of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) to Darfur and at present the UN assists a 7,000-strong African Union mission (AMIS) and is currently working on a $21 million support package. However the AMIS mandate expires on 31 December and Mr. Annan warned yesterday that the world "cannot afford a gap, a vacuum at the end of the year."
The AU Peace and Security Council is scheduled to meet in Abuja on 29 November when they will discuss Darfur and AMIS.
The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno, also briefed the Council today on UN support to AMIS as well as on a fact-finding mission to Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) regarding the impact of the killings in neighbouring Darfur.
Representatives from almost 20 countries also spoke during the Council session.
Sudan's Bashir informs Blair and Annan of his rejection of UN force - UN awaits letter from Bashir
Via Sudan Tribune:
Nov 22, 2006 (KHARTOUM) - In phones calls with British Prime minister and UN Secretary General, the Sudanese president repeated his rejection of any UN forces or UN command for the African Union peacekeeping forces in Darfur.
The President pointed out to the unchanged position of the Sudan that the command of the force remains African while accepting assistance from the Untied Nations based on the understandings reached in Addis Ababa, the official SUNA reported.
Expressing his welcome for the logistic and technical assistance to be provided by the UN for the African troops, al-Bashir said that the details of the reinforcement plan would be worked out by a tripartite committee formed by the Sudanese government, the African Union (AU) and the UN.
Kofi Annan confirmed to the press Wednesday Sudanese president call but Bashir said nothing to him, according to the UN secretary general.
"I spoke to (Sudanese) President (Omar) al-Beshir today and he has indicated he will be writing to me shortly," Annan told reporters at the end of the closed-door council consultations. "I think I should wait for his letter."
Following last Thursday's meeting in Addis Ababa, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced that Sudan had agreed in principle on the deployment of a joint AU-UN peacekeeping force in Darfur.
But the Sudanese government has denied the agreement, saying the UN could only play an supplementary role in the reinforced African troops in the war-torn region.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
UN envoy Jan Pronk says Darfur peacemakers must listen to legitimate Arab concerns
AP report via IHT Nov 22, 2006 CAIRO, Egypt:
Darfur peacemakers must take into account the legitimate concerns of the region's Arab population, distinguishing regular Arabs from the "criminal janjaweed" militia responsible for atrocities, said Jan Pronk, the expelled head of the UN operation in Sudan.
"We should take away some of the motives which inspire the janjaweed to attack," Pronk said in an e-mail to The Associated Press in Cairo.
Separately, Pronk said he would be returning to his Khartoum office in early December to prepare the transition to his successor, who has yet to be appointed.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed full confidence in Pronk but withdrew him for consultations. Pronk had intended to step down on Dec. 31.
The three-year conflict in Darfur in western Sudan has become a battle between African rebels and government troops allied with the Arab militia, known as janjaweed. But it stems from a decades-old competition between African and Arab ethnic groups in Sudan for land, water and grazing rights.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and about 2.5 million people displaced in the fighting. U.N. investigators have blamed the janjaweed for the bulk of the rapes, arson, looting and killing.
But after world outcry over janjaweed atrocities, Darfur's Arab minority feels more vulnerable, fearing it would lose out in any settlement. Some Arab nomads have recently voiced exasperation at the facilities in Darfur's refugee camps, where aid groups provide drinking water and food to Africans who have had to flee their homes.
"Without the Arabs in Darfur, there is no political solution," Pronk wrote Monday.
"If we could distinguish between, on the one hand, Arabs with legitimate concerns and demands and, on the other, (the) Arab criminal Janjaweed, we could further the political process," he added.
Pronk said that during his two and a half years in Darfur he regularly met Arab leaders, particularly those in West Darfur, to discuss security arrangements for U.N. humanitarian workers and to hear Arab views on peace initiatives.
Those Arabs who resort to violence have various motives, he said. "Many attacks are only criminal. Many are genocidal, aiming to cleanse an area. Some are (a) form of retaliation against other tribes, or against looting of camels, or against tribes which are considered to support the rebels."
Pronk said he also had tried to meet Musa Hilal, the reputed leader of the janjaweed in North Darfur.
"At a certain moment Musa Hilal wanted to see me. We arranged a meeting, but (Sudanese) National Security prevented him (from keeping) the appointment. Thereupon I took the initiative to meet him. However, he avoided me," Pronk wrote in the email.
Hilal, a tribal chief, is currently in a janjaweed camp near the North Darfur town of Kutum, according to a UN official in Darfur who spoke on condition of anonymity. In April the U.N. Security Council and the United States imposed financial sanctions on Hilal, accusing him of orchestrating atrocities in Darfur.
Sudan's government has long denied any connection with the janjaweed. But U.N. officials who investigated the conflict reported in 2005 that the state had armed the militia. And militiamen such as Hilal have confirmed in past interviews that the janjaweed took its orders from the regular army.
The U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Jan Egeland, accused Sudan's government on Saturday of arming the janjaweed and said it was committing acts of "inexplicable terror" against civilians. The Sudanese Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs accused Egeland of lying.
Associated Press reporter Alfred de Montesquiou contributed to this report from Khartoum, Sudan.
African leaders agree to resolve Darfur conflict - VP Taha reiterates Sudan's rejection of any type of guardianship or foreign intervention
Nov 22 2006 Aljazeera (Agencies) 22 Nov 2006 - African leaders agree to resolve Darfur conflict - excerpt:
(AFP Photo) Sudanese President Omar Bashir upon his arrival to Tripoli.
Arab and African leaders held a mini-summit on Darfur in Libya, where they agreed to work together to resolve the conflict "without foreign intervention."
The presidents of Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Eritrea and the Central African Republic met in Tripoli on Tuesday amid rising impatience from both the United States and United Nations, who pressure the Sudanese government to fully accept a plan that would allow the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in Darfur.
"This summit opens the road for us to approach the end of the current situation in Darfur and end the tension between Sudan and its neighbors, Chad and the Central African Republic," Egypt's state news agency, MENA, quoted President Hosni Mubarak as saying.
Ali al-Treiki, Libya's secretary of African affairs, also said that the summit participants agreed on an "African solution" for Darfur, and called on the rebel groups to sign a January peace accord known as the "Abuja agreement".
He added that Chad's Idriss Deby Itno and CAR President Francois Bozize agreed to go to Khartoum to iron their differences.
Meanwhile, President Idriss Daby said he was optimistic the Tripoli meeting would revive a deal between Chad and Sudan, in which both nations agreed not to back rebels on the other's soil. "Today I return with great hope to my country, because this meeting was better than those before in February," he said.
The Darfur conflict has spilled over the border into eastern Chad and the northern CAR, who accuse Khartoum of trying to destabilize their countries.
On the other hand, Khartoum accuses Chad of backing the rebels in Darfur.
Mixed AU-UN force
The Tripoli meeting comes a week after Sudan signed a deal with the United Nations that allows the deployment of an international peacekeeping force to back the African Union mission in Darfur.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and other regional leaders have long rejected plans to replace the existing 7,000-member AU peacekeeping force with a stronger UN mission. But the Sudanese government said it signed the recent agreement to deploy a mixed AU-UN force in the war-torn region.
Triki said that the deployment would be discussed between Sudan, the UN and the AU, adding that African and Sudanese leaders "want an African solution to their problems without external intervention and without the putting pressure on Sudan."
Another Libyan official, who demanded anonymity, said Tripoli was keen to find a "radical solution to the Darfur crisis to avoid the deployment of international forces."
Earlier this week, Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi said that the presence of UN forces in Darfur would amount to a return to "colonialism", adding that Sudan's army can curb violence better than foreign troops.
Meanwhile, Sudan's Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha reiterated his country's "rejection of any type of guardianship or foreign intervention in the country".
Addressing a meeting of the ruling party politburo in Khartoum on Wednesday, Taha also said that "there's no room for medium positions in the question of the UN forces."
(AFP Photo) Sudanese President Omar Bashir upon his arrival to Tripoli.
Sudanese FVP Kiir wants troops in Darfur even without Khartoum's OK
SudanTribune 22 November 2006 (CAIRO) - excerpt:
The international community should send peacekeepers to Darfur with or without Khartoum's approval, the Sudanese regime's number two Salva Kiir has said.
"My position has always been very clear... that international forces should come to save lives," the Sudanese first vice president told reporters in Cairo after meeting Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Wednesday.
Asked if the Sudanese government's consent should be a prerequesite to any deployment, Kiir said: "It should not be a condition. There will be no reason, if people are dying... and it should not restrict the international community from coming in to save lives."
His comment came a day after a Darfur summit in Libya attended by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir agreed to seek an "African solution" to the crisis which has rocked Africa's largest country for four years and threatens to spill over into neighbouring states.
