5 Sudanese rebel groups agree to join Qatari peace initiative

Last week, five Darfur rebel groups signed an agreement in Libya to take part in the Doha peace process with one delegation. The signatories of the common ground deal are: the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) – Unity, SLM led by Khamis Abdallah Abakr, the United Resistance Front (URF), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Idriss Azrag faction, and the SLM- Juba faction.



Photo: Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed Bin-Abdullah Al-Mahmoud

Source: Sudan Tribune Monday 23 March 2009 -
Qatar urges Darfur JEM to drop link between peace talks and aid groups

March 22, 2009 (DOHA) — The Qatari government today called on the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to continue the peace talks it started last month with Khartoum.

Darfur JEM announced this week that it has decided to suspend its participation in the Doha peace process, one month after signing a goodwill agreement with the Sudanese government in the Qatari capital. [...]

The head of JEM’s general congress Abu-Bakr Al-Gadi told Agence France press (AFP) that the Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed Bin-Abdullah Al-Mahmoud made the appeal during their meeting today in Doha.

“They asked us to convey a message to the movement saying that we can protest the decision without halting the entire peace process” Al-Gadi said.

“We understand and appreciate the Qatari effort because it is one that seeks peace for the Darfuri people and this is our position as well”.

Al-Mahmoud met today with the Sudanese ambassador in Doha and Al-Gadi separately which according to Qatari news agency discussed latest developments with regard to the goodwill agreement signed last month and addition of new rebel groups to the talks.

Last week five Darfur rebel groups signed an agreement in Libya to take part in the Doha peace process with one delegation. The signatories of the common ground deal are: the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) – Unity, SLM led by Khamis Abdallah Abakr, the United Resistance Front (URF), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Idriss Azrag faction, and the SLM- Juba faction.

Al-Gadi said that he “promised them [Qatar] good and that we will transmit the request to our leaders on the ground” before adding that Khartoum’s decision “violates the spirit of the Doha agreement”.

JEM has previously said that the expulsion of aid groups is a breach of the goodwill agreement “which provides that the parties commits themselves to refrain from IDP’s harassment and to not obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid to the displaced”.

The JEM official also said that Khartoum is “dragging its feet” in submitting the list of their POW’s that they pledged to release while they have provided a list of Sudanese soldiers they are holding.

Last year the Darfurian rebel group staged a bold attack and fought fierce battles with the Sudanese army on the outskirts of the capital before they were repulsed.

However in February both JEM and Khartoum signed a goodwill agreement in the Qatari capital, pledging to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the six-year conflict in the western Sudan region of Darfur but a date for the full blown talks has not been fixed yet.

Hassan al-Turabi fuels Darfur war

In an interview with Sudan Radio Service in Khartoum on Friday, Dr. Hassan al-Turabi said that he will not keep quiet as long as people in Darfur are being killed by government forces. What a weasel. Why isn't he being investigated for his part in the Darfur war?

The only people who can stop the rebellion are the rebels themselves. None of them are interested in peace. They're bloodsucking leeches living off the backs of poor uneducated Africans while getting away with murder. The law is an ass.

From Sudan Radio Service 22 March 2009 (Khartoum) -

The leader of the opposition Popular Congress Party has reiterated his position on President al-Bashir and the ICC issue, saying that President al-Bashir and his government are responsible for the atrocities in Darfur.

In an interview with Sudan Radio Service in Khartoum on Friday, Dr. Hassan al-Turabi said that he will not keep quiet as long as people in Darfur are being killed by government forces.

[Hassan Al-Turabi]:” Say we count the victims in thousands, in hundreds, those being raped, being evicted from their homes, the killing and torturing of children and the continued detention of people - should we keep quiet about all this? He continues to kill civilians. Imagine ten thousand people have been killed. Our religion says that killing one person is just like killing all the people. And if he has killed 250,000 people? You have displaced thousands of people from their homes and villages. You have burned their villages and chased them away. This government has really shamed us. In god’s name, we are really ashamed!”

Al-Turabi stressed that President al-Bashir should go to The Hague and appear before the ICC.

[Al-turabi]:”I told him, please go and cleanse yourself, go there and defend yourself and say you have not done this and that, and you have not ordered the execution of any act. Go there and deny all these charges. The warrant of arrest has been issued for him and they told him to go to the ICC and if he does not go to the ICC, he will be arrested. He is now a fugitive. This is a shame on us as a nation. It is more painful for us than for him”.

Al-Turabi also accused the Government of National Unity of controlling the country’s judiciary.

[Al-Turabi]:” There is supposed to be justice in Sudan. Our judges are supposed to be independent and these judges know whether they judge in favor of the government or against the government. They know that if they don’t support the government they risk being sacked, or being transferred. The judges say they cannot be independent because the government orders them to do this and not to do that”.

Al-turabi was arrested by security agents and detained for two months after a statement to the media in January. He had said that President al-Bashir should go to The Hague to stand trial for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Al-Turabi was unexpectedly released a few days after the ICC issued an arrest warrant against al-Bashir earlier this month.

Save Darfur movement spends its annual budget of $15 million not on assisting victims but on spreading the message

From Boston.com
Politics and humanitarianism
By Anna Mundow, March 22, 2009

Mahmood Mamdani, a third-generation East African of Indian descent, grew up in Uganda, studied at Harvard, taught at various African and American universities, and is currently Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University. A political scientist and anthropologist, he is best known for "Good Muslim, Bad Muslim" and "When Victims Become Killers." His latest book, "Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror" (Pantheon, $26.95), meticulously exposes the tangled roots of the current conflict and the global forces at play in Darfur. Mamdani spoke from his home in New York City.

Q. Is there a link between this book and your previous work?

A. There are several; the most obvious is an understanding of the way in which the Cold War almost seamlessly morphed into the war on terror. Another connection - with my work on the Rwanda genocide and on the effect of colonialism in Africa - is the way in which identities are imposed from above.

Q. Such as who is an Arab, a Muslim, an African?

A. Yes. Interestingly, [originally] "Africa" was a word the Romans used for their North African province. But after the trans-Atlantic slave trade, "Africa" referred to parts of the continent from which slaves were hunted and sold. In Sudan, where everybody was equally native, the British arbitrarily identified certain groups as African and others as Arab.

Q. Why do you concentrate on the Save Darfur campaign?

A. In a context where African tragedies seem never to be noticed, I wondered why Darfur was an obsession with the global media. The reason, I realized, was that Darfur had become a domestic issue here, thanks to the Save Darfur movement. So I thought it important to examine the movement's history, organization, and message. I learned that this self-confessedly political group whose level of organization is phenomenal spends its annual budget of $15 million not on assisting victims but on spreading the message.

Q. Why?

A. There are various motives. One part of the group emerged out of solidarity with the struggle in south Sudan and believes that Darfur is another version of south Sudan. Most have no idea of the difference between the two situations. Another wing is what I understand to be neoconservatives who want to incorporate Darfur into the war on terror. Both groups reinforce the racialization of the conflict and the demonization of the Arabs.

Q. For political reasons?

A. For political reasons. There are few sources that really analyze Save Darfur; the clearest I found was an article [see copy here below] by Gal Beckerman in the Jerusalem Post ["US Jews leading Darfur rally planning," April 27, 2006]. The facts there speak for themselves.

Q. Yet you say that this campaign depoliticizes Americans?

A. I'm struck by the contrast between the mobilization around Darfur and the lack of mobilization around Iraq. The explanation, I believe, lies in the fact that Save Darfur presented the conflict as a tragedy, stripped of politics and context. There were simply "African" victims and "Arab" perpetrators motivated by race-intoxicated hatred. Unlike Iraq, about which Americans felt guilty or impotent, Darfur presented an opportunity to feel good. It appealed to the philanthropic side of the American character. During the presidential election, Save Darfur's constituency became integrated into the Obama campaign, and I welcomed that opportunity to organize around real concerns. The downside now is the attempt by Save Darfur to pressure the Obama administration to intervene militarily in Darfur.

Q. Are you saying that humanitarianism is a form of colonialism?

A. I'm saying that historically it has been. The movement after which Save Darfur patterned itself is the antislavery movement of the 19th century. Remember that the elimination of slavery was the ostensible reason given by British officials for colonization of the African continent. The cataloging of brutalities - real ones, not exaggerated - was essential preparation for seizing chunks of real estate, again ostensibly to protect victims. Today, the humanitarian claim uses ethics to displace politics. Conflicts are typically presented as tribal or race wars between perpetrators and victims whose roles are unchanging.

Q. Does the problem lie in who uses the humanitarian label?

A. The language of human rights was once used primarily by the victims of repression. Now it has become the language of power and of interventionists who turn victims not into agents but into proxies. It has been subverted from a language that empowers victims to a language that serves the designs of an interventionist power on an international scale.

Q. Do you worry about the reaction to this book?

A. My experience is that it is better to defend what you have said than to explain why you left half the case unsaid. I worried about the extent to which the book is readable because the middle chapters are in-depth historical exploration. I worried about losing the general reader. But faced with a human-rights constituency determined to decontextualize this issue, I felt compelled to examine Darfur in both a regional and a historical context, focusing on its complexity. This morning I received figures from UNAMID [the United Nations Mission in Darfur] in Khartoum, on civilian deaths from conflict in Darfur during 2008. The figure was 1,520, with 600 dead as a result of the conflict in the south between different Arab groups over grazing land and 920 deaths attributable, I am told, more to rebel movements than to the government-organized counterinsurgency. This is the kind of complexity that has been totally simplified.

