Darfur rebels accuse Sudan of daily bombing

SAF searching for rebels who took Kornoi, N. Darfur at weekend.

Some tweets by Rob Crilly:

First impressions of N'djamena: blimey it's hot
12:00 PM May 12th from txt

First impressions of N'djamena: gosh what a lot of chinese people
12:03 PM May 12th from txt

Riding through N'Djamena on a motorbike is like putting your face in front of a big hairdryer on, erm, hot
6:58 AM May 13th from web

Heading east for Abeche tomorrow
11:31 AM May 14th from web

Gotta go. Silly 6pm UN curfew
9:55 AM May 15th from web

#darfur Bedding down for 3rd nigjht with JEM rebels in "liberated" North Darfur
10:54 AM May 20th from web

#darfur Watched antonov bombing to the south yesterday and it was back again this evening bombing to the north. hasn't spotted us
10:57 AM May 20th from web

#darfur Sleeping under the stars beside an AK47 (not mine)
12:38 PM May 20th from web

#darfur Antonov back at 6 am. Have small idea of fear they can bring
10:29 PM May 20th from web

#darfur More bombing. SAF searching for rebels who took Koarnoui at weekend
4:18 AM May 21st from web

Dawn chorus of bombing resumes. 5 days #darfur
10:39 PM May 21st from web

Making dash for the border #darfur
4:08 AM May 22nd from web

Safely in Bahai. Looking for car #darfur
4:43 AM May 22nd from web

On road to Tine, bruce on safari soundtrack. Stop for prayers #darfur
12:54 PM May 22nd from web

Kipping in police chief's spare room #darfur
1:10 PM May 22nd from web

Safely back in Abeche after a road trip to forget.
about 3 hours ago from web

- - -

From Reuters Sunday, 24 May 2009 by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum - excerpt:
Darfur rebels accuse Sudan of daily bombing

Darfur rebels on Sunday accused Sudan's government of mounting daily bombing raids around their positions and said they were expecting another clash with state troops soon.

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said it had faced regular raids since its rebel forces seized the strategic town of Kornoi last weekend in North Darfur, the scene of a recent surge in fighting and growing tensions with neighbour Chad.

U.N. sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had received unconfirmed reports of aerial attacks in territory around the settlements of Tina, Kornoi and Umm Baru, all along a key road that leads northwest to a crossing point into Chad.

No one from Sudan's armed forces was immediately available to comment.

"There is a government Antonov over my head right now," said senior JEM commander Suleiman Sandal, speaking to Reuters by satellite phone on Sunday morning.

"They have been bombing every day. They bomb randomly. Yesterday we were bombed by Migs," he said. It was unclear how many casualties there were.

Sandal said his commanders had heard Sudanese government troops were heading towards them, from El Fasher, capital of North Darfur.

"More fighting is imminent. But we are ready for anything that comes," he said.

Air attacks in Darfur are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions and a series of failed ceasefires, but Khartoum has in the past reserved the right to attack JEM and other rebels who did not sign a 2006 Darfur peace deal.  [...] (Editing by Andrew Roche)

US envoy Scott Gration to visit China, Qatar, Britain and France on Darfur peace

US envoy to visit China, other nations on Darfur peace
From AFP, Friday, 22 May 2009 (WASHINGTON) - excerpt:

US special envoy Scott Gration is due over the next week to visit China, Qatar, Britain and France to revive efforts to bring peace to Sudan's western Darfur region, a US official said Friday.

"This is all an effort to align positions on the Darfur peace process under the leadership of United Nations-African Union joint chief mediator Djibril Bassole," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.

"He leaves tomorrow (Saturday) May 23 and completes his travel June 1," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
He will meet with senior Chinese government officials in China and hold a meeting with his counterparts from China, Russia and Britain, France and the European Union in Doha, Qatar.

He will then travel to London for talks with senior British officials and reconvene the so-called Sudan diplomatic troika of the United States, Britain and Norway.

He will visit Paris to meet with senior French officials and try to encourage Sudan Liberation Army faction leader Abdul Wahid Mohammed Nur, who is exiled in France, to join the Darfur peace process. [...]

Is the Darfur bloodshed genocide? Opinions differ (Edmund Sanders)

The genocide label may have prolonged the Darfur conflict by raising the stakes and complicating peace talks, experts and diplomats say.



Photo: Muhajeria, in south Darfur, was razed in internecine rebel rivalry, one example of the complexities in the region. Critics of the genocide label says it inflames the situation and that the Khartoum government’s counterinsurgency, though brutal, didn’t intend to wipe out the Darfur tribes, but subdue them. (Photographer: Lynsey Addario/For The Times)

U.S. presidents and some activist groups have called the bloody campaign by the Sudanese Arab-led government and allied militias 'genocide.' But others doubt the violence fits the legal definition.