VOA: Agreement On Darfur
The following editorial reflects the views of the United States Government -
VOA News 22 Nov 2006 - Agreement On Darfur:
VOA News 22 Nov 2006 - Agreement On Darfur:
A plan has been approved to protect victims of atrocities committed in the Darfur region of Sudan. The agreement came at a high-level meeting held at African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In a written statement, Andrew Natsios, the U.S. special envoy to Sudan, said, "Representatives from the African Union, including Gabon, South Africa, Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria and the Republic of the Congo, the Arab League, including Egypt and Libya, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia, the European Union, and Sudan affirmed the major elements of United Nations Security Council resolution seventeen-oh-six. This includes the expansion of the peacekeeping force in Darfur to some seventeen-thousand soldiers and three-thousand police - mostly from African countries. Mr. Natsios says, "The United States welcomes the successful outcome of this historic meeting."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the agreement "is certainly a real opportunity to resolve an extremely difficult problem."
Fighting broke out in Darfur in 2003 after rebels complained that the region had been marginalized by the central government. Rebels attacked government facilities. In response, Sudan's government armed a militia called the Janjaweed that attacked not only rebels but also civilians. The Janjaweed murdered men, raped women, and beat children to death. More than two-hundred-thousand people in Darfur have died from fighting, famine, and disease. Some two-million now live in refugee camps in Darfur or in neighboring Chad.
A seven-thousand member African Union force has been trying to provide security. In August, the U-N Security Council authorized the transformation of the African Union force into a larger U-N peacekeeping force.
President George W. Bush says the U.S. and others feel they must do something about the suffering in Darfur:
"The government of Sudan must understand that we're . . . earnest and serious about their necessity to step up and work with the international community."
Mr. Bush says, "The situation in Darfur is on our minds. The people who have suffered," he says, "need to know that the United States will work with others to help solve the problem."
UK Blair warns Sudan of 'tougher measures' over Darfur
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he would speak to Sudanese President Bashir later Wednesday.
"It's important we keep up the pressure on the Sudanese government... This is a very very serious situation. We have the prospect of a way forward, but we need to take it," Blair said. - AFP Nov 22 2006.
"It's important we keep up the pressure on the Sudanese government... This is a very very serious situation. We have the prospect of a way forward, but we need to take it," Blair said. - AFP Nov 22 2006.
SLM's Nur demands Libyan plan to stop Darfur war
Abdelwahid Mohamed al-Nur, the chairperson of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement has urged the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, who rejected the deployment of the UN troops in Darfur, to present a plan to stop "genocide in Darfur." - SudanTribune reported 22 Nov 2006.
Col Gaddafi seems a great joiner of people, it would be good to know his plan for stopping Darfur war. In February, he offered African Union 100,000 troops, 1,000 tanks, 100 aircraft to close Chad-Sudan border and was quoted as saying:
Col Gaddafi seems a great joiner of people, it would be good to know his plan for stopping Darfur war. In February, he offered African Union 100,000 troops, 1,000 tanks, 100 aircraft to close Chad-Sudan border and was quoted as saying:
"We can settle our problems ourselves," Col. Gadhafi insisted, stressing that UN peacekeepers were not needed.
"Libya is ready to put 100,000 troops with 1,000 tanks and 100 aircraft at the disposal of the African Union to close the border," he informed at the summit. "All our forces are at the disposal of the African Union."
The Libyan leader said it was vital that the region's leaders agree on an "African solution" to the problem in order to "avoid foreign interference and keep the door firmly shut to outside machinations."
Annan expects Sudan's reply on peacekeepers next 2 days
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday he expected Sudan's government to respond within two days on outstanding issues of an agreement signed last week that would allow U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur.
Full story by AP (via Morningstar/Dow Jones) 21 Nov 2006. Excerpt:
Full story by AP (via Morningstar/Dow Jones) 21 Nov 2006. Excerpt:
Al-Bashir was scheduled to visit Libya Tuesday for a meeting on Darfur hosted by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Delegations are expected from Sudan, Chad and Egypt.
"I suspect they will come up with some definitive answer," Annan said. "I'm quite hopeful."
Sudan expels Norwegian refugee body from Darfur
Sudanese officials said they had ordered the Norwegian Refugee Council to leave South Darfur state, accusing the aid agency of espionage and publishing false information.
"We have decided not to renew the technical agreement with Norwegian Refugee Council in South Darfur state," said Mohammad Salih, the head of international relations department of South Darfur.
"They have made reports on military movements of armed forces ... which is in the domain of espionage," he said.
Via Gulfnews (Agencies) 22 Nov 2006.
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Nov 21 2006 S Darfur State expels Norwegian Refugee Council - Darfur has the world's largest aid operation with 14,000 aid workers
"We have decided not to renew the technical agreement with Norwegian Refugee Council in South Darfur state," said Mohammad Salih, the head of international relations department of South Darfur.
"They have made reports on military movements of armed forces ... which is in the domain of espionage," he said.
Via Gulfnews (Agencies) 22 Nov 2006.
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Nov 21 2006 S Darfur State expels Norwegian Refugee Council - Darfur has the world's largest aid operation with 14,000 aid workers
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Darfur mini-summit in Libya pledges to work for peace
Reuters report just in via Sudan Tribune says the leaders had agreed to continue to try to expand the Darfur peace agreement concluded in Abuja in May to include all factions and end the current crisis.
Libyan and Egyptian officials say the six leaders want the Darfur rebel group, the National Redemption Front (NRF), to sign the May accord between Khartoum and another rebel group.
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Nov 21 2006 - 4 African leaders arrive in Libya for Darfur summit
Libyan and Egyptian officials say the six leaders want the Darfur rebel group, the National Redemption Front (NRF), to sign the May accord between Khartoum and another rebel group.
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Nov 21 2006 - 4 African leaders arrive in Libya for Darfur summit
Darfur crisis worsening, Cameron warns
Nov 21 2006 Telegraph report - Darfur crisis worsening, Cameron warns.
Photo: David Cameron talks to soldiers from the African Union Mission in Sudan.
Photo: David Cameron talks to soldiers from the African Union Mission in Sudan.
Images from Darfur projected on US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Images from Darfur region of Sudan are projected onto the outside of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum building in Washington November 20, 2006.
The week-long show by photojournalists on the Darfur genocide is aimed at calling attention to the crisis in the region.
REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES) Nov 20 2006 Yahoo News
Photographic images taken in Darfur and Chad are seen projected exterior walls of the Holocaust Memorial Museum, Monday, Nov. 20, 2006, in Washington, as part of an exhibit to bring attention to the ongoing genocide in Sudan. The museum declared the crisis in Dafur, Sudan, a genocide emergency in 2004. (AP caption photo/Nick Wass)
Egypt arrests another blog critic - Bloggers are at the centre of Egyptian political activism
Nov 20 2006 BBC report Egypt arrests another blog critic [hat tip Miss Mabrouk of Egypt]:
Egypt detains blogger in random security check
Nov 19 2006 Reuters report [via Miss Mabrouk of Egypt] - excerpt:
Blogger Kareem Arrested Again
Via Miss Mabrouk of Egypt - Big Pharaoh says "I am starting to become very worried about internet freedom of speech in Egypt especially after the state knew how powerful blogs can be after they exposed the mass sexual harassment incident in downtown Cairo."
Police in Cairo have detained a blogger whose posts have been critical of the Egyptian government.- - -
Rami Siyam, who blogs under the name of Ayyoub, was detained along with three friends after leaving the house of a fellow blogger late at night.
No reasons have been given for Mr Siyam's detention. The other friends were released after being questioned.
Human rights groups have accused Egypt of eroding freedom of speech by arresting several bloggers recently.
BBC Arab Affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says blogging in Egypt is closely associated with political activism in a culture where democratic freedoms are severely restricted.
In recent weeks, bloggers have been exposing what they say was the sexual harassment of women at night in downtown Cairo in full view of police who did not intervene.
Mr Siyam's host on Saturday night, Muhammad Sharqawi, was detained for several weeks earlier this year.
The most recently detained blogger, Abdel Kareem Nabil, was detained in Alexandria on 6 November and was charged with disrupting public order, inciting religious hatred and defaming the president.
Amnesty International says Mr Amer appeared to have been detained for expressing critical views about Islam and Egypt's al-Azhar religious authorities.
Egypt detains blogger in random security check
Nov 19 2006 Reuters report [via Miss Mabrouk of Egypt] - excerpt:
Egyptian police detained an opposition blogger in a chance security check on Sunday, a human rights group said.- - -
Blogger Rami Siyam, who runs ayoubelmasry.blogspot.com, was detained with three other bloggers leaving a friend's house in downtown Cairo around dawn, said Gamal Eid, director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.
Blogger Kareem Arrested Again
Via Miss Mabrouk of Egypt - Big Pharaoh says "I am starting to become very worried about internet freedom of speech in Egypt especially after the state knew how powerful blogs can be after they exposed the mass sexual harassment incident in downtown Cairo."