Anna Mundow, a freelance journalist living in Central Massachusetts, is a correspondent for the Irish Times. She can be reached via e-mail at ama1668@hotmail.com.

- - -

Aprril 27, 2006 - Updated Apr 28, 2006
US Jews leading Darfur rally planning
By GAL BECKERMAN

Photo: Anti-America rally in Darfur, Sudan (AP)

Thousands of people will be marching this Sunday in Washington, DC under a banner that carries a simple two-word demand: "Save Darfur."

This is the name of the coalition organizing the rally, the first public action of its size intended to focus attention to the past three years of mass killing and ethnic cleansing carried out by the Sudanese government against the ethnically black farmers living in the Western region of Darfur. By most accounts, over 200,000 people have been massacred and two million displaced in a campaign that the US government and the United Nations two years ago decided to term genocide.

The rally, and the coalition that is organizing it, is hoping to pierce the consciousness of Americans and pressure the Bush administration into taking a more active line to end the conflict and help the refugees of the violence - most of whom are living in degrading conditions in neighboring Chad.

For this effort, the coalition has recruited major celebrities like George Clooney and Elie Wiesel to speak to those assembled. Though recent reports have indicated that the turnout might be lower than expected, organizers, while refusing to give a concrete number, believe it will be in "the tens of thousands."

Little known, however, is that the coalition, which has presented itself as "an alliance of over 130 diverse faith-based, humanitarian, and human rights organization" was actually begun exclusively as an initiative of the American Jewish community.

And even now, days before the rally, that coalition is heavily weighted with a politically and religiously diverse collection of local and national Jewish groups.

A collection of local Jewish bodies, including the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, United Jewish Communities, UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, sponsored the largest and most expensive ad for the rally, a full-page in The New York Times on April 15.

Though there are other major religious organizations, like the United States Conference on Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals, both of which have giant constituencies that number in the millions, these groups have not done the kind of extensive grassroots outreach that will produce numbers.

Instead, the Jewish Community Relations Council, a national organization with local branches that coordinate communal activity all over America, has put on a massive effort to bus people to Washington on Sunday. Dozens of buses will be coming from Philadelphia and Cleveland. Yeshiva University alone, in upper Manhattan, has chartered eight buses.

Besides the Jewish origins and character of the rally - a fact the organizers consistently played down in conversations with The Jerusalem Post - the other striking aspect of the coalition is the noted absence of major African-American groups like the NAACP or the larger Africa lobby groups like Africa Action. When asked to comment, representatives of both groups insisted they were publicizing the rally but had not become part of the coalition or signed the Unity Statement declaring Save Darfur's objectives.

The coalition's roots go back to the spring of 2004 following a genocide alert, the first ever of its kind, issued by the United States Holocaust Museum. An emergency meeting was coordinated by the American Jewish World Service, an organization that serves as a kind of Jewish Peace Corps as well as an advocacy group for a variety of humanitarian and human rights issues.

At the meeting, which was attended by numerous American Jewish organizations and a few other religious groups, it was decided that a coalition would be formed based on a statement of shared principles.

After a year of programming that involved raising awareness about the genocide, the coalition came up with the idea for a rally in Washington. Planning began in the fall of 2005.

David Rubenstein, the director or "coordinator," as he prefers it, of the coalition says that, given that the groups who started the coalition were Jewish, "it's not surprising that they had the numbers of more Jewish organizations in their rolodexes."

He says that the Jewish community has been "extraordinarily responsive and are really providing the building for this thing," and yet he insists that the coalition has worked "very, very hard to be inclusive, to make sure there are people beyond the usual suspects."

This is a sentiment echoed by Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service and one-time Manhattan borough president and Democratic mayoral candidate for New York City. The world service and Messinger personally have been at the forefront of planning for the rally. Much of the Jewish turnout has been a result of her lobbying efforts.

She thinks the strong Jewish response has to do with the memories of Rwanda. "The Jewish community has probably had a higher level of lingering guilt over Rwanda than the average person," Messinger says. "And now learning about another genocide, I think people are beginning to understand that we are close to making a mockery of the words 'Never Again.'"

Still, there are critics who say the heavy Jewish involvement might have deterred some other groups from joining.

The fact that the aggressors in Darfur are Arab Muslims - though it should be said that the victims are also mostly Muslim - and are supported by a regime in Khartoum that is backed by the Arab League has made some people question the true motives of some of the Jewish organizations involved in the rally.

Committee of Muslim Scholars in Khartoum tells Sudan's Bashir to drop Qatar trip as "enemies of the nation are creeping around"

An earlier news report here today at Sudan Watch - and on Friday - reveals that Sudanese rebel group JEM has quit participating in Darfur peace talks hosted by Doha, Qatar.

A report today from Alarabiya.net [Sunday, 22 March 2009] tells us that Sudan clerics tell Bashir to drop Qatar trip. Khartoum's scholars warn "enemies are creeping around". There has been speculation about Bashir's possible arrest if he leaves Sudan. Here is the report in full, followed by a news report: "Qatar Under No Obligation to Arrest Al-Bashir"

KHARTOUM (AlArabiya.net, Agencies) -- Sudan's highest religious authority has issued a fatwa or ruling that President Omar al-Bashir, targeted by an international arrest warrant, should not attend an Arab summit in Qatar.

The fatwa, issued by the Committee of Muslim Scholars, said that despite Khartoum's insistence that Bashir would go to the March 29-30 Doha summit, he should not attend because "the enemies of the nation are creeping around."

"It is inadmissible for the president of the republic to take part in the Arab League summit in Qatar under current conditions while the enemies of God and of the nation are creeping around," local media quoted the text as saying.

The International Criminal Court on March 4 issued an arrest warrant against Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur and there has been speculation about his possible arrest if he leaves Sudan.

"Because you are the symbol and the guardian of the nation...we think that the conditions are not right (to attend the summit) and that this task can be carried out by persons other than yourself," the fatwa said.

Implementing ICC warrants

The ICC does not have a police force and therefore calls on signatory states to implement warrants.

Qatar is not a member of the International Criminal Court and would have no legal obligation to arrest the president if he entered its territory.

The ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has warned in the past that any plane carrying Bashir in international airspace could be intercepted, though the court has no enforcement apparatus of its own.

Besides the possibility of his arrest in Qatar, some officials in Sudan fear that Bashir's presidential jet could be intercepted by other states once out of Sudanese airspace.

Before the authority issued its statement, Sudanese presidential spokesman Mahjoub Fadul told Reuters the government had not decided whether Bashir would attend the Qatar summit.

Fadul said security arrangements had been put in place in case Bashir did make the journey. He was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.

The Arab League and the African Union have both criticized the warrant as not helping to end the six-year-old Darfur conflict and called for the United Nations to exercise its right to defer it.

The United Nations says 300,000 people have died in the conflict between ethnic minority rebels and the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, which puts the figure at only 10,000. An estimated 2.7 million people more have fled their homes.

- - -

Report from Asharq Al-Awsat by Abdullah Mustapha, March 22, 2009:
Qatar Under No Obligation to Arrest Al-Bashir- ICC

Brussels, Asharq Al-Awsat- The International Criminal Court [ICC] Spokeswoman Laurence Blairon has stated to Asharq Al-Awsat the ICC cannot force the state of Qatar to arrest Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and hand him over to the court to answer charges leveled at him on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Sudanese Province of Darfur.

She added: "Now that the court has issued its decision early this month, the next step is for us to expect President Al-Bashir to voluntarily come to The Hague, or to expect the Sudanese Government to hand him over to us."

She noted that if President Al-Bashir continues to refuse to appear before the court or if the Sudanese Government refuses to hand him over, the judges will refer the case to the UN Security Council for the necessary measures.

The ICC spokeswoman said there is no definitive timeframe during which Al-Bashir must give himself up or during which Sudan or any other state must hand him over. Also, no definitive timeframe can be determined for the judges to take a decision to refer the case to the UN Security Council. Such action may take place in a week, month, or a year, she added.

In reply to a question as to what will happen if Al-Bashir arrives in Qatar to take part in the next Arab summit, the ICC spokeswoman said: "Qatar represents a special case because it is not a signatory of the court's statute. On that basis, the court cannot force Qatar to arrest Al-Bashir and hand him over."

She added: "At the same time, however, Qatar is member of the United Nations, and the international organization's resolution on the establishment of the court obliges the member states to cooperate with the court and respect its decisions."

She went on: "Accordingly, if the state of Qatar hands Al-Bashir over to the court, it will have cooperated with the court, in implementation of a previous decision."

She noted: "However, if Qatar does not arrest Al-Bashir and refuses to hand him over to the court, should he arrive in Qatar to participate in the summit, the court will inform the UN Security Council of the situation. Afterward, the Security Council will take the appropriate measures vis-à-vis Qatar or any other state that refuses to cooperate with the court if Al-Bashir visits it."

When I asked the ICC spokeswoman what would happen if the Sudanese Government handed the other two wanted persons, Ali Kushayb and Ahmad Harun, to the court, and the arrest warrant against President Al-Bashir was postponed or cancelled, she immediately interrupted my question and said: "No, never. We will not accept such an offer." She added: "There will be no alternative to the implementation of the ICC decisions, whether regarding Al-Bashir or other wanted persons."

On Wednesday, 4March 2009, the ICC approved the request that the prosecution presented on 14July 2008 to issue an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Al-Bashir.

It is recalled that, on 20 November 2008, the ICC public prosecutor submitted a request to the Pre-Trial Chamber I to issue an arrest warrant against three rebel leaders in Darfur for war crimes that were committed against the African Union peacekeepers in (Hasaknitah), Darfur, on 29 September 2007.