From Los Angeles Times
Is the Darfur bloodshed genocide? Opinions differ
By Edmund Sanders
May 4, 2009
Reporting from El Fasher, Sudan:

What if the conflict many call the "first genocide of the 21st century" weren't one at all?

In the United States, many see the six-year war in Darfur as a bloody campaign by a Sudanese Arab-dominated government against rebellious "African" tribes in western Sudan. Two consecutive American presidents and several activist groups have defined it as genocide.

But others, while acknowledging the severity of the violence, question whether it meets the legal definition of genocide. The United Nations determined in 2005 that the Sudanese government wasn't committing genocide in Darfur. Human Rights Watch and Doctors Without Borders avoid the G-word too.

The International Criminal Court renewed the debate in March when it issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir. Judges said his counterinsurgency tactics in Darfur may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, but that there was no evidence of genocide.

The debate raises touchy and politically explosive questions: What constitutes genocide? Why does -- or doesn't -- Darfur fit the mold? Has the label helped, or hurt, the people of Darfur? And what does it matter anyway if what has occurred in Darfur is viewed as genocide rather than, say, war crimes or "ethnic cleansing"?

Most agree that it has mattered a lot.

When former U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell first described Darfur as a case of genocide in 2004, a $1-billion-a-year international aid effort quickly followed, elevating the crisis above other African conflicts, including those in Somalia and Congo, where the mortality rates in recent years have been higher and the displacement greater.

"The word 'genocide' has so much power," said Neha Erasmus, program coordinator for Justice Africa in London. "Darfur really took hold of the American psyche after it was called genocide."

But the global attention also brought heightened politics and at times led to resources being misdirected, aid workers say.

A misconception that hundreds of people are dying each day in Darfur has led many in the West to push for emergency security measures such as military intervention, U.N. peacekeepers and no-fly zones, and to overlook larger issues such as stalled peace talks and millions of people dependent on foreign aid, said Thierry Durand, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders.

"The magnitude of violence in Darfur has been huge, but it's not genocide," Durand said. "The situation on the ground has not been an emergency since 2004. The real problem is the dependency in the camps. But the whole thing has become over-politicized."

The genocide label also may have prolonged the conflict by raising the stakes and complicating peace talks, experts and diplomats say.

"Genocide puts a moral price on this that limits the room to maneuver," said one Western diplomat in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic. "How can you deal with a genocidal government? Can you compromise with evil?"

John Prendergast, a former Clinton administration advisor and founder of one of the advocacy groups that have lobbied the United States to declare the Darfur violence a genocide, said the "invocation of that word saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Absent that, it would have been harder to get this on the radar screen."

But he dismissed the is-it-or-isn't-it controversy as legal semantics. "Well-meaning scholars can disagree, but the debate is a crushing diversion from what we need to do to find a solution," he said.

It's a question now facing President Obama. As a candidate, Obama opposed attempts to normalize Sudanese relations, accusing the Bush administration of trying to reward a brutal regime.

As president, Obama is navigating that rhetoric as he searches for an end to the crisis. His ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, describes the situation in Darfur as an "ongoing genocide," but his new envoy to Sudan, J. Scott Gration, called the nation a "friend" and reopened the door to improved ties during a recent visit to Khartoum.

To many, such a policy sets a dangerous precedent. A determination of genocide should trigger immediate action to end the killing, including military intervention if necessary, legal experts say.

But after the U.S. described the Darfur bloodshed as genocide, its policy consisted of economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure.

"If this is the first genocide of the 21st century, why the heck are we talking about travel bans and asset freezes?" asked Alex De Waal, a noted Sudan expert and program director with the nonprofit Social Science Research Council. "Would you do that with Hitler?"

De Waal, who does not consider the campaign in Darfur genocide, said the U.S. stance has "diluted" the sense of international urgency that should accompany a finding of genocide.

So is what happened in Darfur genocide? The simplest legal definition is an attempt to annihilate, in whole or in part, a national, racial, ethnic or religious group.

No question that Darfur fits some of the criteria. About 35,000 people have been killed, according to the ICC, and at least 100,000 more have died from disease and starvation. The U.N. estimated last month that about 50 civilians still die each month in Darfur, down substantially from the thousands who died monthly in 2003 and 2004.

Most victims are from the Fur and Zaghawa tribes, both associated with rebels. Hundreds of their villages were burned by government troops and allied militias, known as janjaweed. Government officials and militia leaders have been quoted as referring to the tribes as "slaves" and "subhuman."

But the U.N. and ICC have raised doubts about "genocidal intent." Simply put, they question whether the government is trying to wipe out the tribes or if it instead wants to terrorize them into submission or chase them away, which doesn't necessarily constitute genocide.