AMIS Medal
All those serving the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) will receive this well deserved campaign medal.
Source: Soldier of Africa: AMIS Medal
Source: Soldier of Africa: AMIS Medal
We blog for Darfur
See We blog for Darfur.
Thanks to Drima of The Sudanese Thinker -
A Campaign is in the Works.
More later.
Thanks to Drima of The Sudanese Thinker -
A Campaign is in the Works.
More later.
Soldier of Africa blogging from Darfur views UN taking over as a very good thing
Soldier of Africa in Darfur tells us these pallettes and shipping containers have been outside AMIS HQ for a while now. They are for extra office space for incoming UN people. UN taking over is imminent?
Note in the comments, Werner, who authors Soldier in Africa, says he views the UN taking over as a very good thing. btw Werner is, I believe, a Brit. [UPDATE - Got it wrong. Thought Werner was British born. Werner is South African.]
Never thought Darfurians fear remains the same after 3 years - UN
TEXT of press conference with Jan Egeland, the Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator held on 18 November 2006 in Geneve. Excerpt:
"I returned yesterday from my fourth visit to Darfur. It is two and a half years since I was here. Never would I have thought that in my fourth and final visit the number of people in need of assistance would have gone from 1 to four million; and never would I have thought that the fear, the angst among the civilian population of Darfur would remain the same after 3 long years. Just imagine that this is now 1,000 days and 1,000 nights with defenseless civilians living in fear for their lives, for their future, for the life of their children, for the lives of their beloved. [edit]
In North Darfur [referring to the map], this is the exact x-ray of access where we have limited access and where we have no access. As you can see, there are large areas of North Darfur that are either no-go or we can only go a few days per month. It is very difficult to run an operation in that way. Who is to blame for that? Rebels have to blame for that; government has to blame for that; militias have to blame for that. There are many involved in this. Everybody seems to be to blame for that."
PINR - Intelligence Brief: Rebels Advance on the Central African Republic
Just in from Adam Wolf, editor for PINR's Africa region: PINR - Intelligence Brief: Rebels Advance on the Central African Republic. Excerpt:
"As long as the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region continues unresolved, Khartoum's lack of oversight in the area provides a rear base for both Chadian and C.A.R. insurgents that are seeking to gain control of their respective countries. More concerning, however, is the risk of a regional war should troops from either Chad or C.A.R. support attacks on Sudanese territory."
4 African leaders arrive in Libya for Darfur summit
This sounds promising. If they, along with Col Gaddafi and the rebels can't sort Darfur, who can? I'd love to be a fly on the wall at this meeting.
Nov 21 2006 AP report (via ST) - excerpt:
New bid to solve Darfur impasse
Nov 21 2006 BBC report - excerpt:
Nov 21 2006 AP report (via ST) - excerpt:
Four Arab and African heads of state arrived in Libya on Tuesday for a summit on the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, hosted by Moammar Gadhafi.- - -
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Chadian President Idriss Deby and Eritrean President Isaias Aferwerki flew to Tripoli, the Libyan capital, where they were scheduled to hold talks late Tuesday with Libyan leader Gadhafi.
Central African President Francois Bozize was expected to arrive on Tuesday evening, making the summit a six-nation affair.
An African diplomat said the leaders would coordinate their efforts to try to resolve the crisis in Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have been killed and about 2.5 million people have had to flee their homes during the past three and a half years of fighting.
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he isn't authorized to reveal the meeting's agenda, said the summit would urge the Darfur rebels who rejected the May peace agreement to change their position and sign it.
New bid to solve Darfur impasse
Nov 21 2006 BBC report - excerpt:
According to Libya's head of African affairs Ali Trekki, the agenda will concentrate on how to improve the performance of the 7,000 African Union troops already stationed in Darfur, as well as to seek to increase that number to 17,000.
Speaking in Geneva, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was hopeful that the meeting would help resolve Sudan's outstanding issues about the size and make-up of the peacekeeping force.
Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi is persistently discouraging the involvement of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, calling them a colonising force, our correspondent says.
France invites SLA-Nur for Darfur talks in Paris
From AKI [via CFD] today - France Invites Rebels For Talks:
France has invited the main rebel group in Sudan's ethnically troubled Darfur region, the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA) for talks in Paris, its leader Abd al-Wahid Muhammad Ahmad al-Nur told Adnkronos International (AKI) on Tuesday. Talks between the SLA and the French government revolved around "the way to achieve peace in Darfur," and not the African Union-sponsored peace accord in Abuja, Nigeria, which the SLA has not adhered to, he said, speaking in the French capital.
Al-Nur praised France's role in Darfur saying he "welcomed" any initiative by Paris to resolve the conflict, which he said was rooted in three issues: "authority, resources and land".
The SLA leader denied that his group has receiving weapons from abroad saying it had to draw on its "own strengths" in its struggle against the Sudanese authorities and their allied local Arab militias, the Janjaweed. "We get our weapons through raids against the army and the police from whom we seize what they've got," said al-Nur.
Addressing a news conference in Paris, al-Nur also praised the role of the United Nations and the United States in Darfur, but asked for "more incisive action" to end the "mass killings".
Al-Nur said his movement controls 70 percent of Darfur, a territory as large as France.
The SLA was formed in 1992 with the aim of keeping the state and religion separate in Sudan in contrast to moves by the central government Khartoum to turn the country into an Islamist state.
Sudan, Egypt, Libya have Darfur summit today
Wish we could read a transcript of today's Sudan-Egypt-Libya summit on Darfur.
Sudan plans to establish 30 villages for W. Darfur displaced
Via Sudan Tribune 21 Nov 2006:
Nov 20, 2006 (EL-GENEINA) - The State of West Darfur has drawn plans to construct thirty villages, provided with all basic services therein that to house displaced persons and refugees at the level of the state, each village costing about one billion Sudanese pounds, Finance and Economy Minister in the state Mohamed Hashim said.
He said the villages would take into account the new demographic changes that occurred as a result of the unrest in the region, explaining that the villages would be linked to the main roads all in close consultation with the villagers themselves and that the citizens in those villages would be part of the overall activities in the state.
The minister said this move would not, in any way, mean villagers could not be able to return back to their original home villages. He said it would be in their full right to return to their home areas or possess new plot of land in the new model villages, the state-run SUNA reported.
He said it would be the responsibility of the government to provide all the basic services in a way that would take into consideration the economic, security and political map, stressing that those villages would be open to all people.
S Darfur State expels Norwegian Refugee Council - Darfur has the world's largest aid operation with 14,000 aid workers
Oh dear, not again. On 5 April 2006 the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Darfur was forced to suspend all aid work in the region after being evicted by the Sudanese authorities.
Excerpt from Sudan Tribune 20 Nov 2006 Sudan decides expulsion of Norwegian humanitarian agency:
See 31 May 2006 - Norwegian Refugee Council returns to Darfur after eviction:
http://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2006/05/norwegian-refugee-council-returns-to.html
Excerpt from Sudan Tribune 20 Nov 2006 Sudan decides expulsion of Norwegian humanitarian agency:
South Darfur State has expelled a Norwegian humanitarian organization form working in the region saying it has published a false report on rape cases, and serving foreign agenda.It's inconceivable NCR or any other reputable aid agency would falsify reports on rape. Sudanese officials seem in the habit of not giving credence to the testimony of displaced people, especially females. Note the report reminds us Darfur has the world's largest aid operation with 14,000 aid workers.
The Minister of social affairs and information, acting governor of South Darfur State and spokesman of the state government, Farah Mustafa, said that the state government has expelled the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) from the state, affirming that it has received on Monday 20 November a letter on its expulsion form the state.
The minister said in a press conference in Nyala, capital of South Darfur, that NCR has issued a report on occurrence of 80 rape cases in Kalma displaced people camp in the state.
The state government's spokesman pointed out that after establishment of a committee, which includes the AU, the government, organizations and the concerned parties, it was proved that there was no case of rape at the camp. He affirmed that what written report by Norwegian Council was considered false and unfounded and serves foreign agenda, pointing out that the state government has dealt in patience with the violations of NCR.
NCR announced on 10 November the closure of its humanitarian action in Darfur because it had been suspended for two moths without any explanation from the Sudanese authorities. NCR said it was forced to take this decision.
Mustafa pointed out that NCR has been working against the country’s sovereignty, saying that it refused the presence of the state’s senior officials to attend the secretary-general of the UN meeting that it has held in Kalma camp. He said that the Norwegian Refugees Council has been instigating displaced persons not to return home voluntarily.