The UN Security Council referred the Darfur case to the ICC under its Resolution 1593, which it passed on 31 March 2005. On 6 June 2005, the ICC public prosecutor decided to open an investigation into this case.

The legal action that was taken against these three leaders is the third of its kind in such a case.

In the past, Pre-Trial Chamber I issued two arrest warrants against Ahmad Muhammad Harun, a former minister of state for internal affairs in the Sudanese Government and current minister of state for humanitarian affairs, and Ali Muhammad Abdul -Rahman, also known by the name of Ali Kushayb, who is leader of the Janjawid militia. The arrest warrants were issued for their alleged responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In its latest decision early this month, however, the ICC excluded charges of genocide against Al-Bashir and reduced the list of charges against him from 10 to only seven.

JEM says no to Doha Qatar peace talks - "war crimes being committed" in Darfur

Head of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) Khalil Ibrahim said that his group will no longer attend the peace talks hosted in Doha, Qatar, because President Omar el-Beshir’s decision to expel the NGOs condemns his people to death.

“Unfortunately, the government violated the good intention agreement… [when it] expelled 13 NGOs from Darfur. This is a real violation of one of the provisions [of the agreement],” Sulaiman Sandal, Jem’s chief of staff told RFI.

“We are calling on the international community so as to take responsibility that there is genocide going on, by depriving our people of food – there are war crimes being committed”, Sandal said from Darfur.

Source: Radio France Internationale 21 March 2009 - Darfur rebel group pulls out of peace talks- - -

UPDATE: See Sudan Watch, Tuesday, March 24, 2009: Qatari PM denies withdrawal of Sudan's JEM from peace talks

Defer ICC arrest warrant against Bashir

In the following excerpt from Eric Reeves' opinion piece at the Boston Globe, Reeves states that "before the ICC announcement, Darfuri sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of al-Bashir's arrest warrant." Surely such a sweeping statement authored by someone based in the USA is nonsense. Even Rob Crilly who writes for the Times and recently reported direct from Darfur, was hard pressed to find any displaced people who had heard of the ICC. Eric Reeves' articles are well written but terribly misleading and inaccurate.

Arrest warrant too costly for Darfur
By Eric Reeves
March 21, 2009 - excerpt:

The one option that remains - a distinct long shot - is Security Council deferral of the al-Bashir prosecution for a year under Chapter 16 of the ICC's Rome Statute, in return for re-admission of humanitarians with security guarantees. A Chapter 16 deferral has long been expediently supported by the Arab League and African Union; however, for Western nations - including Security Council permanent members France, Great Britain, and the US - supporting a deferral now would be transparently succumbing to the ugliest form of blackmail. And yet given the inaction by the West and other international actors, are we in any position to invoke scruples about "deferring" international justice? Does anyone dare say that justice for Darfur must go forward, even at the expense of countless Darfuri lives threatened by humanitarian expulsions?

Before the ICC announcement, Darfuri sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of al-Bashir's arrest warrant. That may well be changing, however, as suffering and deprivation grow. Is anyone bothering to ask the people of Darfur?

Eric Reeves, a Smith College professor, is author of "A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide."
---

Comment by Karana Dharma, an independent consultant focusing on community peacebuilding:

Eric Reeves opines that we have two options in the face of the growing conflict in Darfur - to defer the indictment of President El Bashir or stick to our guns at the cost of a humanitarian crisis that will cost human lives.

With all due respect to Professor Reeves and his very laudable work in this area, these two options leave the Darfuri people and the international community at the same stalemate that has led to the current standoff.

I worked for a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Sudan for over a year and the manipulations of the humanitarian community, both by the rebels and government officials, has long been the status quo. National and international NGOs are regularly denied access to one area in favor of another in a game of chess with the relief organizations as the pawns.

The current limited expulsion of 13 relief organizations and the threat to kick out or restrict the access of the remaining 85 operating on the ground is a heavy play on the part of the government to force the international community to limit its analysis to the very two options Mr. Reeves has presented.

But what Mr. Reeves and other analysts seem to ignore is that relief and recovery/development organizations in Darfur have faced the cancellation of their licenses and expulsion from Darfur many times before. Each time, with a few exceptions, they have won out with persistent shuttle diplomacy, appeals at the local administrative offices, and finally pressure from the Darfuri people themselves, especially the thousands who would lose their jobs when the projects folded and the hundreds of thousands of dollars that will be lost to the local market. In this current crisis, NGOs have reverted to this old playbook and started working with whomever will listen to get a quiet reversal of the political decision or at least an extension to allow them to work until the political storm has found a more appropriate target. But thus far, no clear target has presented itself. And here is where the international community is failing Darfur.

The US government and its European allies have developed a very confusing relationship with Sudan - ally in the war on terror, pariah in the human rights world, trading partner in the market for oil and gum arabic. This type of bi-polar diplomacy is hardly unique to Sudan but it clouds the field, hinders bilateral dialog, and makes any representative of the international community in Sudan fair game from the Sudanese administration's perspective.

Presenting a strong diplomatic team with a clear and transparent agenda will help to diffuse the current crisis and allow the local and international NGOs to go back to work, and spare the Sudan officials the embarrassment of admitting that they do not have the capacity to handle the crisis without help.

One parting anecdote, back in 2008, shortly after the ICC prosecutor submitted his request for an indictment against President El Bashir, the Sudanese Humanitarian Assistance Commission (HAC) began replacing the technocrats who approved and tracked the activities of the relief operations in Darfur with security agents loyal to the government in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Suddenly, travel and work authorizations, normally approved on the spot, were held up for days or weeks or simply denied out of hand without explanation. The backlog of food and non-food items and various other programming and services created such a uproar among the Darfur people that local security officials began to fear for their lives and quietly left the Darfur capitals on permanent vacations. The technocrats returned and the work resumed.

Should the Darfuri people get a say in all this? The short answer is yes, but first you need to be clear who is speaking and who has the right to speak on their behalf. Is the local NGOs? Is it the rebel leaders? Is it the national, state, or local governments? The traditional leaders such as the Sheikhs, Shattais, Omdas? To some degree, all the above have lost influence and trust among their own people. But I agree that the need for Darfuri self-expression is desperately needed. A few programs on the ground are seeking to help local communities find their voice, and we have not heard any mention of the ICC or the desire for peace negotiations to continue. Even the word peace has been so deformed that it is associated with wat and politics.

The Darfur people need something more. Local and international groups are attempting to bring them a broader range of self-expression than the ICC and Peace. But the diplomats need to do their part to keep the options open.

Darfur 'genocide' activists return to Chad

PRESS RELEASE from Stop Genocide Now:
Activists Return to Darfur Despite Danger

Los Angeles, CA, March 22, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Over the last several weeks the genocide in Darfur has grown exponentially dire. Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir was indicted on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, 16 aid agencies were expelled from the region, and food, water, medicine, and shelter supplies have run out in the refugee camps.

That’s why Stop Genocide Now has chosen to return to the Darfur refugee camps in Chad, despite ongoing violence against aid workers.

For 10 consecutive days, Stop Genocide Now’s I-ACT program (interactive-activism) will connect you with the faces and lives of Darfur refugees who escaped genocide in their homeland. Watch live videos from the field team, read journal entries and add your comments, take action daily and change the way the world responds to genocide.

Stop Genocide Now will be one of the only advocacy groups in the region, allowing viewers to get a closer look on what has occurred after President al-Bashir order for the removal of all aid organizations in Darfur.

The group is leaving for Darfur refugee camps in Chad on March 21, 2009.

Media associates stationed in the United States and inside the camps will be available to take questions from the press during the trip. Interviews from the camps using Skype/webcams are available.

Please contact Gabriel Stauring or Katie-Jay Scott for more information about their trip, or follow them on http://twitter.com/iact or http://stopgenocidenow.org for up to date information on the work of Stop Genocide Now.

Contact:

Gabriel Stauring
Director, Stop Genocide Now
310-415-2863
gabriel@stopgenocidenow.org

Katie-Jay Scott
Director of Community Programming, Stop Genocide Now
503-349-4946
ktj@iactivism.org

Kathryn Nelson
Media associate for Darfur trip March 2009
952-220-1903
knelson@iactivism.org

S. Darfur Kalma camp refusing aid after expulsion of groups

The Kalma camp leaders have threatened to organize a hunger strike until the government permits the return of expelled aid groups.

"The decision is irreversible," said Al-Hadi Najim, secretary-general of the government agency that oversees humanitarian aid here. "If they want the services, we are ready to facilitate. But we can't force anybody to eat."

He said the government had tried to deliver 46 drums of fuel to restart water pumps, offered to pay the salaries of workers at health clinics and attempted to open five meningitis-vaccination centers. All were rejected by the camp leaders. Najim blamed the camp's intransigence on Nur.



Photo: Voitek Asztabski/AP

Darfur camp refusing aid after expulsion of groups
By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times, 22 March 2009

NYALA, Sudan — Angered by the Sudanese government's decision to expel 13 foreign-aid groups in the Darfur region, leaders at one of the largest displacement camps are threatening to reject all humanitarian assistance until the organizations are allowed back.

The self-imposed aid embargo at Kalma displacement camp, which includes monthly food distribution, is heightening concerns about the welfare of the 88,000 residents.

The World Food Program said Kalma leaders Thursday refused a grain delivery. The U.N. food agency faced similar resistance a week earlier.