"The crucial element of genocidal intent appears to be missing, at least as far as the central government authorities are concerned," the U.N.'s International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur concluded in 2005. "Rather, it would seem that those who planned and organized attacks on villages pursued the intent to drive the victims from their homes, primarily for purposes of counterinsurgency warfare."

Pose the genocide question to U.N. officials and aid workers here in Darfur, and you'll probably get an awkward smile and silence. Many fear being called genocide "deniers" or "apologists" for the Sudanese government.

Former special U.S. envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios was skewered by Darfur activists and U.S. lawmakers for suggesting in 2007 that the genocide was over. A new envoy was named by the end of the year.

Yet even in Darfur, there is disagreement.

"This isn't like the Nazis or Bosnia or Rwanda," said Abdalla Adam Khater, a Darfur analyst who lost 100 members of his extended family during an attack in 2003. "This isn't about hatred. It's more about power, money and land."

But Mohamed Salim Jadala, a human rights attorney in Darfur, contended that evidence of genocide would emerge only after the regime's fall. He said the act of labeling Darfur as genocide led government officials to conceal and curtail their actions.

"The government couldn't carry out the genocide because the international community took notice," he said. "But just because the government never had the chance to finish what it started doesn't mean it wasn't genocide or that they won't try again."

edmund.sanders@latimes.com

Hat tip: Save Darfur Accountability Project

ICC Haskanita: Send a message to these killer thugs

Here is an opinion piece from The Age by Rebecca Hamilton (who is in Australia, writing a book on Darfur, I think) May 23, 2009. Pity it wasn't authored by the rebel supporting Save Darfur Coalition who, in my view, are responsible for prolonging the Darfur war. The rebels won't give up on using violence to get what they want while they have Save Darfur Coalition onside.

Send a message to these killer thugs

Courts have a role in protecting the protectors in the world's trouble spots.

THIS week, Darfuri rebel commander Abu Garda made his first appearance before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. I watched as the charges of war crimes against African Union peacekeepers were read out to him.

The pristine courtroom felt more than just geographically distant from the dusty, crowded refugee camps I have visited on the Chad-Darfur border. But what took place in that room will reverberate, not only in Darfur, but across current and future peacekeeping missions worldwide.

The ICC judges found reasonable grounds to believe that Abu Garda is responsible for three counts of war crimes, based on his involvement in a September 2007 attack that left 12 peacekeepers dead and eight injured. Those numbers pale in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of Dafuri civilians who have died over the past six years of the conflict in Sudan's western region. 

Consequently, some will question the prosecution's decision to spend scarce resources investigating a crime with a relatively low number of direct victims. But the absolute numbers involved do not accurately reflect the severity of this type of crime or the breadth of damage it can cause.

On April 7, 1994 — the first day of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda — 10 Belgium peacekeepers were murdered. Their killers, the Interahamwe militia, who would go on to slaughter more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians in the following 100 days, calculated that killing 10 peacekeepers would be enough to scare off the rest of the peacekeeping mission. They were right. The murders precipitated the withdrawal of most of the remaining UN peacekeepers. The countries that deployed them did not want to risk further casualties in defence of a humanitarian mission.

Late last year the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda did — 14 years after the fact — find Rwandan colonel Theoneste Bagosora criminally responsible for the murder of the Belgian peacekeepers. But this charge of murder failed to recognise that it was not only the peacekeepers' lives that were lost. The UN withdrawal that followed the murders left the Interahamwe to carry out genocide virtually unimpeded, increasing the overall death toll relative to what it would have been if the peacekeepers had remained. Another charge is needed to account for such second-order effects, which occur whenever peacekeepers are attacked. The case against Abu Garda does just that.

The ICC is authorised to prosecute individuals for the crime of intentionally attacking the people or property involved in a peacekeeping mission. Abu Garda has been charged with this crime, in addition to a charge of violence to life for the murder of the peacekeepers, and a pillaging charge for the property stolen from the peacekeepers' base.

By prioritising this crime over the countless others that have been perpetrated in Darfur, the prosecution is sending a signal that would-be perpetrators of future attacks against peacekeepers will not miss. There is now a permanent international court with both the mandate, and the will, to hold individuals criminally responsible for the full impact of an attack on a peacekeeping mission.

No case will bring back the sons of Senegal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mali, Botswana, Uganda or Ghana — each country has lost troops in their service to the peacekeeping mission in Darfur. Nor will it bring back the lives of Darfuris who have been killed while the peacekeepers sent to protect them were themselves under attack. But by pursuing this case, the ICC sends an important reminder to the world: to have any hope of protecting civilians, we must safeguard the rights of the peacekeepers we send to protect them.

Rebecca Hamilton is an Open Society Institute fellow. She has worked at the International Criminal Court and with displaced people in Sudan.