NCR was providing humanitarian relief to 300.000 IDPs in South Darfur camps: 93.000 in Kalma camp, 19.000 of these, children enrolled in NCR's education program, 128.000 in Gereida camp, 10.000 in Otash camp, 52.000 IDPs receiving food aid in Nyala. Darfur has the world's largest aid operation, with 14,000 aid workers supplying humanitarian help to miserable camps in the region.
In May 2005, two senior members of Medecins Sans Frontieres Holland were arrested charged with espionage and publishing false information after the organisation issued a report detailing hundreds of rape victims they had treated in Darfur hospitals.
See 31 May 2006 - Norwegian Refugee Council returns to Darfur after eviction:
http://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2006/05/norwegian-refugee-council-returns-to.html
US threatens "plan B" if Sudan does not act before Jan 1
"On January 1st, either we see change or we go to Plan B," US envoy to Sudan Natsios told reporters at the US State Department. When pressed what he meant by this, Natsios replied: "I am not going to get into that ... Plan B is a different approach to this." - ST
- - -
Sep 11 2006 Sunday Times - Plan B would be to do everything possible to get the AU to stay and strengthen it.
- - -
Sep 11 2006 Sunday Times - Plan B would be to do everything possible to get the AU to stay and strengthen it.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Darfur children dragged from mothers and shot
Nov 19 2006 Sunday Times (Katharine Houreld, Tine, Darfur) - Darfur children dragged from mothers and shot:
WHEN the fighters came, the mothers of Jebel Maun could not protect their children. Screaming toddlers were ripped from their grasp and shot; older children who tried to save their brothers and sisters were hunted down.[hat tip The Sudanese Thinker]
"Four children escaped in a group and ran under a tree for protection. An attacker came and shot at them, killing one of the children," said a witness in an account to United Nations staff.
Another group, aged five, seven and nine, tried to run away. The five-year-old fell down and was shot dead. Another boy stopped and told the attacker: "You killed this child. Please let me go." It was no use. He too was killed, one of more than 20 children who died that day.
Local people in the Darfur region of Sudan put the number of dead in the attack earlier this month at 63, mostly old men and children. The African Union, which has a peacekeeping force in Darfur, said 92 people died in the eight villages attacked.
"They took the babies and children from their mothers' arms, beat the women and shot the children," said one witness, Adam Gamer Umar. "They said, 'We're killing your sons and when you have more we will come and kill them too'."
Mariam Abakr Yehya's three-year-old was one of those killed. "They said they would kill this one next time," she said, referring to the baby boy in her arms.
Details of the latest massacres emerged as a deal was brokered last week by Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, for a "hybrid force" of African Union troops with logistical support from the UN. However, there was no agreement on the timing or mandate of this force and the Sudanese government has continued to resist calls for 20,000 UN peacekeepers to replace a relatively ineffective African Union force of 7,000.
The villagers of Jebel Maun say their attackers wore government uniforms and badges and carried new guns and satellite phones. A similar description was given by the inhabitants of Sirba, another Darfur village, where 30 people were killed. Last Tuesday militiamen with new weapons and Landcruisers barred the road to African Union investigators. Khartoum denies responsibility for the atrocities and blames a rogue Arab militia.
Five peace treaties have been signed and torn up since conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003. Local tribes, mostly "African" farmers, formed rebel movements to protest against the neglect of their region and the arming of Arabic-speaking nomadic militias. The government responded by encouraging the militias, known as the janjaweed, to target civilians it suspected of supporting the rebels.
At least 200,000 people have been killed and 2m made homeless in the ensuing carnage. Since only one of three rebel factions signed the latest peace deal in May, the violence has worsened.
Vast swathes of northern Darfur have become no-go areas for aid groups providing vital food, medicine and clean water for refugees. Thirteen aid workers have been killed in six months. Organisations that speak out against abuses, such as gang rape and intimidation, find their members arrested or permits to operate revoked. Laptop computers are confiscated and searched at the airport. In El Fasher, the capital of north Darfur, one official tried to seize papers belonging to The Sunday Times containing confidential interviews with civilians who had suffered at the hands of government forces.
There is plenty to hide. In a clear violation of the peace treaty, 1,000 janjaweed moved into the desolate outpost of Tine, on the border between Sudan and Chad, three weeks ago to support 3,000 government troops already stationed there. Almost all the 70,000 residents have fled. Now fighters sporting flip-flops, assault rifles and a mishmash of uniforms lounge insolently in the marketplace.
At their nearby camp the 200 African Union soldiers say there is little they can do. Outnumbered by government forces and lacking a mandate to intervene, they are calling in vain for UN action It is already too late for the children of Jebel Maun and there is no one left in Tine to protect. "This is a ghost town. All the people are dead or have run away," said Virginia Mukuka, one of 30 civilian police attached to the African Union force in Tine. She says she has dealt with only one complaint in four months.
"We came to help our brothers and sisters," she said, "but they are gone."
Darfur stalemate for UN (David Blair)
Telegraph Blogs: David Blair: 16 Nov 2006: Darfur stalemate for UN. Excerpt:
Today in Addis Ababa, the five permanent members of the Security Council and a multitude of officials and representatives of Sudan's regime have gathered for a big conference.I wish David Blair would interview Col Gaddafi to find out what he thinks.
They are trying to agree on a "hybrid" peacekeeping force which would probably combine elements of the UN and of the African Union. Its mandate, deployment timetable and everything else are up for negotiation.
In other words, Resolution 1706 is being renegotiated at this moment. I know that plenty of UN resolutions have not been implemented. But 1706 was only passed 10 weeks ago and it's already being pulled to pieces.
British officials say they must be realistic and flexible. Sudan has vetoed a UN force. That's the reality of the situation. So everyone needs to find a formula for a peacekeeping force that's acceptable to Khartoum. We can't just walk away and leave Darfur to suffer. Fair enough.
But we always knew that Sudan would veto a UN force. So why pass the Resolution if you know it's got no chance of being implemented?
New offensive in North Darfur
Associated Press report via Times Online 20 Nov 2006:
KHARTOUM A large force of Sudanese soldiers backed by Janjawid militias is sweeping through the towns and villages of North Darfur in spite of a ceasefire, international observers and rebels in Darfur said.
At least four civilians were killed near the northern town of Birmaza yesterday, according to Youssouf Mussabal, a rebel leader in the area. Speaking by telephone from North Darfur, he said that about 200 pro-government janjawid fighters riding camels had moved into the zone, backed by mobile army units and the Sudanese air force. He added: "The janjawid are still in the town, we're worried for the population."
A United Nations official said: "The campaign is ongoing, and we are being given very limited access to investigate or treat casualties."
Sudan rejects French proposal for UN force on Chad, CAR border
Lam Akol affirmed that there was no decision regarding the deployment of international forces along the borders of the three countries, however, he said "on the basis of principal a country can refuse these forces if it affected its sovereignty". - ST 20 Nov 2006.
UN Sudan Bulletin 19 Nov 2006
Excerpt from report by UN Country Team in Sudan:
Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told reporters on 18 November that Sudan "did not agree to the deployment of hybrid UN-AU forces in Darfur" during Thursday's consultation in Addis Ababa. Local media say that Akol claimed Sudan agreed only to a UN "hybrid operation". Local Akol said Sudan had rejected proposals for combined AU-UN command as well as the proposed number of troops. According to Akol, the outcome of the meeting was that UN Resolution 1706 "has been overtaken".
One of the leaders of the NRF, Ahmed Ibrahim Direij said in a press statement issued in Cairo on 18 November that talks between GNU and DPA non-signatories will be held in Asmara on 30 November.
According to local media, the Government of Sudan signed an addendum to the DPA with a SLM faction led by Commander Abo Al Qassim Imam. Reportedly, a signing ceremony was held in Tripoli on 18 November, attended by AU representative Nour Al Din Al Mezni, Mustafa Tirab of the SLM, Professor Abdel Rahman Musa of SLM Free Will and Dr Majzoub Al Khalifa reporting to the Government.
On 18 November, President Al-Bashir held meetings with FVP Kiir and the GoSS Cabinet in Juba. He stressed the need for better co-ordination on security issues, oil production and investment, in the South. He noted that GoSS should attract more foreign investment and meet development needs of the South. On the Abyei issue, the President commented that the NCP-SPLM Joint Leadership Committee is discussing the matter and it should be resolved on the basis of the relevant CPA protocol.
On 17 November, WFP welcomed a US government contribution of $90.5 million for people in Sudan. The pledge brings total American contributions for Sudan in 2006 to $400 million.
US envoy meets rebel leader Abdelwahid Mohamed al-Nur in Paris, urges Darfur SLM reunification
US President special envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, Saturday 18 November, held a meeting with Abdelwahid Mohamed al-Nur in Paris. He urged the rebel leader to work seriously for the reunification of the SLM factions, Sudan Tribune reported (Paris 19 Nov 2006). Excerpt:
The US official informed the rebel leader of the UN-AU meeting in Addis Ababa and its conclusion. He expected that the coming peace negotiations to be held in one of three towns: Abuja, Dakar or Johannesburg.