The camp's motorized water pumps aren't working because there is no fuel, and women have to fetch water from a polluted river nearby, aid officials said. Kalma's three health clinics have shut down, even as meningitis sweeps through the camp.

Kalma's leaders have even threatened to organize a hunger strike until the government permits the return of expelled aid groups — including Care International, Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders.

"We want the international (aid groups) back," said Ali Abdel Khaman Tahir, the chief sheik at Kalma, speaking by telephone because the government refused to give journalists access to the camp, which is on the edge of Nyala, the capital of Southern Darfur province.

"If we allow them to distribute the food, then the government will be able to say to the world that everything is OK in Kalma," said Mubarak Shafi, a camp activist. "We want all the other problems solved first."

In particular, Kalma leaders refuse to accept help from the Sudanese government or Sudanese charities, which they suspect will spy on them. But they are also rejecting assistance from the U.N. food agency and Western organizations such as World Vision.

Kalma has long been one of Darfur's most radical and militarized camps, with close ties to rebel leader Abdel Wahid Nur, head of a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army.

For years, Sudanese security forces and local charities have been unable to operate inside the camp because residents burned down their facilities. In August 2008, government soldiers fatally shot 31 people in Kalma, including women and children, in an early-morning standoff with residents carrying sticks and knives.

"The situation is very volatile," said Jean-Marie Stratigos, the Nyala representative for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "For now, we are just trying to find a way in which they will accept aid."

Camp leaders say that food supplies are stable but that prices are rising at the camp market and hundreds of people are lining up for water at the few dozen hand pumps.

Camp leaders say there have been 85 cases of meningitis, including several deaths over the last two weeks. But the figures cannot be confirmed.

Government officials insist they will not reverse the expulsion of aid groups, which they accused of providing information to help the International Criminal Court build a war-crimes case against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

The groups denied the charges.

"The decision is irreversible," said Al-Hadi Najim, secretary-general of the government agency that oversees humanitarian aid here. "If they want the services, we are ready to facilitate. But we can't force anybody to eat."

He said the government had tried to deliver 46 drums of fuel to restart water pumps, offered to pay the salaries of workers at health clinics and attempted to open five meningitis-vaccination centers. All were rejected by the camp leaders. Najim blamed the camp's intransigence on Nur.

Nur, based in Paris, did not return phone calls seeking comment. He wants the government to reverse its order and warned that it might lead to further violence inside the camps.

Najim praised the international-aid groups' efforts to train thousands of Sudanese humanitarian workers in Darfur but said the foreign agencies spend too much money on themselves, including guesthouses, security guards and air-conditioned trucks. Sudanese agencies, he said, would be more cost effective.

Camp leaders say the government is expelling the foreign-aid groups as a precursor to closing the camps and forcing people to go home.

Najim said security in many areas of Darfur had improved enough to allow families to return. He said thousands had already left camps.

"We hope that more people will go home," he said. "They can't spend the rest of their lives begging the international community to feed them."

AU Darfur Panel to come up with a proposal for expediting the peace process in Darfur

Mr. Mbeki's panel has a daunting three-fold mandate. First, come up with a proposal for expediting the peace process in Darfur. Second, advise the African Union on how to face the challenge of dealing with war crimes and those who commit them. Third, to find a way to achieve reconciliation among the region's warring parties.

Voice of America News report by Peter Heinlein (Addis Ababa) March 20, 2009
AU Darfur Panel Asked To Find Middle Path Between Justice and Reconciliation:

A newly-formed high-level African Union panel has been assigned the task of developing a formula that would reconcile calls for justice in Darfur with the need to heal the wounds of war. Panel chairman Thabo Mbeki is looking for inspiration in the reconciliation process that brought an end to apartheid in his native South Africa.

Mr. Mbeki's panel has a daunting three-fold mandate. First, come up with a proposal for expediting the peace process in Darfur. Second, advise the African Union on how to face the challenge of dealing with war crimes and those who commit them. Third, to find a way to achieve reconciliation among the region's warring parties.

The eight-member panel has until the end of July to submit its report.

Even before it began work, the panel has been accused of being little more than a mask for efforts to delay the International Criminal Court (I.C.C.) war crimes indictments against Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The African Union is on record as opposing the indictments, calling them an obstacle to peace.

But Mr. Mbeki says the panel's work will not include a critique of the ICC indictments. "There isn't any specific mandate from the African Union for us to assess the work of ICC. The African Union decided some time back and has reaffirmed that decision, that it would prefer the (UN) Security Council should defer the serving of warrants on President Bashir for 12 months... so the African Union itself, never mind the panel, is saying, can you take this matter and put it in abeyance so we can deal with this matter?," he said.

Mr. Mbeki told reporters he accepts the need for an end to impunity in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people are believed to have died in six years of war marked by ethnic cleansing. But he says while the ICC indictments may strike a blow against impunity, they will do little to soothe the hatreds that have spawned massacres and worse in the vast region of western Sudan.

Speaking of his own experience in South Africa, he recalled the decision not to prosecute leaders of the hated apartheid regime, even though they could have been brought to trial for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of black people.

"The African Union takes the position that we really need to do something to ensure we do achieve peace as a matter of urgency, that we do address the issue of war crimes, impunity, etcetera, and that we seriously have a look at how to reconcile the Sudanese people after all these terrible conflicts," he said.

African Union leaders authorized the Mbeki panel at their last summit in February, after it became clear the ICC would issue arrest warrants for President Bashir. The indictments handed down March fourth accuse the Sudanese leader of orchestrating atrocities against civilians in Darfur.

China urges restraints on Darfur issue

From China Daily (Xinhua) March 21, 2009
China urges restraints on Darfur issue

UNITED NATIONS -- China on Friday called for the parties concerned to exercise restraint and adopt a comprehensive solution to the issue of Darfur, so as to prevent the escalation of tension.



Photo: A truck loaded with new refugees enters Zamzam refugee camp, outside the Darfur town of al-Fasher, Sudan, Thursday, March 19, 2009. [Agencies]

"The issue of Darfur is multi-faceted and complex," Liu Zhenmin, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the council in a public meeting. It encompasses areas such as political process, deployment of peacekeepers, humanitarian relief, judicial justice and economic reconstruction, he said.

Some of the recent events have shown that the issuance by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of an arrest warrant to the Sudanese leader has already "adversely affected the situation in Darfur," he said.

"It is our hope that the parties concerned will exercise restraint to prevent the escalation of tension so as to avoid any new negative impact on the political process, deployment of peacekeepers and humanitarian assistance in Darfur," he said.

He urged the UN Security Council to have "a comprehensive discussion on the issue of Darfur to develop an integrated strategy," and move ahead all work "in a balanced way in order to seek a comprehensive solution to the issue."

In early March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's restive western region of Darfur between 2003 and 2008.

The Sudanese government reiterated several times that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Sudan because the country is neither a member of the tribunal nor a party which ratified the Rome Statute that set up the tribunal.

ICC's Ocampo denies getting any help or information from NGOs in Darfur and says Sudan expulsions 'confirm crimes'

According to the following report from Aljazeera today, the International Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor denied getting any help or information from NGOs in Darfur. But the report makes no mention of those who worked in Chad and in other countries outside of Sudan.

Note that a report filed here at Sudan Watch [March 4, 2009 - Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s drawings of Darfur that were accepted by ICC as evidence in any trial] claims that last year, UK based rights group Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s pictures of Darfur war that were accepted by the ICC as contextual evidence to be used in any trial. Waging Peace collected the drawings from refugees in Chad.

March 21, 2009 report from Aljazeera/Agencies:
Sudan expulsions 'confirm crimes'

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, has criticised the Sudanese president's decision to expel 13 aid agencies from the country.

Moreno-Ocampo said that the ejection of the non-governmental organisations proves that the ICC was correct to pursue Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, on war-crimes charges.

The Netherlands-based court granted Moreno-Ocampo's request earlier this month for a warrant for al-Bashir's arrest on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan's western Darfur region.

Al-Bashir's government has been battling ethnic African groups in Darfur since 2003 and he has been accused of orchestrating atrocities against civilians.

"This idea to expel the humanitarians is confirming the court decision," Moreno-Ocampo said in New York after the UN Security Council met to receive an updated assessment on the Darfur crisis.

"Expelling them is confirming the crimes."

Reversal rejected

Khartoum ordered the aid agencies out of Darfur after the ICC issued the arrest warrant, and has ruled out reversing that decision, despite pressure from the US and UN Security Council members.

"The decision of the government of Sudan is a legitimate sovereign decision which we will never reverse," Mohamed Yousif Ibrahim Abdelmannan, Sudan's envoy to the UN, told the council on Friday.

"This should not be a issue for discussion."

The UK, Austria, Uganda and several other countries have appealed to Khartoum to rethink its position.

A rebel group in Darfur, meanwhile, announced that it was pulling out of peace talks with the Sudanese government after the aid agencies were expelled.

"The movement cannot negotiate with the government of al-Bashir," Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), told the Reuters news agency by telephone on Friday.

Jem signed a deal with the Sudanese government after talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, last month, under which both sides agreed to undertake "good faith" measures.

"There was supposed to be a conference [in Doha] after three weeks but we will not go," Ibrahim said.

'Free prisoners'

Ibrahim said the government must allow the expelled aid agencies back into Darfur and free Jem prisoners before talks could resume.

Ibrahim signed a 'good faith deal' with Sudan after talks in Qatar last month [EPA] Rashid Khalikov, a senior UN humanitarian affairs official, told the council on Friday there were "significant signs of an erosion of humanitarian response capacity, with a concurrent impact on the lives of people in Darfur" since the 13 foreign and three domestic NGOs were expelled.