Chinese firm signs deal to explore gold in Gibait, Red Sea State, Sudan

From TradeInvest Africa (Cape Town) 22 May 2009 - via AllAfrica:
Sudan: Chinese Firm Signs Deal to Explore Gold

Chinese company Poly Technology in partnership with Sudanese firm Dan Fodio have won exploration licenses for gold in the Red Sea state.

They are expected to start work soon in the Gibait area, thought to be rich in minerals.

It is estimated 20 tonnes of gold exist in the area.

According to a report in the Sudan Tribune, Dan Fodio and Poly Technology are already partnering to explore iron in eastern Sudan.

Established in 1981 as a construction and trading company, the Dan Fodio Corporation comprises 32 companies involved in oil industry, dam construction and major agriculture schemes.

AU AL OIC Bashir meeting: OIC to construct 120 Darfur villages at US $485 million

This sounds interesting but does not explain when or where in Darfur the 120 villages will be constructed.

From Daily Trust by Uthman Abubakar, 22 May 2009 via AllAfrica:
Sudan: OIC to Build 120 Darfur Villages At U.S. $485 Million

The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has announced plans to construct 120 villages in the battered Darfur region of Western Sudan at the cost of $485 million US Dollars.

The Secretary-General of the organization, Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, made the announcement through a joint statement issued by the leaders of the African Union (AU), the Arab League and the OIC after closed-door talks with President Omar Al-Bashir in Khartoum, Tuesday.

Dr. Jean Ping, AU Commission Chairman, Mr. Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary-General, and Dr. Ihsanoglu were in Khartoum on a two-day visit on the invitation of President Al-Bashir in keeping with their commitment to coordinating efforts towards ending the 6-year-old Darfur crisis.

The OIC chief also said in the joint statement that the organization would hold a special meeting of its member-countries dedicated to the Darfur peace process and development. He did not say when the construction of the villages would commence.

During the meeting with President Al-Bashir and other Sudanese officials, the principles of the three organizations, according to the statement, discussed the political development, humanitarian and security situations in the 3-state war-wrecked region and the implication of the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant of arrest on Al-Bashir, among other crucial issues.

They reiterated their call on the rebel movements in Darfur to join the peace process, calling on the international community to exert pressure on the recalcitrant parties to drop their confrontational and hard-line stance and join the peace process for the common good of all.

Chadian gov't should start negotiations with Chadian rebels - Libya hopes to restore confidence between Sudan and Chad

"The Chadian government should start negotiations with the Chadian rebels, that should happen," the UN deputy secretary general Haile Menkerios told AFP on Saturday.

"The problems in Darfur, Chad and Sudan exist because of governance issues in the two countries," he said.

"At least in Sudan, there is a peace process. A similar approach should also happen in Chad between the government and the rebels."

From Sudan Tribune, Thursday 21 May 2009:
Libya hopes to restore confidence between Sudan and Chad

May 20, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – Libya hopes to ease the current tension between Sudan and Chad and restore confidence and relations between the two neighboring countries, a Libyan official said.

Libyan deputy foreign minister Ali Abdelsalam Al-Triki who is in charge with African affairs was yesterday in Khartoum where he delivered a message to the Sudanese President from the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi about the ongoing tension between Sudan and Chad.

"We spoke about plot which is targeting Sudan as part of the Arab nation," Al-Triki told the official SUNA after the meeting. He further added "Libya hopes it will be able to normalize the relations between Sudan and Chad and to remove the tension and mis-confidence between the two countries through their commitment to the principles of non intervention in the internal affairs of other countries and good neighborliness."

He also expressed hope to revive what was agreed between the two countries and find a mechanism to stop border incursions from both sides and not to harm bilateral relations.

The Chadian President Idriss Deby had slammed Libyan opposition to condemn Sudan over Chadian rebels’ attack on May 4. He also rejected African Union mediation in the conflict with Sudan. Libya is the current chairman of the regional body.

French Defense Minister Hervé Morin was in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, early this week to deliver a message from the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Gadhafi urging him to pursue his efforts to ease the current tension between Sudan and Chad.

In Paris, Bernard Kouchner told the French parliament on Wednesday that the French army didn’t intervene to support the Chadian troops to repel the rebel attack. He further stressed on the Sudanese responsibility saying the rebels attacked from the Sudan.

In Ndjamena, the President Deby once again accused Sudan of wanting to destroy Chad and recruiting "mercenaries" to accomplish this mission. He urged the press to not speak about rebels but Sudanese agents.

He made these statements in a show of trophies of war organized in the Independence Square in the capital where some 50 pick-up trucks bearing the logo of the rebel UFR were parked together with some weapons.

"Here is the proof that the Khartoum government is determined to destroy Chad by using mercenaries," Deby said.

Ndjamena show reminds a similar display of trophies organized by the Sudanese government in Omdurman after the attack of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement on Khartoum in May 2008.