According to UN-AU meeting held in Addis Ababa on Thursday 16 November, the mediation of the coming Darfur peace talks should be under AU and UN leadership.
Al-Nur who is in European tour visiting several capitals to explain his position on the future peace talks with the Sudanese government.
Al-Nur met in Paris with French officials at the Foreign Ministry where he explained his vision for the peace negotiations. He expected more dynamic role for the French authorities in the coming talks.
Al-Nur's SLM/A is the most important rebel group that opposed the Darfur peace agreement. In last June the group refused to join the newly formed the National redemption Front.
Al-Nur experienced serious post-DPA internal opposition and his SLM/A faction lost many supporters from ethnic groups other than the Fur, negating his faction's claim to represent all Darfuri people.
Internal dissent reached such levels that Al-Nur's commanders replaced him on 31 July and appointed Ahmed Abdelshafi Bassey as the new political leader of Al-Nur's faction. They requested him to convene a new SLM/A-wide leadership conference.
West's oil greed behind UN Darfur push - Gaddafi
Routinely dismissed by Western commentators, Gaddafi's opinions are listened to in Africa because his advocacy of African unity, funding of African development projects and his oil wealth give Libya influence throughout the continent. - Reuters (Salah Sarrar) 20 Nov 2006.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Gadhafi: UN Darfur force is ruse to grab Sudan's oil
Via CNN.com - Gadhafi: U.N. Darfur force is ruse to grab Sudan's oil - excerpt:
TRIPOLI, Libya (Reuters) -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi Sunday accused the West of trying to grab Sudan's oil wealth with its plan to send U.N. troops to Darfur and urged Khartoum to reject them.
"Western countries and America are not busying themselves out of sympathy for the Sudanese people or for Africa but for oil and for the return of colonialism to the African continent," he said.
The comments by Gadhafi, a mediator in several African wars including Darfur, echo Sudanese government criticisms of a proposed U.N. deployment as a Western attempt at colonization.
"Reject any foreign intervention," he told a meeting of Sudanese officials and members of a Darfur rebel faction.
"To be occupied by the Sudanese army is better than to be occupied by U.N. forces, and the biggest disaster is if the Atlantic army came and positioned itself in Sudan," he said, referring to Western troops.
Gadhafi was speaking at a ceremony attended by Sudanese government officials and a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) rebels to celebrate their signing in Tripoli on Saturday of an agreement aimed at bringing peace to Darfur.
Routinely dismissed by Western commentators, Gadhafi's opinions are listened to in Africa because his advocacy of African unity, funding of African development projects and his oil wealth give Libya influence throughout the continent.
Gadhafi is a longstanding opponent of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which he has dismissed as a dispenser of victors' and colonizers' justice.
Gadhafi accused the West of wanting to defeat his plan to construct a single African federal government in a so-called United States of Africa to maintain its economic dominance.
"The West exploits tribalism, sectarianism and [skin] color to feed war, which leads to backwardness and Western intervention in a number of countries," he said on Sunday.
"All the conflicts in Africa are caused by colonialism, which does not want the rise of the United States of Africa and works for division and interference and for military coups."
Sudan 'begins new Darfur attacks' - BBC
The AU said in a statement that Birmaza, a much fought over village in Darfur, had been subject to ground and aerial assault. - BBC
Nov 18 2006 (Khartoum) Yesterday, Sudanese-backed militias and Sudanese warplanes were alleged to have staged fresh attacks in neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic, effectively widening the war even as high-level meetings were under way in Addis Ababa aimed at deploying capable peacekeepers into the region. - ST
Nov 18 2006 (Khartoum) Yesterday, Sudanese-backed militias and Sudanese warplanes were alleged to have staged fresh attacks in neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic, effectively widening the war even as high-level meetings were under way in Addis Ababa aimed at deploying capable peacekeepers into the region. - ST
Darfur: The Arabs Are Victims, Too (Julie Flint)
Julie Flint's latest commentary - The Arabs Are Victims, Too - washingtonpost.com - excerpt:
The incurious reporting that has reduced the war to a simple morality tale, an African "Lord of the Rings," equates Janjaweed with Arab, and especially Abbala. But only a minority of Darfur's 300,000 or so Abbala have joined the 20,000 to 30,000 Janjaweed. Most have refused to contribute soldiers, well aware that good relations with their non-Arab neighbors are more important than an alliance with an uncaring government hundreds of miles away.[via CFD with thanks]
Yet they have been collectively stigmatized for the crimes of the Janjaweed and their suffering has been ignored. Few journalists have written about them, or listened to them -- myself included.
We know next to nothing about the situation of the nomads despite the gravity -- and the consistency -- of their claims: that since the war began, 40 percent of their herds have been lost and 20 percent of their people have died because of rebel ambushes, massacres and sickness. Most of what we do know comes from the people fighting them.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Addis Ababa meeting on Darfur "significant, successful" step - Moussa
Kuwait News Agency 19 Nov 2006 says Addis Ababa meeting on Darfur "significant, successful" step - Moussa:
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has Saturday described the recent meeting in Addis Ababa on Darfur as "a significant and successful step" towards reaching an acceptable settlement.
Moussa told reporters that the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan had presented a significant work paper and proposals whose framework had been agreed upon.
He added that it had been agreed on the deployment of a joint African Union (AU) and United Nations force in the war-torn region of Darfur.
He said that a consensus had been reached stressing the importance of supporting the AU force (AMIS) and the need to put all the technical and financial resources at their disposal.
Moussa pointed to two obstacles in this regard pertaining to the number and the nature of the troops command and means of controlling the force, praising the government's good intention in this respect.
The war in Darfur erupted in February 2003 when rebels from minority tribes took up arms to demand an equal share of national resources, prompting a heavy-handed crackdown from the government forces and a proxy militia called the Janjaweed.
The conflict left 200,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million more, according to UN figures. Some sources give much higher figures. (end) mfm.ez.
Sudanese media downplays UN-AU meeting on Darfur - BBC
BBC Monitoring via ST 18 Nov 2006 - excerpt:
Nov 17 2006 ST report - Darfur peace mediation to be under UN-AU leadership:
President Bashir's speech at the end of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit in Djibouti presented the Sudanese state media with a dilemma: how to present the president as a man committed to peace in Darfur when he remains vocal in opposing new UN initiatives to end the crisis. A 16 November report by the Suna web site cited President Bashir urging the international community to "support the African Union to complete its mission in Darfur and give a model for solving conflicts through the regional organizations". However, the same report has the president rejecting UN Security Council Resolution No 1706 saying it "poses [a] great obstacle before the peace process and violation to the country’s sovereignty". The president contradicts himself further in the same story when he says that his government was "working in close cooperation" with the UN and AU to "develop the plan of implementation of the support package proposed by UN to the African Union".- - -
Nov 17 2006 ST report - Darfur peace mediation to be under UN-AU leadership:
The joint UN AU meeting held last Thursday in headquarter of the African body here agreed to maintain the Darfur peace talks under the African Union, and on the basis of May peace agreement.
The UN – AU meeting stressed in its conclusions that the Darfur Peace Agreement inked between Khartoum and SLM- Minawi on 5 Mai is the only basis for the expected peace talks. It also clearly indicated that the mediation should be under AU and UN leadership.
Sudan denies agreeing to mixed force in Darfur
"We did not agree to the deployment of hybrid United Nations-African Union forces in Darfur, as was declared by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan after the Addis Ababa consultative meeting," Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told reporters Saturday.
"We agreed that the AU forces carry on with their mission and receive support from UN technical units," Akol said. "We also rejected a proposal for a combined AU-UN command, as well as the proposed number of troops."
Full story by AFP via ST 18 Nov 2006.
"We agreed that the AU forces carry on with their mission and receive support from UN technical units," Akol said. "We also rejected a proposal for a combined AU-UN command, as well as the proposed number of troops."
Full story by AFP via ST 18 Nov 2006.
TEXT- Conclusions of UN-AU meeting on Darfur crisis
TEXT treats three points (1) to fix the rules of the expected Darfur peace talks (2) to strengthen the ceasefire (3) to deploy a peacekeeping force in Darfur. - via ST 18 Nov 2006.
A hollow 'breakthrough' (David Blair)
The new agreement signed in Addis Ababa for a Darfur peacekeeping force has been hailed as a "breakthrough" by Tony Blair, among others. I fear it is nothing of the sort. The full text of this deal is very illuminating.