UN officials say the banished aid groups accounted for around half of the aid-distribution capacity in Darfur.

Sudan says the aid groups, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Care, helped the ICC issue the arrest warrant.

The groups reject the charge.

Moreno-Ocampo said he had received no help or information from NGOs or UN agencies in his investigation.

JEM seem to energetically welcome any excuse not to participate in peace talks.
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Report from Alarabiya.net Saturday, 21 March 2009:
US says Bashir responsible for Darfur deaths

The United States demanded late on Friday that the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir “be held accountable for each and every death" in Darfur following his decision to expel foreign aid groups.

"President Bashir and his government are responsible for and must be held accountable for each and every death caused by these callous and calculated actions," Washington's U.N. ambassador Susan Rice told the U.N. Security Council during a briefing on the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's strife-torn western region.

"We urge the international community to press the government of Sudan to reverse its expulsion edict and to ensure it does nothing to worsen an already grave situation," Rice said. "President Bashir created this crisis…He should rectify it immediately."

Without giving details, Rice told reporters after the meeting that Washington was consulting with council members and other U.N. member states on "appropriate next steps."

British, Austrian, Ugandan and several other envoys also appealed to Khartoum to rethink its position. They cited a bleak report on the humanitarian situation in Darfur from Rashid Khalikov, a senior official of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

But the Chinese and Libyan delegates were more cautious, focusing on the negative impact of the ICC arrest warrant.

British Ambassador John Sawers also had tough words for Khartoum, saying: "The United Kingdom will hold the government of Sudan responsible for the suffering that their decision causes."

The U.S. delegation requested Friday's briefing by Khalikov, who warned of "significant signs of an erosion of humanitarian response capacity, with a concurrent impact on the lives of people in Darfur."

Rice said Khartoum "owns its consequences, which will not only cost lives but leave the government locked deeper in an isolation of its own making."

Defiant Sudan

Several other ambassadors appealed to Khartoum to rescind the expulsion order. But Mohamed Yousif Abdelmannan, a Sudanese U.N. delegate, reiterated that his government's decision was irreversible.

"The decision of the government of Sudan is a legitimate sovereign decision which we will never reverse, and this should not be an issue for discussion," the Sudanese diplomat told the council.

Earlier Khalikov said the world body was still pressing for a reversal of the NGOs expulsion and recalled that a series of joint U.N.-Sudan assessments of the situation in three Darfur states was underway.

"The findings will be finalized this weekend with government counterparts in Khartoum," he noted. "We should be able to speak more next week about their impact on the wider assistance effort in Darfur."

"There is no doubt that our ability to help the people of Darfur and northern Sudan has been seriously compromised," the OCHA official said. "The current atmosphere of fear and uncertainty facing all aid organizations is affecting the assistance available to the people of Darfur."

Visiting ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who observed Friday's council proceedings, said Bashir, by expelling the humanitarian aid groups, "is confirming the crime" of extermination.

"The king is naked," Moreno-Ocampo said, referring to Bashir. "It is not my responsibility that the king is naked."

The United Nations says that 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been made homeless by the conflict in Darfur which erupted in February 2003.

Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers hold 700 Ugandan traders hostage

Southern Sudan's SPLA soldiers are demanding seven months in salary arrears.

Report: Southern Sudanese soldiers hold Ugandan traders hostage
From EarthTimes March 21, 2009 Kampala -

Hundreds of Ugandan traders in southern Sudan are being held hostage by soldiers picketing over long delays in the payment of their wages, the Ugandan press said Saturday. At least 1000 Ugandan vehicles are stranded along the roads from the border points to southern Sudan's capital Juba after being barred from moving by Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers, the government newspaper, The New Vision reported.

The daily reported that the soldiers were demanding seven months in salary arrears.

Central Broadcasting Service (CBS) reported that as many as 700 Ugandans were being held hostage by the SPLA and that some of the vehicles had been set ablaze by the soldiers.

Thousands of Ugandan and other regional nationals rushed to southern Sudan for business ventures following peace with the Muslim north.

The mostly Christian and animist southern Sudanese fought for decades against successive Muslim governments in Khartoum.

UN Security Council resolution 1583 urges all UN members to co-operate with the ICC

BBC report 21 March 2009 - excerpt:
Sudan 'extermination' as aid cut

The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court has accused Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir of "exterminating" refugees by expelling international aid agencies.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said that by blocking aid the president was attacking the civilians in the giant camps that dot Darfur.

He called for President Bashir to be arrested as soon as he leaves Sudan.

The president is due to attend this month's Arab League summit in Qatar.

Speaking to the BBC's Network Africa, Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that by expelling the international aid agencies the president was "confirming that he is exterminating his people".

Arab League summit

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that he would work for the arrest of President Bashir as soon as he leaves Sudan.

Judges at the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on war crimes charges earlier this month.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that entering international airspace would be enough, since UN Security Council resolution 1583 urges all UN members to co-operate with the court.

Qatar, which invited President Bashir to the Arab League summit, has not signed the statute that brought the ICC into being.

Some Sudanese leaders, concerned about the president's safety, have urged him not to visit the annual Arab summit, due to start on 29 March.

Earlier this week the Sudanese former president Siwar Al-Dahab urged President Bashir to exercise "patience and wisdom" and not risk travelling to Qatar "for his safety and the safety of Sudanese people".

The United Nations and the Sudanese authorities concluded a joint assessment mission to Darfur to investigate how best to deal with the camps after President Bashir's expulsion of the 13 international aid agencies.

The UN delegation returned to Khartoum on Friday and are due to meet the Sudanese government for formal consultations.

Gunmen loot Oxfam warehouse in Darfur, W. Sudan

Report from The Associated Press March 21, 2009 - excerpt:
Gunmen loot Oxfam warehouse in Darfur

AL-SALAM CAMP, Sudan: Refugee camp leaders in Darfur say a dozen men broke into the warehouse of an expelled British aid group, stealing all its contents.

Camp leader Adam Mahmoud told Darfur peacekeepers that armed men stormed the site early Saturday, driving off the guards with gunfire. Another leader, Ismail Braima, said the men stole cement sacks and water pipes.

The area where the Oxfam-UK center once stood has been emptied of all its contents.

This is believed to be the first such looting of an aid group's material since the government expelled Oxfam and 12 foreign aid groups on March 4. [...]

Why did SPLA look on as Lou Nuer Youth attacked Murle town of Lekwangole near Pibor, S. Sudan leaving 750 people dead?

Shocking news from American artist Rob Rooker in Juba, southern Sudan re the March 8, 2009 attack by Nuer Youth on Murle town of Lekwangole near Pibor, southern Sudan leaving 750 people dead. According to a report copied here below, the Government of South Sudan's SPLA just looked on and did nothing to intervene. Excerpt:

The government inability to halt the aggression, made people to think the Nuer Youth is acting with full knowledge of the Government of Jonglei State and GOSS. It is the government who disarmed Murle population and it is now the same Government who could not protect the people they have disarmed for the purpose of peace and harmony in the region.

Why did the SPLA army in the town just look on and not intervene to help stop the aggression from the Nuer Youth? See following report copied from Rob Brooker's blog post dated March 20, 2009 - not good news:

i probably should have posted this the other day. But i’ve been slow when it comes to the internet lately. sorry mom, will work on an email soon.

The region and tribe that my wife comes from was attacked by a rival tribe just a little over a week ago. Some really horrible news is coming out such as the fact that at least 750 people have died from the fighting.

Here is a report I found from someone who visited the area just a few days after it happened:

1. THE COVERED TRUTH

Report on the attack on Murle town of Lekwangole

Date 11/3/2009

Pibor, South Sudan

“On Sunday, 8 March 2009 at 4:00 PM Nuer Youth armed to the teeth with G3 rifles and automatic machine guns, attacked and captured the Murle town of Lekwangole 30 Miles north of Murle provincial town of Pibor

The attackers killed 213 people including Lekwangole town clerk Mr. Nur Gayin and left 120 wounded 39 men were captured and taken alive. 28 children and 11 women were also abducted Government officials in Pibor counted the number of 9,773 displaced people which are being hosted in primary schools in Pibor town without food, shelter and medicine.

An estimated 2,000 head of cattle were taken. I visited Lekwangole on the 10th of March, two days after the attackers left the town with their looted possessions. I was horrified with what I saw in my own eyes. Bodies were laying everywhere in Lekwangole town. The whole town was brought to ashes. The only two NGOS in the area namely COOPI and MSF Belgium compounds were destroyed and looted of all the valuable items including medicine in MSF Clinic. I even saw two decomposed bodies near COOPI Compound. I was warned by the natives not to go further into the bush where a lot of dead bodies were laying because the Lou Nuer fighters were still combing the bush. They kill whoever their eyes could see in the area.

I was able to bring some wounded to the clinic in Pibor town including a young woman who was shot from the back and the bullet came out just near her upper breast. Up to this moment, many women and children are still missing. The local authority that went and did a thorough assessment after me put the number of dead toll to 400 people. The fighting was still raging north of Lekwangole town when I left the place.

The capture of Lekwangole town by what is so called cattle rustlers is a new phenomenon in history of cattle raiding practices in South Sudan. I condemn this aggression. The cattle’s raiding was always done in cattle camps. But capturing the town like Lekwangole and destroying everything including hospital and NGOS properties, is not any longer cattle raiding. It is an aggression against development in the South Sudan.

Lekwangole was captured and held for two days. What baffled me most was that the SPLA army in the town was just looking on. They did not intervene to stop the aggression from the Nuer Youth.