Regional and international organizations without enthusiasm condemned the Chadian rebel attack earlier this month, but also some official voiced the need to exert efforts to settle the Chadian internal conflict as it is the case for Sudan.

"The Chadian government should start negotiations with the Chadian rebels, that should happen," the UN deputy secretary general Haile Menkerios told AFP on Saturday.

"The problems in Darfur, Chad and Sudan exist because of governance issues in the two countries," he said.

"At least in Sudan, there is a peace process. A similar approach should also happen in Chad between the government and the rebels." (ST)

Photo: Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi attends the opening of the African heads of State summit on February 2, 2009 in Addis Ababa. (Reuters/ST)

From Sudan Tribune, Tuesday, 19 May 2009 - excerpt:
France asks Libya to ease Sudan Chad tension

May 17, 2009 (PARIS) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy today urged the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi to pursue his efforts to ease the current tension between Sudan and Chad.

French Defense Minister Hervé Morin was in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to deliver a message from President Sarkozy to his Libyan counterpart on a strategic partnership, the official JANA said.

"Sarkozy appealed to the (Libyan leader) to continue his efforts to overcome the tension in Sudan-Chad relations. Also France expressed satisfaction at the prospects for the resumption of negotiations between the government of Sudan and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)," the agency further reported.

Peace and good luck Col. Gaddafi.

France says Sudan was backing the Chadian rebels

Yesterday, according to Sudan Tribune report here below, France's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner told the French parliament that Sudan was backing the Chadian rebels who clashed with government troops in eastern Chad earlier this month. The minister also said that the French troops based in the troubled country didn’t take part in the military operations.

From Sudan Tribune, Friday 22 May 2009:
French Prime Minister says Sudan is the key of Chad troubles

May 21, 2009 (YAOUNDE, Cameroon) – French Prime Minister said today that Sudan is responsible of political troubles in the neighboring Chad saying the solution of Ndjamena unrest lies in Khartoum.

"Everyone can see very well that the solution to the problems of Chad is not to be found in Chad," said Fillon during a discussion with students at the international relations institute in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde.

"They are to be found in Sudan, they are to be found in the resolution of conflicts which affect Sudan and its neighbors," he further said.

Fillion was referring to the six year conflict in Darfur.

Yesterday the foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner told the French parliament that Sudan was backing the Chadian rebels who clashed with government troops in eastern Chad earlier this month. The minister also said that the French troops based in the troubled country didn’t take part in the military operations.

Fillon echoed Kouchner statements saying French President Nicolas Sarkozy does not want to see French army playing a role in the Chadian internal affairs.

"That is the reason why these armed forces didn’t intervene during the crisis that has taken place in Chad," he said.

Paris which backs the government of President Idriss Deby asked Libya to intervene between the two neighboring countries. A Libyan minister was in Khartoum to propose a mediation plan. Unconfirmed reports say Sudan pledged to study the Libyan proposal while Tripoli is in trouble with Ndjamena which says accepting only UN solution.

Sudanese officials blame Paris for its unconditional support to Chadian government, saying it was even unable to dissuade President Deby to implement the signed previous agreement or to stop its support to Darfur rebels.

Also after three raids carried by the Chadian government inside the Sudan, Khartoum warned it will hit the Chadian army if it attacks once again the Sudanese territory. The UNAMID spoke in its daily briefing of Thursday about "tense" situation in the region.  (ST)

Population of South Sudan: 8.26 million?

Sudan's census figures showed a total population of 39.15 million, with 30.89 million or 79 percent living in the mainly Muslim north, and 8.26 million or 21 percent living in the predominantly Christian and animist south. Considering that the population of Darfur is estimated to be around 6 - 6.5 million, the census figure for the population of South Sudan seems rather low.

Southerners dismiss Sudan pre-poll census count
From Reuters Thu May 21, 2009 by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum:

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan on Thursday released the first detailed results of a census vital to elections due next year, but the figures were dismissed by former southern rebels who said the southerners' total was too low.

Any lengthy dispute over the census count risks delaying Sudan's first democratic election for more than 20 years, as well as a referendum on southern independence -- both centrepieces in a frayed north-south peace deal.

The census figures showed a total population of 39.15 million, with 30.89 million or 79 percent living in the mainly Muslim north, and 8.26 million or 21 percent living in the predominantly Christian and animist south.

The south's dominant Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) accused northern politicians of manipulating the figures and under-counting the number of southerners both in the south and Khartoum.

The census figures will be used to define the constituencies for the election due in February 2010 before the referendum on southern independence scheduled for the following year.

The SPLM and smaller southern parties are currently allocated just over a third of the seats in Sudan's national parliament, under the terms of the peace agreement, a proportion which could shrink if it is accepted that southerners only make up 21 percent of the population.