Read more at Telegraph Blogs: David Blair: November 2006: A hollow 'breakthrough'
Read more at Telegraph Blogs: David Blair: November 2006: A hollow 'breakthrough'
NGO's and UN's Egeland blocked in Darfur by government
Nov 17 2006 Reuters report via ST - excerpt:
Witnesses said the eight camps around el-Geneina town have been infiltrated by armed men terrorising residents who fled their homes three years ago to seek refuge from violence.Note, the report reminds us there are an estimated 2.5 million refugees in camps in Darfur and across the border in Chad.
"There are NGOs here who have half their staff sitting in Khartoum ... they have no travel permit, they do not get a visa, they have to spend more of their time doing paperwork than helping the people," he [UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland] said.
"The Sudanese should help us help their people, not prevent us helping their people," he said.
Welthungerhilfe pulling staff out of Darfur
Nov 18 2006 via The Daily Star - Agencies report - excerpt:
The German relief organization Welthungerhilfe said on Friday it was pulling its staff out of Sudan's Darfur region for safety reasons as fighting flared along the country's border with Chad.
Eighteen aid workers have been running a feeding scheme for 300,000 refugees in Birmaza near the border. "Renewed cross-border fighting is threatening to destabilize the whole region," Joerg Heinrich, the organization's project leader for Sudan, said. "We can no longer leave our colleagues in this danger."
Sudan's UN ambassador: "There will be no UN peacekeepers in Darfur"
Nov 17 2006 AFP report Questions emerge about Sudan's stance on mixed Darfur force - excerpt:
Questions have emerged about UN chief Kofi Annan's announcement that Sudan had accepted in principle a hybrid African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission for its troubled Darfur region.
The late Thursday announcement here took many by surprise as Khartoum has repeatedly and vehemently rejected any UN role in Darfur and insisted that only the current AU force can operate there.
Diplomats and observers who attended the Annan-led talks that led to the apparent compromise said Khartoum's stance was not entirely clear, as Sudanese officials repeated that no UN peacekeepers would be allowed on the ground.
One diplomat said Sudan had succeeded in preventing the world body from playing a significant role by agreeing to UN logistical and technical support for the AU mission known as AMIS but ruling out all but African personnel.
"It was a victory for Sudan, which has won a commitment that the command of the peacekeeping force will never be with the UN," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "Sudan remains in a position of force."
"For the moment, there is no guarantee of any major progress, except that everyone, even the Chinese and the South Africans, support it," the diplomat said, referring to the "hybrid" force concept promoted by Annan.
"The whole question is what the Sudanese want: either they want peace and should accept this since we're no longer talking about a UN operation or they are stalling, hoping AMIS will leave and give them a military option," he said.
The compromise proposal is to be presented soon to the UN Security Council and will also be discussed at a summit of leaders from the 15 members of the AU Peace and Security Council set for November 24 in Congo-Brazzaville.
The three-phase plan aims to boost the cash-strapped and undermanned AMIS with major UN support while the third phase envisions merging the force with a UN mission that will be predominantly African, according to the agreement.
In his announcement, Annan made clear that Khartoum had agreed only "in principle" to phase three, "pending clarification of the size of the force."
Sudanese officials firmly insist that no UN peacekeepers will be deployed in Darfur, where some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced in three years of fighting between local rebels and government-backed militia.
"The whole approach is to support AMIS with logistic support," said Sudan's UN ambassador Abdulmahmoud Abduhaleem. "The UN is saying they want to deploy 17,000 troops, we say it should be less, and only African troops under an African command.
"There will be no UN peacekeepers in Darfur," he said.
One international observer who was at Thursday's meeting in Addis Ababa said the Sudanese would likely take a great deal of time in determining an acceptable force level, possibly waiting for Annan's year-end departure.
"The Sudanese have no interest in conceding knowing that Kofi Annan is about to leave," the observer said on condition of anonymity. "They are playing for show."
Still, AU Peace and Security Council commissioner Said Djinnit said the African Union was pleased that a potential solution to its mission's funding and manpower woes had been reached.
"All the parties fell into agreement on the compromise formula, except for Sudan on certain points," he said.
"Through this plan we will now be able to ensure lasting and appropriate financing for AMIS without which it would not have been able to work if we waited much longer," Djinnit said. "The credibility of Africa goes from there."
Friday, November 17, 2006
Sudan accepts UN 'help' in Darfur but no talk about a mixed force or UN taking command
Nov 17 2006 BBC report - excerpt:
Sudan says it welcomes the United Nations' support for the African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur but denies the UN will take command.Note, 12,000 AU peacekeepers were always on the cards for next year.
On Thursday, UN chief Kofi Annan had said a compromise had been reached for a hybrid UN-AU force, to break the deadlock over the Darfur mission.
President Omar al-Bashir told state TV: "The government of Sudan welcomes all financial, material, logistic or technical assistance from the UN in order to strengthen the AU mission in Darfur."
His Foreign Minister Lam Akol specified that "there should be no talk about a mixed force".
He told the BBC there would be no UN troops.
Following a meeting on Darfur in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Mr Annan had said: "The troops should be sourced from Africa as far as possible and the command and control structure would be provided by the UN."
UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland has cut short his trip to Darfur after Sudan's government told him it would be too dangerous for him to travel outside the region's major towns.
A further possible area of disagreement on the peacekeeping mission is the size of the new force.
The UN also wants a force of 17,000 troops, while Sudan says 12,000 would be enough.
There are currently some 7,000 AU troops in Darfur.
A man holds a bow and machete
Photo and caption from Sudan Tribune article 17 Nov 2006 Darfur refugees in Chad risk water shortages.
A man holds a bow and a machete for defence after fleeing the conflict in the east, near Goz-Beida, on the border with Sudan.
A man holds a bow and a machete for defence after fleeing the conflict in the east, near Goz-Beida, on the border with Sudan.
Darfur to be "invaders' graveyard" - Sudan defence minister
Xinhua report via ST 17 Nov 2006 - excerpt:
While addressing officers and soldiers of the western military area in Niyala, south Darfur, Sudanese Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein said that "Darfur will be the invaders' graveyard if the (United Nations) Security Council thinks about implementing Resolution 1706," the official SUNA news agency reported.
The defense minister stressed the capability of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to impose the security and defend the nation and its citizens, adding that the slogan of the SAF in Darfur was to "wipe out the rebellion and spread the dignity of the country".
He said that Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir was confident of the command of the SAF and its ability to carry out its duties without making pretexts for foreign interference.
The Sudanese defense minister made the remarks on the same day that the African Union (AU) and the UN were holding a joint meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to reconsider the best way of terminating the bloody conflicts in Darfur.
Links: Dr Gloria White-Hammond
Excellent set of links re Dr Gloria White-Hammond. See Mount Holyoke College: Migrations - Resources.
Oxfam: Darfur refugees in Chad risk water shortages
Nov 17 2006 AFP report via ST - Darfur refugees in Chad risk water shortages - excerpt:
Roland Van Hauwermeiren, head of Oxfam's operations in eastern Chad, said in a statement that Oxfam's pumping station in Goz Beida, where many displaced are arriving, is already working at full capacity for the refugee camp.
Following a visit Tuesday to Goz Beida, where more than 4,000 Chadians have arrived since last week, he warned that rations would have to be slashed if there is no more water in the ground.
"As we cannot deprive these new arrivals of water, we will have to find other solutions, such as reducing the water available every day or trucking in water, until the security situation stabilizes and people are comfortable going home," Van Hauwermeiren said.
The state of the Chadian displaced was alarming, Van Hauwermeiren said.
"Many have arrived with nothing, and are camping under trees in a state of shock,' he said.
"People I have spoken with say that in all of their years, they cannot remember things being this bad, with such hatred and destruction choking them out of their homes," said Van Hauwermeiren.
"Everyone wants to go home to their crops and to their regular lives but are too afraid to even consider it. The feelings of desperation among the people are overwhelming," he said.
News and Blogs from Sudan
Just found this great blog ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::: linking to news and blogs from Sudan.
UN Annan: Sudan 'backs' Darfur force plan
Mr Annan told reporters: 'It is agreed in principle that, pending clarification of the size of the force, we should be able to take it forward.'
UN'S THREE-STEP DARFUR PLAN
1) AU $21m support package
2) Deploy several hundred soldiers and police
3) Hybrid force with substantial UN command and control
Full story BBC 17 Nov 2006.
- - -
Nov 14 2006 AP report via ST - UN Darfur proposal could mean joint UN/AU operation: But whether Khartoum would approve the U.N.'s third step - "an A.U.-U.N. hybrid operation" with both organizations jointly appointing key decision-makers including the force commander - remains to be seen.
Nov 16 2006 AFP report via ST - Sudan supports 'hybrid' UN-AU Darfur force - Annan.
Nov 17 2006 AFP report via ST - US welcomes Sudan agreement on Darfur: "This agreement paves the way for a joint AU/UN peacekeeping force for Darfur composed primarily of and led by Africans, and commanded, supported and funded by the UN," Johndroe said.