It is now almost two weeks since the fighting began and nothing is done to contain the situation. As I report this incident, the fighting is still burning in Manylangirach village North of Lekwangole town. If the international reporters could be dispatched to the area, they could confirm what I am reporting about I am calling upon the Government of South Sudan to intervene and stop this fighting. Already 213 people have died and many more are still missing in the bush

It is unbelievable to see people are killed 4 years after CPA was sign. Southerners should not die again after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. This lawless act on Lekwangole may drag the Government of South Sudan to the state of inability to solve its own domestic problems.

The government inability to halt the aggression, made people to think the Nuer Youth is acting with full knowledge of the Government of Jonglei State and GOSS. It is the government who disarmed Murle population and it is now the same Government who could not protect the people they have disarmed for the purpose of peace and harmony in the region.

I call upon the UN and the entire humanitarian organizations to intervene and stop fighting in Lekwangole and to bring food and blankets to these 9,773 internally displaced civilians from Lekwangole Payam.

I also call upon Murle leaders and youth to refrain from any retaliatory act or revenge. Let the law take its cause. The cycle of violence will not lead us anywhere. God is against the killing of human beings by his own fellow human. Let us together make South Sudan a better place to live in

Continue praying to God for Sudan such that lawless killings as such will not occur again”

For the record the fighting seems to have stopped. It looks like a few folks and agencies are trying to get in and give some support to folks on ground.

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See related post at Sudan Watch Monday, March 16, 2009: Hundreds killed in South Sudan cattle attacks Sun Mar 15, 2009 Reuters report by Skye Wheeler: The head of South Sudan's U.N. Office of Humanitarian Affairs Andy Pendleton confirmed officers had received reports that a large number of people had been killed in the fighting. "The situation is rather alarming," he told Reuters. "Usually the fighting is between cattle-guarding combatants. But this time it's different. You also have people caught in the middle and they lost their lives."
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APPREHENSION by Rob Rooker



Painted on a wall in Maridi, Sudan. The image is of a young Nuer boy looking up among a crowd of people. Cards & prints available at Imagekind.com
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From Sudan Tribune Saturday 21 March 2009 by James Gatdet Dak:
One killed, two injured during attack on Murle cattle traders near Juba

March 20, 2009 (JUBA) — A group of unknown gun men attacked Murle traders near Juba town, killing one and critically wounding three others, according to the Chairperson of Murle Traders, Kuju Mazi.

The cattle traders who arrived four days ago at Gumbo area, about 3 kilometers away from Juba town center, were attacked at night where they camped with their cattle which they brought from Pibor County of Jonglei state.

Kuju said about 350 heads of cattle were also looted by the attackers. The two wounded are admitted in Juba hospital.

Kuju suspected some citizens from Jonglei state to have carried out the attack. He wondered why the SPLA forces nearby plus other organized forces could not come to their rescue or pursue the attackers until they are arrested.

Kuju added that the Murle traders have reported the case to the police headquarters in Juba town. (ST)

18 Comments

21 March 2009 by Mimama
Thanks to attackers,
Murle need to be taught more than enough lesson. I urge the Jonglei tribes to continue the tough attack on murle to learn how bad a nagging neighbourhood is. They must be attacked on every corner to let them know that the Jonglei people are not happy with them. Teach them to follow a good neighbourhood. They must be attacked by all Jonglei people because they have no friends in Jonglei.
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by Mjr. W’t K the 2nd
Hey Mr.Mimama,

Get lost. It seem in your writing that you are one of those who encourage in ternal issues like tribalism to grow horn in South Sudan.But that was not the issue of our struggling. What will you gain by saying that............

...."They must be attacked by all Jonglei people because they have no friends in Jonglei" or by saying that...... "....Thanks to attackers, Murle need to be taught more than enough lesson. I urge the Jonglei tribes to continue the tough attack on murle to learn how bad a nagging neighbourhood is. They must be attacked on every corner to let them know that the Jonglei people are not happy with them"....................................................

Think and rethink please Mr.Mimama, we were fighting for our freedom so just to come and turn oursleves to each other as enemies like the way your are encouraging it. Issues like "TRIBALISM" should alway be discourage and not to be supported. So please if you are an outsider, coming from North probably or wherever the wind blow, Get Lost Sotherners don’t support, encourage or like such issues happening between In-law Murle and Uncle Lou.!!!!!!!!!!!!
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by MANKIND
Heavily armed Lou NUER youngmen waged an attack on the murle cattle camp near Juba,the report said. The attack was a revenge to the recent Lounuer-murle fighting in which 300 Lou Nuer were killed and 53 surrendered to murle when the fighting reach its’ climax. Therefore, the Lou nuer vented their anger of defeat on murle traders.
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by MANKIND
300 Nuers killed and 53 surrendered to murle,(NEWSUDANVISION.COM),

Following the recent fighting between LouNuer and Murle the Lou Nuer were miserably defeated by murle warriors. 53 Lou nuer surrendered as captives to murle and 300 were killed. Ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa!the women surrendered to murle men. I Was lucky to meet one of the Lounuer man who was among the people to attack murle and here is what he had to say" Never ever will it happen again", we met the real men he added. For anyone who want to attack murle ask us the Lounuer first, he warned. I couldn’t help laughing when i interviewed him as one of soldiers in our SPLA barrack. The Lounuer waged the poorly planned attack on murle as a result of their cattle confiscated by murle warriors. However, the attack taught Lounuer unforgettable lesson in which they respect the murle dearly.

Indeed they Lounuer women were taught a good lesson though they seem to be manipulating the story in the media.
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by Gatwech
Dinka attacked the Murle traders,

I heard this on UN radio in Malakal. The Murle chairman of traders said plainly that he suspected Dinka criminals for the cowardic attack on the Murle near Juba town. He said the Dinka are used to attacking few Murle traders in darkness during the night. He said this is the habit of Dinka because they feared to attack during the day or in the warfield. These are barbaric coward murderers, Kuju Mazi said that. Unless you guys did not listen to his interview over Miraya FM radio yesterday. May be he did not tell the reporter that, but he said it for all to hear in South Sudan over that radio. So, it is clear that the Dinka are known for starving people at the back at night and cannot afford to face during the day time. Thanks to Murle for studying the Dinka well. The Nuer would face you in day light.

As for the so-called newsudanvision website, you could tell that it is a clannish website of bor. You will find all those with crooked teeth, gloomy ugly faces and rough faces with long lines pointing up like the horns of wild deers, some like gazelles. All those marks on their ugly faces, crooked teeth and gloomy faces are bor dinka. They have lost their credibility as professional journalists and compromised their neutrality. They lie every time they put news on their defunct new sudan website, quoting always the unkown so-called security officer which name will never appear. These are cooked lies by determined liars who know nothing about ethics in journalism.

What they don’t know is that fabricating so-called surrounder of Lou-Nuer fighters will never work. Nuer in general do not entertain to surrender unlike the dinka who always quickly surrender to attacks. How come the Nuer destroyed 17 Murle administrative units, took more than half a million cattle, killed 453, captured 106 and then can be said to have surrendered at the same time with out a source telling the truth. Even the so-called three hundred killed is just a guess of the so-called nameless public security officer. The Nuer count their loss ones after war, section by section, family by family. So, where did those come from?

For the one who ones to call Nuer tribe as Dinka-Nuer, that is good for you. We don’t have any problem with the Nuer having the Dinka as its son. Dinka-Nuer, would be like Lou-Nuer, Jikany-Nuer, Bul-Nuer, Jagei-Nuer, etc., etc. So, the Nuer would be like the father to the Dinka as it is the father to the rest of Nuer major sub-tribes. There is a difference between Riek-Machar and Machar-Riek in that order. So, Machar is the father of Riek, but not Riek the father of Machar. First name is always the son or daughter and the second name is the father. Those Dinkas the Nuer called Dinka-Nuer are those Dinka clans who have been acculturated into the Nuer culture by adopting the Nuer cultures and their marks like the Dinka Ngok and Agaar like those of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Paul Mayom Akech. When I saw him in Malakal I thought he was from Nuer because of Nuer six lines on his forehead. But I was told by a friend of mine that he is a Dinka of Rumbek, but his clan has adopted Nuer marks. Wou! Welcome guys, this is the beginning of a long history of acculturating Dinka from their being called Dinka to being called Dinka-Nuer (Dinka of Nuer). Common my greedy sons, let us tame you and become Nuer. Wow, I will love the future generation!
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by Kim Deng
Mankind,

This cowardic act was committed by coward Jaang/Slaves who cannot confront Murle in warfield rather than ruthless killing. The Mighty Naath cannot only wage invasion in day light, but warn and tell you we (Nuer Warriors) are coming for D-day.

When the war is fought in your land, the great damage is always on your side regardless of some few lives you might waste as a result of war. Women and cildren can suffer more plus destruction of the properties.

We don’t know where you got that figer while Nuer Warriors know that only less than a hundred lives were wasted from that war. But brought children, young ladies and countless cattle back to Nuerland with them. What a victory!

As a result of invasion the Mighty Nuer Warriors carried out against tiny Murle ethnic group, your coward commissioner asks SSRR & NGOs for relief for over 5,000 displaced Murle population arround Pibor. Don’t hesitate to open the following file.

http://anyuakmedia.com/sudnews_temp...
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by Jay
Kim, you have been singing of coming to Bor as you people did in 1991 when you slaughtered unarmed defenseless civilians. Coming to Bor should have been your first option other than Murle.