Northern and southern Sudan fought each other for more than two decades in a civil war that was fuelled by a mixture of religion, ideology, oil and ethnicity.

'POLITICALLY MOTIVATED'

The conflict, separate from fighting in Sudan's western Darfur region that flared in 2003, ended in the 2005 peace deal which set up a north-south coalition government.

"We believe in many ways this census is politically motivated and designed," senior SPLM official Yasir Arman told Reuters in comments critical of the north's dominant National Congress Party (NCP).

"It is clear the only elections the NCP are ready for are unfair and unfree elections."

Arman said earlier counts had shown southerners made up a third of Sudan's total population, not the fifth recorded in Thursday's figures.

He said there was also a suspiciously sharp jump in the population of South Darfur state, part of northern Sudan, compared with earlier censuses.

Arman said Sudan would now have to find another, fairer way to work out the borders of constituencies and power-sharing between the two sides.

"We have to have a new voter registration. The constituencies should be divided according to the voter registration," he said.

No one was immediately available to comment from the NCP, led by Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

The Director General of Sudan's Central Bureau of Statistics Yasin Haj Abdin told reporters at the launch of the census he could not comment on how the results would be used politically. But he defended the accuracy of the figures.

"This census is much better than all the other censuses that have been conducted in Sudan the past. It is not advisable to compare these figures with figures from other censuses."

Even more detailed census findings, covering everything from housing to disability levels, would be released later in the year, he added.

One key area of the north-south agreement that the census figures will not impact is the sharing out of oil revenues between the north and the south. Southern Sudan gets half of the revenues from the oil drilled inside its territory under the terms of the CPA, and that share is not affected by the size of its population.

The census, carried out in April and May 2008, was hit by boycotts, demonstrations and lost questionnaires. More than 100 northern monitors were expelled from the south and Darfur rebels said they kidnapped 13 staff.

A Sudanese rebel leader manipulates the ICC - URF's Abu Garda could be hiding a political ambition to "outdo his opponents"

In an interview with Sudan Radio Service on Wednesday, Bahar Idris Abu Garda claimed that he has no connection with the Haskanita attack in which 12 African Union’s soldiers were killed in 2007. Bahar Abu Garda spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Tripoli, Libya, two days after the hearing at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. See full report here below.

A Sudanese rebel leader manipulates the ICC

The leader of the Sudanese rebel group, United Resistance Front (URF), Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, appeared for the first time on Monday before the International Criminal Court (ICC). He is suspected of war crimes; an attack against peacekeeping soldiers in Darfur two years ago (2007). According to Roland Marchal, a researcher at the Center for International Studies and Research (CERI), Bahar Idriss Abu Garda’s voluntary court appearance could very well be hiding a political ambition to "outdo his opponents."

From Afrik.com Wednesday 20 May 2009, by Stéphanie Plasse:

The leader of the United Resistance Front (URF) Monday appeared, of his own accord, before the International Criminal Court (ICC). The first case of this kind ever recorded by the international court. Bahar Idriss Abu Garda is suspected of looting and leading - with two other rebel leaders - an attack against African Union peacekeeping forces in Haskanita, located in northern Darfur, on September 29, 2007. But the rebel leader of the URF, a breakaway faction of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), denies any involvement.

A political play

According to Roland Marchal, a political specialist on Africa and researcher at the Center for International Studies and Research (CERI), the rebel leader’s attitude betrays a political ambition. "Bahar Idriss Abu Garda came for two reasons. First, because he has evidence and trusts he will be exonerated for the attack. Secondly, because he wants to outdo his political opponents, including Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), by accusing him. This is to get rid of somebody politically," he says. The URF leader honoured his court summons when he arrived Sunday in the Netherlands. On November 20 2008, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the ICC had issued arrest warrants — or court summons if they agreed to surrender — against three rebel leaders for their role in the Haskanita attacks which killed 12 people.

At his hearing Monday, the URF leader urged Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir, to come and “face justice." But the researcher thinks he is trying to look good while “collaborating” with the International Criminal Court in a backdrop of total “indifference” from the head of state of his country, with respect to the arrest warrant issued against him in the month of March, 2009. According to his analysis, the ICC is, in this case scenario, a political tool. "It is not the fault of the Court if it is manipulated”. The “orchestration is almost inevitable” when justice is taken to a “politically unstable country”, said Roland Marchal. Since 2003, Darfur has been gripped by a civil war that has left 300 000 people dead and displaced about 2.7 million.

A first for the ICC

This voluntary appearance in court marks the first of its sort in the history of the ICC, at least under two circumstances. It is the first time that a Sudanese rebel leader appears before the Court. And it is also the first time that the ICC issues court summons and arrest warrants against persons who have killed peacekeeping soldiers. "Outside the political context, it is interesting to note that the Court protects and defends the peacekeepers who are there to ensure peace," says the researcher.