UN'S THREE-STEP DARFUR PLAN
1) AU $21m support package
2) Deploy several hundred soldiers and police
3) Hybrid force with substantial UN command and control
Full story BBC 17 Nov 2006.
- - -
Nov 14 2006 AP report via ST - UN Darfur proposal could mean joint UN/AU operation: But whether Khartoum would approve the U.N.'s third step - "an A.U.-U.N. hybrid operation" with both organizations jointly appointing key decision-makers including the force commander - remains to be seen.
Nov 16 2006 AFP report via ST - Sudan supports 'hybrid' UN-AU Darfur force - Annan.
Nov 17 2006 AFP report via ST - US welcomes Sudan agreement on Darfur: "This agreement paves the way for a joint AU/UN peacekeeping force for Darfur composed primarily of and led by Africans, and commanded, supported and funded by the UN," Johndroe said.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Salva Kiir fears war return to S. Sudan if Darfur crisis continues
See full text TALKS WITH BRITISH OFFICIALS - Asharq Al-Awsat Interviews Sudan's First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit 13/11/2006 - By Mohammed al-Hassan Ahmad and Mustafa Sirri in London.
Photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair shakes hands with Sudanese Vice-President Salva Kiir Mayardit in London Oct 31, 2006. (Sudan Tribune)
Photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair shakes hands with Sudanese Vice-President Salva Kiir Mayardit in London Oct 31, 2006. (Sudan Tribune)
Sudan Man: Rumours of exploding radios and bicycles!
Rob of Sudan Man's blogging rumours of exploding radios and bicycles!
Darfur rebels welcome Nuer "courageous" support
Nov 14 2006 NRF Press Release says "NRF Welcomes Courageous Support offered by Nuer Community in North America."
I stopped reading it after the first paragraph because it crows about victory. Darfur is one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Everyone is a loser.
See Nov 13 2006 Nuer elders call for peaceful resolution of Darfur conflict.
I stopped reading it after the first paragraph because it crows about victory. Darfur is one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Everyone is a loser.
See Nov 13 2006 Nuer elders call for peaceful resolution of Darfur conflict.
UN Annan calls crisis meeting on Darfur
Nov 14 2006 Bloomberg report by Ed Johnson - excerpt:
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has invited the Security Council's five permanent members to meet this week with the Sudanese government to address the crisis in Darfur.
The League of Arab States, the European Union and representatives from Congo, Gabon and Egypt have also been invited to the talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Nov 16, to be hosted by Annan and the African Union, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York yesterday.
Security in the western Sudanese region remains "volatile" with at least 37 people killed in recent days by Arab militiamen, some of whom were backed by Sudanese military vehicles, Dujarric said, according to a statement on the UN's Web site.
At the weekend, about 300 armed militiamen backed by 18 Sudanese military vehicles attacked a refugee camp in the village of Sirba in west Darfur, killing 31 people and injuring 18 others, the UN said. Arab militias attacked three villages in north Darfur on Nov. 10 killing six civilians, including four children, the UN said.
The talks in the Ethiopian capital aim to "move the peace process decisively forward," Dujarric said. The five permanent members of the Security Council are the U.S. U.K., Russia, China and France.
The Anglo-Zulu war - A Lesson Learned?
To mark Remembrance Day 11 Nov 2006. See great blog entry by the Telegraph's Africa Correspondent David Blair 13 Nov 2006 The Anglo-Zulu war - the stuff of legends. In the comments, a reader replies:
Picture: This Heroic Little Garrison, Defence of Rorke's Drift. By Chris Collingwood. Men of the 24th of foot, or 2nd Warwickshire regiment (later in 1881 to become the South Wales Borderers) repel the massed Zulus attempting to smash through the mealie bag entrenchment. http://www.war-art.com/defence_of_rorkes_drift.htm
Defence of Rorke's Drift
After the British Defeat and the Zulu victory at isandhlwana. Zulu Chief Cetawayo entered northern Natal that night. On a tributary of the Tugela River stood the British garrison of 140 troops under the command of Lt Chard at Rorke's Drift. the Zulu force of 4,000 attacked the garrison repeatedly, using their assagais, (also with Rifles form the hillside, taken form the dead British troops at isandhlwana.) The attacks lasted all night through 22nd into the 23rd. in the morning the Zulu withdrew, but only having lost 400 dead in the fighting. The British suffered 25 casualties. for this achievement of holding rorkes drift a total of 11 Victoria Crosses were received.
"Zulu", Col. John Chard V.C. defender of Rorkes Drift
I need to double check details in below caption. It's difficult to believe Col Chard was so young. Sorry caption does not tell us the location of Col Chard's grave, pictured here - found on internet)
Photo: Lieutenant John Rouse Merlot Chard, VC, Royal Engineers.
Born 21st December 1879, died 1st November 1897.
Col Chard won his Victoria Cross at Rorke's Drift, immortalised in the film "Zulu"
The battle of Rorke's Drift started at 4.20 pm on the 22nd January 1879, and finished at 4.00 am the following morning.
It is recorded that the defenders of Rorke's Drift fired more than 21,000 rounds of ammunition. (Source: Bob Cooper)
The Remembrance Day Poppy & In Flanders Fields Poem
Inspiration for the Poem. On 2 May, 1915, in the second week of fighting during the Second Battle of Ypres Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed by a German artillery shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae. It is believed that John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' that evening.
In Flanders Fields
John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.
The poppy is the recognized symbol of remembrance for war dead. The flower owes its significance to the poem In Flanders Fields, written by Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) John McCrae, a doctor with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, in the midst of the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium, in May 1915.
The poppy references in the first and last stanzas of the most widely read and oft-quoted poem of the war contributed to the flower's status as an emblem of remembrance and a symbol of new growth amidst the devastation of war.
Two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month because that was the time (in Britain) when the armistice became effective. The two minutes recall World War I and World War II. Before 1945 the silence was for one minute, and today some ceremonies still only have one minute of silence despite this.
In the United Kingdom, although two minutes' silence is observed on November 11 itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday. - Wikipedia
UPDATE: David Blair, in Robbed of remembrance, tells us:
"A Lesson Not Learned. The lesson of Islandlwana is that a modern, well armed, military force, if ineptly led, can be defeated, even destroyed, by a motivated, well led, yet primitively armed native force. This lesson was again taught in Viet Nam."Another comment says:
"Isandlwana was in one respect not an extaordinary battle. The Zulu warrior was superior at close quarters to the British infantryman. This in turn makes the defence of Rorke's Drift an even more amazing achievement. Remembrance Day may be a commemoration of wars fought since 1914 but we do well to remember the soliders of both sides who perished in the Anglo-Zulu Wars."Note, David Blair's commentary mentions Rorke's Drift. Zulu is one of my favourite films. As a child (and military dependent) I spent three years living in the jungle outside Nairobi during the Mau Mau war. Last year, a Sudan Watch reader (and ex soldier, British Army) emailed me saying, quote:
"In 1983 I drove to Rorke's Drift as I was in [the area] Natal and it changed my life in many ways. I spent a whole day sitting in the camp where it really all took place, a very moving experience. The crickets were singing and the ground crackling as it only can in Africa. Totally deserted and on my own, I walked around and remembered the film, found old cartridge boxes broken and rotten in shallow scrapes in the ground broken down walls and litter. You might imagine no one had been there since it happened, eventually I found the remnants, the building with scraps of rotten linen hanging at window, roofs long since gone, and sat and cried, Ah memories see your perception changes but not with memories as strong as these.
Ten years later I was passing again and wanted to revisit this time with my ex wife and found it turned into a tourist attraction with stuffed dummies with bayonets and a curio shop, and I went ballistic at the sacrilege of destroying something so precious and was thrown out for a raving lunatic Englishman. It still brings a lump to my throat.
Picture: This Heroic Little Garrison, Defence of Rorke's Drift. By Chris Collingwood. Men of the 24th of foot, or 2nd Warwickshire regiment (later in 1881 to become the South Wales Borderers) repel the massed Zulus attempting to smash through the mealie bag entrenchment. http://www.war-art.com/defence_of_rorkes_drift.htm
Defence of Rorke's Drift
After the British Defeat and the Zulu victory at isandhlwana. Zulu Chief Cetawayo entered northern Natal that night. On a tributary of the Tugela River stood the British garrison of 140 troops under the command of Lt Chard at Rorke's Drift. the Zulu force of 4,000 attacked the garrison repeatedly, using their assagais, (also with Rifles form the hillside, taken form the dead British troops at isandhlwana.) The attacks lasted all night through 22nd into the 23rd. in the morning the Zulu withdrew, but only having lost 400 dead in the fighting. The British suffered 25 casualties. for this achievement of holding rorkes drift a total of 11 Victoria Crosses were received.