Bear in mind this time, there is no Bor young men under Juba operation as they were in 91. We were expecting no enemy behind us to terrorize civilians beside Arabs. Should you be metally blind to do it again?

Please, that’s the moment we can’t wait to happen one more time. Make no mistake about it that will be the time you’ll no longer call Jonglei your State.
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by Tony
Hi bothers! iam very happy to what had to those f*cken parasite of murle and ihave to tell them even though your ismael went back to Bashir he have rooms in sudan. thanks the attacker , because your are always doing it . for the understanding of human kind through alife is so lowed by the power of knowledge.and let murle cry this time and it will be like what we did to you recently. f*ck you ber,
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by AUGUSTINO DENG
Hey Mr Mimama,

I really understand your dilemma that you are not delightful indeed about Murle’s idiosyncrasy behaviors, but let us not try to bring divisionalism into our community in Southern Sudan as a whole. First of all, as a human being, you get to think deeply on how such tragedy bring painful emotion toward you and other person who may feel the same things you may feel when your endear friend lost his life in such manner as it happened to Murle Community.

I believe that the best solution to do in order to mollify this kind of situation is to bring those suspects who are entitled to this mess and have them face the trial. If not happened like that, then Murle people will not stop until they make reprisals on behave of their endear one. So, my dear brother Mimama, I’m advising you that let us not make any kind of segregation, toward our people. Second to that also, I’m not encouraging Murle people to applied the same sort of treatment which happen to them.

I know and even you yourself Mr Mimama,that losing your endear person in way that is inappropriate is not good and it should not be good either in my heart, your heart and the hearts of those people who will read this article of mine. So, Mr Mimama, let us treated our people equally with courtesy and dignity as well as respect and fairness. In contrast, it is not good for you to said that "Murle needs to be taught more than enough lessons" which is sound very strange full to me because death is not entitled to Murle people alone. It is something that happened to everybody no matter of what. So, what if for instance, Murle people go and do the same revenge like what happened to them, do you think that it will be good? If I’m not wrong, then I think that it will not be good at all.

Murle people are they people in the Southern Sudan like other people including Zande, Digdiga, Taposa, Anyuak, Nuer, Dinkas, Shilluk and so many others. Then by the way, why are we just only segregated or raised chaos on Murle people alone? Currently in this month of March,2009, Nuer emerged in Murle County so call Kwangla with vigorously attack which lose the life of 453 people from Murle Community. Mr Mimama, do you think is fair enough to jeopardize the life of the people in simple way like that?

To be honest with you my dear friend Mimama, whether I don’t know you physically, I’m not from Murle Community, but when things happen in this way, we should have some sorts of solutions with which we can use to cease the incident, but not only one tribe can be accused of the blame or the calamity. Lastly, if you think that I touch your nerves or your feeling very badly about what I wrote here to you, then please treat it as a friendly advise and let me know it sometime in form of writing when possible.

Thanks a lot and I encouraged you to take a deep breath and have love on your brothers so call Murle like I do have love on them too.
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by Mr Famous Big_Logic_Boy
This are the junglese who did the attack. None of Equatoria have ever been harmful to anyone in South, if Equatorians where mad like the junglese, I think that they could have made a revenge to the abducted childrens who where released during the visit of Riek to Murle villages. This lost and jungle tribe of dinkas is one of the worse tribe ever in this world, they are mad, barbaric and absolutely dangerous to anyone including themsleves. They are just like wild animals who act rude to each other. It is because of their visionless government which made them to act like superior, but oneday at a single time you will see dinkas/junglese ranning nake from Equatoria to bor.
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by MANKIND
Logic,

Nuer are not Dinka though they are sometime mistaken for Dinka-Nuer due to our superiority in the South. They have even started to name themselves after our names like Kim Deng,machar,garang etc. It is a matter of time and the history will assimilate them into our society.

Anyone like you logic must talk of Nuer when you want to talk of the Lounuer-murle case NOT Dinka because they are merely historically called Dinka-Nuer. Stop mentioning Dinka whereever our reasoning capacity does not fit. We can not wage a war and afterward surrender when the fight reach its’ climax, that is not our nature.
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by GatNaath
Mankind,
Please!! Have a moral obligation and stop engaging in moviting white lies.

Facts: we all live in Southern Sudan and we know our distinctive culture of our tribes. We know which tribe is able to do certain things, which others do not.

It’s true. this is your tribe Dinka, who committed this senseless act by ambushing innocents Murle traders and stolen their cattles. Dinka don’t have stomach to confront Murle tribes in warfield. This is fact: You just don’t have gut to confront Murle ethnic group in direct battle field. Every body know that in the South. You innated Cowards. Even Equatorians will chase your Cowardic asses from their land when fed up of occupation of their land. They can defeated easily your corrupted asses, if it’s not SPLA who protected you.

These Dinka who killed and looted Murle cattle near Juba city are internal displace Dinka who live in Equotoria and roaming that land free of charnge.

There are no Nuer civilians in Equatoria, except those who live in the city of Juba. Beides, Naath don’t ambush innocents people. Naath can invade you in your vilages, and give advance warnings.

Regarding New SUDAN Vission, a mouthpiece of Dinka papaganda. They involved in disgrace and immoral act of journalim, and are not to be trusted. They are just tribal website, whose only function is to promote Dinka agenda.

No Jenubi would considers their lies. There is no such figure of death in all Lou Nuer sections who invade Murleland, never. It’s an illusion. Lou Nuer casualties is in low hundreds, but it doesn’t matter, one loss of life is precious. Also, no such that 53 Lou Nuer are surrender to Murle. This is funny, even for Dinka NEW SUDAN WEBSITE, engaging in this such low class lies.

I won’t bother since this is pure manufactured lies by Dinka elments.

They can run, but cannot hide.
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by kaiko
Hey wrongs,

this is juba not jungle.we use to live in peace,no gun firing, no killings but now u want to bring ur jungle behaviours to disturb the peace we r enjoing in equatoria.so plse u better go bact to ur jungle states b4 we kick ur ass out of equatoria.

wrongs we want to live in peace as we use to be.
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by WARLORD
All of u guys are not a leader, when u guys gonna finished talkin abt tribe. when u guys gonna grow up and talk likes a man , what is in ur brain is tribe nothin else. u guys got no life at all. y can we juss writ sumthang dat make sense to another people or our young generation dat comin next. bee a good aleader think b4 u act dont bee pussies.
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by Hillary B.M.L,M
Caution! They should not bring the fight near to the peaceful PEOPLE, let them kill themselves far away.
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by Gatwech
Dinka attacked the Murle traders,

I heard this on UN radio in Malakal. The Murle chairman of traders said plainly that he suspected Dinka criminals for the cowardic attack on the Murle near Juba town. He said the Dinka are used to attacking few Murle traders in darkness during the night. He said this is the habit of Dinka because they feared to attack during the day or in the warfield. These are barbaric coward murderers, Kuju Mazi said that. Unless you guys did not listen to his interview over Miraya FM radio yesterday. May be he did not tell the reporter that, but he said it for all to hear in South Sudan over that radio. So, it is clear that the Dinka are known for starving people at the back at night and cannot afford to face during the day time. Thanks to Murle for studying the Dinka well. The Nuer would face you in day light.

As for the so-called newsudanvision website, you could tell that it is a clannish website of bor. You will find all those with crooked teeth, gloomy ugly faces and rough faces with long lines pointing up like the horns of wild deers, some like gazelles. All those marks on their ugly faces, crooked teeth and gloomy faces are bor dinka. They have lost their credibility as professional journalists and compromised their neutrality. They lie every time they put news on their defunct new sudan website, quoting always the unkown so-called security officer which name will never appear. These are cooked lies by determined liars who know nothing about ethics in journalism.

What they don’t know is that fabricating so-called surrounder of Lou-Nuer fighters will never work. Nuer in general do not entertain to surrender unlike the dinka who always quickly surrender to attacks. How come the Nuer destroyed 17 administrative headers, took more than half a million cattle, killed 453, captured 106 and then can be said to have surrendered at the same time with out a source telling the truth. Even the so-called three hundred killed is just a guess of the so-called nameless public security officer. The Nuer count their loss ones after war, section by section, family by family. So, where did those come from?

For the one who ones to call Nuer tribe as Dinka-Nuer, that is good for you. We don’t have any problem with the Nuer having the Dinka as its son. Dinka-Nuer, would be like Lou-Nuer, Jikany-Nuer, Bul-Nuer, Jagei-Nuer, etc., etc. So, the Nuer would be like the father to the Dinka as it is the father to the rest of Nuer major sub-tribes. There is a difference between Riek-Machar and Machar-Riek in that order. So, Machar is the father of Riek, but not Riek the father of Machar. First name is always the son or daughter and the second name is the father. Those Dinkas the Nuer called Dinka-Nuer are those Dinka clans who have been acculturated into the Nuer culture by adopting the Nuer cultures and their marks like the Dinka Ngok and Agaar like those of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Paul Mayom Akech. When I saw him in Malakal I thought he was from Nuer because of Nuer six lines on his forehead. But I was told by a friend of mine that he is a Dinka of Rumbek, but his clan has adopted Nuer marks. Wou! Welcome guys, this is the beginning of a long history of acculturating Dinka from their being called Dinka to being called Dinka-Nuer (Dinka of Nuer). Common my greedy sons, let us tame you and become Nuer. Wow, I will love the future generation!