The President of the URF, Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, will have to wait for the judges’ decision, which will be made after the confirmation hearing on October 12, 2009. The drama continues…

- - -

From Sudan Radio Service Wednesday, 20 May 2009 (Nairobi/Tripoli):

The leader of the Darfur anti-government group, the United Front for Resistance, who appeared before the ICC for alleged war crimes on Monday, says that he went to The Hague voluntarily because he is innocent.

In an interview with Sudan Radio Service on Wednesday, Bahar Idris Abu Garda claimed that he has no connection with the Haskanita attack in which 12 African Union’s soldiers were killed in 2007.

Sudan Radio Service producer Hussein Halfawi spoke to Abu Garda.

Hussein Halfawi: Mr. Abu Garda, would you tell us about your experience in The Hague and why you went there?

[Abu Garda]: “As we know after the Haskanita incident, there were media rumors from some parties, especially from the group of the JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim, accusing some people, including myself, saying that our movement is involved in what had happened in Haskanita. We have refuted that and condemned the incident. Later, I discovered that my name was among the suspects. Because we really believe in the principle of justice, we should face justice, we can not call for others to be tried because they have committed crimes, but when we are among the suspects we get scared or lose the strength to face justice. So according to our belief in the principle of justice, I went to The Hague and am ready to face justice and defend myself. I know that I’m absolutely not involved in the Haskanita incident, so I went to The Hague for this issue and I appeared before the court and I have come back now.”

Hussein Halfawi: Mr. Abu Garda, the JEM senior official, al-Tahir al-Fakie, told the BBC that they advised and convinced you to go to The Hague voluntarily, is that true?

[Abu Garda ]: “Al-Tahir al-Fakie is a liar, he announced before that we gave information to the ICC and said Bahar Abu Garda is among the people who had committed the Haskinita crime. He is a liar. I have no connection at all with JEM. Unfortunately, they always try to benefit from any opportunity they get to pursue their interest. It was a silly and cheap attempt from JEM to benefit from this incident. I want to assure you through Sudan Radio Service that I have no connection or relation with Khalil Ibrahim’s group.”

Hussein Halfawi: Mr. Abu Garda, GONU has described your move as a conspiracy between the ICC and the anti-government groups against the president, what is your response to this?

[Abu Garda ]: “You know Halfawi, our main problem in Sudan is that the Government of Sudan and many others believe only in the idea of conspiracy, and that it is what has led to the eruption of conflict and prolonged conflicts in Sudan. They just hang their problems on the excuses of “conspiracy, foreign interference and the forces that are against Sudan”. These are the slogans they always use, which conspiracy? Is it possible that I have told the ICC to accuse me, I conspire against myself? The fact is I have been accused, and I have to defend myself.”

Hussein Halfawi: Most people view the ICC as a court which inspires fear, how is it that you so easily presented yourself before the court and in the same way you came out? What’s the message behind that?

[Abu Garda ]: “My message is, to any one who has been accused, that accusation does not mean being guilty of a crime. I know myself very well that I have not committed any crime, so I have to defend myself. So, my message to them all is to do the same thing, if they are really confident that the have not committed crimes or even if they did, they should face this fact and face justice.”

Bahar Abu Garda spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Tripoli, Libya, two days after the hearing at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

- - -

For the record, here is a copy (cached by Google) of a press release from ICC's website.

Press Release: 17.05.2009

Abu Garda arrived at the premises of the Court
ICC-CPI-20090517-PR413 عربي
Situation: Darfur, Sudan
Case: The Prosecutor v. Bahr Idriss Abu Garda

Abu Garda, suspected of having committed war crimes in Darfur Sudan, has voluntarily arrived in The Netherlands this afternoon in a commercial aircraft. After his arrival Abu Garda was notified by Court officials of the order to appear before the Pre-Trial Chamber I tomorrow at 3 p.m. Following a meeting with his legal counsel he was conducted to a location assigned by the Court for his stay in The Hague at 6.00 p.m.

The location that remains confidential is considered an extension of the Court’s premises. During his stay in the Netherlands Abu Garda has been ordered not to leave the premises of the Court without specific authorisation by the Chamber.

The Registrar of the Court, Mrs Silvana Arbia, welcomed his arrival: “The voluntary appearance of Abu Garda might serve to encourage other suspects currently at large to come before the Court to be heard with all guarantees of a fair trial”.

For the first time, the ICC Judges issued a summons to appear instead of an arrest warrant. The Judges of Pre Trial Chamber I were satisfied that Abu Garda will appear before the Court without the need to arrest him.

This complex operation would not have been possible without the cooperation of several States. “I am very grateful to the authorities of The Netherlands and other countries which have made possible this operation. Within the spirit of the Rome Statute, they have been continuously supportive to the work of the Court,” Mrs Arbia said.