"Zulu", Col. John Chard V.C. defender of Rorkes Drift
I need to double check details in below caption. It's difficult to believe Col Chard was so young. Sorry caption does not tell us the location of Col Chard's grave, pictured here - found on internet)
Photo: Lieutenant John Rouse Merlot Chard, VC, Royal Engineers.
Born 21st December 1879, died 1st November 1897.
Col Chard won his Victoria Cross at Rorke's Drift, immortalised in the film "Zulu"
The battle of Rorke's Drift started at 4.20 pm on the 22nd January 1879, and finished at 4.00 am the following morning.
It is recorded that the defenders of Rorke's Drift fired more than 21,000 rounds of ammunition. (Source: Bob Cooper)
The Remembrance Day Poppy & In Flanders Fields Poem
Inspiration for the Poem. On 2 May, 1915, in the second week of fighting during the Second Battle of Ypres Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed by a German artillery shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae. It is believed that John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' that evening.
In Flanders Fields
John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.
The poppy is the recognized symbol of remembrance for war dead. The flower owes its significance to the poem In Flanders Fields, written by Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) John McCrae, a doctor with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, in the midst of the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium, in May 1915.
The poppy references in the first and last stanzas of the most widely read and oft-quoted poem of the war contributed to the flower's status as an emblem of remembrance and a symbol of new growth amidst the devastation of war.
Two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month because that was the time (in Britain) when the armistice became effective. The two minutes recall World War I and World War II. Before 1945 the silence was for one minute, and today some ceremonies still only have one minute of silence despite this.
In the United Kingdom, although two minutes' silence is observed on November 11 itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday. - Wikipedia
UPDATE: David Blair, in Robbed of remembrance, tells us:
As far as I know, the dead of the Battle of Isandlwana were never individually identified. There are no headstones for each fallen soldier.
Instead, the bones of the dead – British and Zulu alike - were interred in 269 stone cairns scattered about the battlefield. These cairns were repainted quite recently and looked in good enough condition to me.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Chad declares state of emergency
Chad's government has declared a state of emergency in most of the country, following a series of ethnic clashes.
At least 300 people have been killed this month, in violence between Arabs and black Africans, officials say. - BBC
At least 300 people have been killed this month, in violence between Arabs and black Africans, officials say. - BBC
UN to give African troops in Sudan $77 mln
Good news. Reuters report via ST - excerpt:
"We have agreed on two packages of support worth around $77 million for the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS)," Hedi Annabi, a U.N. assistant secretary general for peace-keeping operations, told reporters after a meeting of UN, AU and Sudanese officials at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
Annabi said $22 million would go towards funding military staff officers, police advisers and civilian personnel to strengthen the chain of command of AMIS.
A second tranche of $55 million go towards equipment and personnel and a specialised support unit.
"The government of Sudan has agreed to the deployment of the two packages," he added.
Nuer elders call for peaceful resolution of Darfur conflict
Nov 11 2006 Press Release (via ST) by Nuer elders in Europe, Canada, U.S. and Australia. Excerpt:
We call on both the GONU and the NRF to demonstrate statesmanship by rising above parochial and personal differences to resolve the problem so that the international aid agencies would have an opportunity to avert the ongoing humanitarian crisis. The Nuer elders are more than willing to mediate between both sides if officially invited. The need to end the flight of innocent civilians in Darfur is a concern of every Sudanese.
We also require both GONU and NRF to respect basic human rights enshrined in international treaties signed by the state of Sudan. Commission of crimes against humanity by any group in Darfur runs contrary to international treaties and leads to violations of the right to life, security of the person and pursuit of happiness.
We therefore call upon all ethnic communities in the Sudan to resolve their differences via peaceful means in order to transform the country from a failed state to a peaceful one that is capable of resolving political and socio-economic conditions, which caused most conflicts in Sudan.
For Contact:
Eng. Daniel Koat Mathews,
Chair person of Nuer elders in Diaspora, Former Governor of greater Upper Nile, (Unity, Jonglei & the Upper Nile States), Former Commander & Secretary for Peace, SSIM/A, Former representative of SPLM/A in Scandinavia based in Sweden prior to the Nasir Declaration, Former mediator between Anya-Nya II and the SPLM/A (1987).
Email: turial37@hotmail.com
Tel +46 218 142, cell phone +46 768003362
France provides $1m for AMIS
Nov 12 2006 via ST - France calls for comprehensive settlement of Darfur crisis.
French FM announced that his country would provide additional 1million euros (about 1.28 million U.S. dollars) for AU peacekeeping forces in Darfur.
French FM announced that his country would provide additional 1million euros (about 1.28 million U.S. dollars) for AU peacekeeping forces in Darfur.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Sudan, UN agree to set up tripartite mechanism on Darfur
Nov 12 2006 People's Daily Online:
Sudan and the United Nations on Saturday agreed to set up a tripartite mechanism to study ways of providing supports to strengthen the African Union forces in Sudan's western region of Darfur.
Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadig told Xinhua the agreement on the tripartite mechanism, which will bring together the Sudanese government, the UN and the African Union (AU), was reached during a meeting between Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol and Hedi Annabi, the UN assistance secretary general for peacekeeping operations.
"The mission of the tripartite mechanism is to exchange information and to deliver the supports which the UN has promised to provide for the AU peacekeeping forces in Darfur," the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Al-Sadig noted that Lam Akol and Hedi Annabi also discussed the situation on the borders between Sudan and Chad and the Central Africa, adding that the UN was going to send an investigation team to evaluate the situation there.
French FM suggests UN command with African general
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy conferred with Egyptian officials Sunday ahead of a trip to Khartoum aimed at finding a compromise with Sudan on the deployment of peacekeepers in Darfur.
The French diplomat held talks with Khartoum's Egyptian allies in a bid to explore new solutions after the Sudanese government made it clear it would reject a UN force in war-ravaged Darfur.
"We would like a UN command with an African general," Douste-Blazy said in Cairo before his meeting with President Hosni Mubarak.
Full story by AFP via ST 12 Nov 2006.
The French diplomat held talks with Khartoum's Egyptian allies in a bid to explore new solutions after the Sudanese government made it clear it would reject a UN force in war-ravaged Darfur.
"We would like a UN command with an African general," Douste-Blazy said in Cairo before his meeting with President Hosni Mubarak.
Full story by AFP via ST 12 Nov 2006.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Increase AU force efficiency is our "priority" - French FM
Nov 11 2006 AFP report - excerpt:
[French FM} Douste-Blazy will meet with Abul Gheit on Saturday and with President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday. He is also to talk with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, before heading for Khartoum for talks with Beshir.
On Monday, he is due to travel to Darfur on a fact-finding mission and to hold talks with AU, UN and non-governmental organisation officials on the spot.
Security Council cancels trip to discuss Darfur force
A delegation of eight envoys, led by Britain, was to have taken part in meetings on Monday with Sudanese officials and African Union officials at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
But differences emerged about whether the group had a mandate to engage in discussions, the size of the delegation and whether the visit should supersede a planned trip to Addis three days later from Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his staff, the envoys said.
Full story Reuters 10 Nov 2006 via ST.
But differences emerged about whether the group had a mandate to engage in discussions, the size of the delegation and whether the visit should supersede a planned trip to Addis three days later from Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his staff, the envoys said.
Full story Reuters 10 Nov 2006 via ST.
Friday, November 10, 2006
British Diplomat: "Security Council cannot impose international forces on Sudan"
Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English) 9 Nov 2006 by Mina Al-Oraibi:
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- A high-ranking British diplomat acknowledged yesterday that if Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir continues to refuse the deployment of UN forces in Darfur then the UN Security Council (UNSC) cannot force him to do so "or occupy Sudan." He added that the "international community must in this case shoulder the responsibility and assist the African Union (AU) to broaden the mission of its forces there."
The diplomat, who spoke to Asharq al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, stressed that "the Sudanese Government is responsible for the deterioration in Darfur and the UN cannot be held responsible for that." But in his answer to a question on whether this means taking measures against the Sudanese Government for its refusal to deploy international forces, the diplomat stated, "In this case, the international community will be compelled to shoulder its responsibilities and assist the AU to broaden its mission."
Speaking at a meeting with a group of Arab and Iranian correspondents yesterday, the British diplomat also affirmed that "The AU has done a good job but the challenge is greater than what its forces can control." He recalled that the AU has not been asked for a military operation of this size since its establishment and added, In addition to the international forces' expertise in this matter, the UN Security Council (UNSC) is seeking to deploy UN forces that do not require a special budget but rather (finance it) from the budget allocated for the UN peacekeeping operations. He added that the UNSC is trying to persuade the Sudanese president to accept the international forces before 24 November, the date for the AU's meeting to discuss a renewal of its forces' mission in Sudan. He noted British Prime Minister Tony Blair's willingness to attend a "meeting of leaders to discuss this issue."
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