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by Arthur Bulo
The JIU Bor Dinkas are putting all of us in great emarrassment as they continue to rape women and shoot at defendless civillians around Gumbu area where they enjoy living on what they loot from Ugandans and other communities.Bor Dinkas are presently lacking in one unified central leadership to help them out from the state of disarray and panic these people ran into when Garang died three years ago.

Sincerely speaking, things may fall apart with the whole south unless speacial programme is intiated by the Goss for counselling of Bor Jiing so as to control that destructive psychological epidemic which can affect others as well.
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21 March 2009 16:58, by Makeer
With my little spare time, I want to remind you with this;

They said and I paraphrased that a dog, a monkey or an idiot could obtained certificates, diplomas, degrees and the likes, and will remain a dog, the monkey or an idiot.

What do we gain from uncalled-for name calling skirmishes? Non...

You there! Read and you won’t see our differences.

Think big and silence will be placebo on trivial matters.

Darfur rebel group JEM suspends peace talks with Sudan

Darfur rebel group suspends peace talks with Sudan
Associated Press report by Sarag El Deeb March 20, 2009 - excerpt:

EL FASHER, Sudan (AP) — The head of Darfur's most powerful rebel group said Friday that peace talks with the Sudanese government were suspended until the 13 foreign aid groups expelled from Darfur were allowed to resume their work.

Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, also urged the people of Darfur to fight against the government and not accept any humanitarian help that comes from Khartoum.

"We're suspending peace talks, and we're not returning to peace talks until they change the situation," Ibrahim said.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir expelled 13 large international aid agencies from Darfur after an international court issued an arrest warrant against him earlier this month for war crimes in the western region. Al-Bashir has rejected the charges and accused the aid groups of cooperating with the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court.

The arrest warrant came just weeks after JEM and the government agreed to launch negotiations on ending the six-year conflict in Darfur, though they failed during a week of talks to seal a cease-fire or lure other rebel groups into the process.

The two had agreed to hold further negotiations in the Gulf state of Qatar this month, aiming to reach a peace deal in three months.

Many, including the African Union and Arab governments, have warned that the arrest warrant could torpedo those talks.

"We're not going to Doha until al-Bashir renounces his decision to expel the 13 aid groups because this government has no capacity" to provide for the people of Darfur, Ibrahim said. He said the government has created a "catastrophic situation on the ground."

Ibrahim called on people to fight the government, saying Darfurians should not wait for "government help or international help. They should help themselves."

The Khartoum government did not immediately comment on JEM's decision to suspend the Doha, Qatar talks. [...]

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UPDATE: See Sudan Watch, Tuesday, March 24, 2009: Qatari PM denies withdrawal of Sudan's JEM from peace talks

Sudanese born British and Irish citizens in JEM rebel group

According to this unusual news report from the London Evening Standard, an expatriate member of JEM's leadership has worked in Luton and Dunstable hospital here in England. Five other British subjects and an Irish citizen are also among the leaders of the JEM. I wonder what they tell immigration.

From the Evening Standard, This Is London, by Anna Davis March 20, 2009:
Luton doctor spearheads fight against Sudan leader

A Luton doctor is in Darfur working for a rebel group fighting to overthrow the Sudanese government, it emerged today.

Five other British subjects and an Irish citizen are also among the leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement.

The expatriates, who originally come from Sudan, joined the rebel fighters after reading about the unequal distribution of wealth in the country in a publication known as the Black Book.

Doctor el-Tahir el-Faki was preparing for a shift at the Luton and Dunstable hospital in February when a rebel contact telephoned him for help.

Expatriate members of JEM's leadership are expected to return to the country in times of special need. He was asked to fill in as a speaker in peace talks with the Sudanese government because the official delegation had been delayed in Egypt.

He now works in Darfur with other members of JEM. The rebel organisation has gained pre-eminence among Darfur's divided insurgent groups and has dominated recent peace talks, as well as action on the battleground.

Dr el-Tahir was born in the Kordofan region of Sudan and has lived in Britain for 22 years. He said: “Things are moving very quickly. It will be solved by peace, or by the bullet. It won't take long.”

The UN's chief mediator for Darfur wrote to Dr el-Tahir's hospital saying his sudden absence was vital for the interests of peace.

Dr el-Tahir said: “I don't know what my fate will be with the hospital when I finally get back. I am sure they must have stopped paying me by now.”

He said that none of his group had faced problems because of their involvement with JEM.

He added: “If the British authorities had anything against us they would have knocked on our doors at 5am. But why should they? They know that we are loyal to Britain and that our allegiance is with the Crown.

“Britain missed an opportunity in Sudan and allowed the Chinese to expand there instead. We hope that by changing the Khartoum regime, Britain and Sudan will be able to restore their natural relationship.”

The Justice and Equality Movement is fighting to overthrow Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president.

This month the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him for war crimes in Darfur.

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Photo: In Darfur's austere sub-Saharan desert, JEM's leadership experience the same spartan conditions as the fighters (Jack Hill/The Times)

Dr el-Tahir said that none of the British or Irish men had ever faced any problems from the British authorities on account of their key leadership positions in the JEM, nor expected to.



Photo: Doctor El-Tahir of the Executive Leadership Cabinet of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jack Hill/The Times)

From The Times by Jack Hill March 20, 2009:
Surgeon from Luton answers the call to prepare for war in Darfur

The surgeon was preparing for a shift at the A&E department of Luton & Dunstable hospital when his telephone rang. A rebel contact told him that his services were needed urgently — and the next day he left on a journey that would take him to the deserts of Darfur.

A month on, and he is still there, serving as a top member in the leadership of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the rebel group fighting to overthrow the regime of Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese President. Five other British subjects and an Irish citizen are also among the rebel leaders.

“Things are moving very quickly,” the doctor, el-Tahir el-Faki, told The Times. As he spoke, night drew the shadows over a rebel unit concealed in a wadi bed: “Either it’ll be solved by peace, or by the bullet. It won’t take long.” The rebel organisation has gained pre-eminence among Darfur’s divided insurgent groups, dominating recent peace talks and action on the battlefield.

Born in the Kordofan region of Sudan, Dr el-Tahir had lived in Britain for 22 years, and was called in early February to take an immediate flight to Doha, Qatar. A senior JEM delegation, due to attend the start of peace talks there with the Sudanese Government, had been delayed in Egypt. As the Speaker of JEM’s legislative assembly, the doctor was asked to fill the gap.

Djibril Bassolé, the UN/African Union joint chief mediator for Darfur, wrote to the hospital explaining Dr el-Tahir’s sudden absence as being vital for the interests of peace. The talks concluded on a moderately optimistic note, and Dr el-Tahir moved on to Chad, then donned his camouflage kadmoun (turban) and crossed the border into Darfur at the end of February.

No stranger here, having spent much of his annual leave in Darfur since 2004, he linked up with JEM’s headquarter group — the executive committee — to discuss the details of a framework peace agreement due to be the focus of the next round of talks in Qatar. But hopes for peace quickly became clouded. “It was rather difficult because of the indiscriminate bombing and shelling,” Dr el-Tahir, 55, said. “The executive Cabinet could have been wiped out in one go.”

In Darfur’s austere sub-Saharan desert, JEM’s leadership experience the same spartan conditions as the fighters, moving constantly to escape the attention of observation aircraft and bombing raids and surviving on a meagre diet of millet, seeds and bread.

Khalil Ibrahim, the movement’s leader, has not spent more than 60 days away from the desert in the past two and a half years. In times of special need even the expatriate elements of JEM’s leadership are expected to return to the wilderness. “I don’t know what my fate will be with the hospital when I finally get back,” Dr el-Tahir said. “I am sure they must have stopped paying me by now.”

Formed in the late 1990s as an underground political movement, JEM began its armed campaign in 2003 as one of several insurgent groups operating in Darfur. Unlike other groups, JEM has a cohesive and ambitious vision for reform in Sudan that envisages the redistribution of wealth and power within a federal democracy. Its political clout owes no small debt to the predominance of lawyers, doctors and academics among its senior leadership.

Dr el-Tahir said that none of the British or Irish men had ever faced any problems from the British authorities on account of their key leadership positions in the JEM, nor expected to.

“If the British authorities had anything against us they would have knocked on our doors at 5am,” he said. “But why should they? They know that we are loyal to Britain and that our allegiance is with the Crown.

“Britain missed an opportunity in Sudan and allowed the Chinese to expand there instead. We hope that by changing the Khartoum regime, Britain and Sudan will be able to restore their natural relationship.”

HAVE YOUR SAY

Bashir, Turabi, & Osama bin Laden discussed turning the Sudan into a pure Islamic State in the late 1980s . The discussion revolved around eliminating the Anamists, Apostates, & Christians living in the south & west.
Darfur is the 'Final Solution' for that project.
self defense, not revolt.
Tom Dundee, Aberdeen, UK

On what grounds then does the British Government object to young Muslims going to fight Jihad in various parts of the globe?
If the doc can fight in Darfur...what is sauce for the goose, must be sauce for the gander.
Fr Frank, London, England

al-Bashir needs his visit to the ICC His promises mean nothing! Unfortunately China's quietly but definitely bought most of Africa where Gadafi hasn't yet. Sudan was my lovely home for some time. I can only hope JEM succeeds to deliver & bring Sudanese refugees back home where they belong Good Luck!
Lianne Harvey, Warminster, UK

Photo: Justice and Equality Movement rebels having tea in northern Darfur (Jack Hill/The Times)



Photo: A Justice and Equality Movement rebel in northern Darfur. The group, which is fighting to overthrow the regime of the Sudanese President, has at least six British subjects in its leadership (Jack Hill/The Times)