Abu Garda, member of the Zaghawa tribe of Sudan, is charged with three war crimes allegedly committed during an attack carried out on 29 September 2007 against the African Union Mission in Sudan, a peace-keeping mission stationed at the Military Group Site Haskanita, Umm Kadada locality, North Darfur. During this attack twelve AMIS soldiers were allegedly killed and eight others were severely wounded.

“Today our thoughts are with peacekeepers and other workers of humanitarian organisations who provide essential security and help to support millions of people in countries facing armed conflicts,” said the Registrar.

At the suspect’s initial appearance, Judge Cuno Tarfusser (Italy), acting as single judge will inform him of the crimes which he is alleged to have committed and of his rights. After the hearing, Abu Garda is free to leave the country. He will be required to return to The Netherlands to attend a confirmation of charges hearing before trial which will be held within a reasonable time to determine whether or not there are substantial grounds to believe that he committed the crimes charged.

For further information please contact Ms Sonia Robla, Head of Public Information and Documentation Section at +31 (0)70 515 8089 or +31 (0) 6 46 44 87 26 or at sonia.robla@icc-cpi.int

- - -


Update: See Sudan Watch:

Monday, May 18, 2009 - Haskanita: Sudanese rebel leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda appears at ICC

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - ICC charges URF Commander Bahar Idriss Abu Garda with murder, directing attacks and pillaging


Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - Sudanese and Chadian civilians getting away with murder and war crimes against peacekeepers

Southern Sudanese urged to go to work and to stop lounging around in the shade

From Sudan Radio Service Thursday, 21 May 2009 (Jonglei):

The director of a construction company is urging southern Sudanese to forget their differences and unite.

Leonard Dist spoke to Sudan Radio Service in Bor last week.

[Leonard Dist]: “If you do not know where you came from this morning, you do not know where you are going today. That means a lot. You understand there are so many ways to reason real. That’s why they have to realize where they came from. I always hear that your forefathers went through a lot to get to where you all are today and yet you want to have a challenge with your brother because he is not of the same culture or the same tribe? No!”

Dist urged people to go to work and to stop lounging around in the shade.

[Leonard Dist]: “The normal people, all they do is sit under trees and talk all day. What the **** they talk about I do not know. If you talk about doing something get up and go do it. They had all talked about it. You go do it. You get it done. They sit all day and talk about nothing.”

Leonard Dist was speaking angrily to Sudan Radio Service in Bor.

Japan is to build 17 bridges in Juba, S. Sudan

Japan has pledged to undertake a major engineering project in Juba.

From Sudan Radio Service Wednesday, 20 May 2009 (Khartoum):

In an interview with Sudan Radio Service in Khartoum on Tuesday, the Sudanese ambassador to Japan, His Excellency Stephen Wundu said the Japanese government has renewed its commitment to supporting development in Sudan.

[Stephen Wundu]: “Japan is to build seventeen bridges in Juba. The money has been approved and the contract has been signed and given out for building seventeen bridges in Juba.”

Ambassador Wundu said that Japan has shown itself to be deeply committed to supporting different aspects of Sudanese society.

[Stephen Wundu]: “The Japanese are not well-known for making false promises, they have made a commitment to support the DDR, they made a commitment to support the census and they made a commitment to support the democratization process and the elections. They have made a promise to support the referendum process. This information has been communicated to the Government of Sudan through the embassy and it has been passed on to the Government of southern Sudan.”

Ambassador Wundu also said the government and the people of Japan are also interested in other peace processes in the Sudan, such as the Doha initiative which is seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict in Darfur.

Sudan accuses France of being behind the recent Chadian attacks inside Sudan’s territory

The Minister of Information in GONU, Dr. Rabie Abdulaati told Sudan Radio Service that ”The Chadian government is being supported by certain countries, especially France. Chad is doing these things through France. There are foreign forces who are behind these accusations for the sake of realizing their agendas. I swear that the Chadian regime is just machinery used by the French government to do what ever it wants.”

From Sudan Radio Service Thursday, 21 May 2009 (N’Djamena):

The Chadian government says that their threat to conduct military operations inside Sudan’s territory come after confirmed reports that the Chadian anti-government groups backed by Sudan are preparing for another attack.

The Chadian Minister of Information, Mohamed Hussein, spoke to Sudan Radio Service on Thursday from N’Djamena.

[Mohamed Hussein]: ”The people who attacked Chad on 4th May, who are they and where did they came from? They are coming from Sudan, we are not just talking nonsense, they are present (the rebels) in Sudan and it is confirmed. Our first attack inside Sudan territory was successful. When our army returned, we informed the international community that our army came back to Chadian territory. On Sunday, our intelligence service intercepted a phone call between the rebels and the Sudanese army. They were saying that they got commands from the Sudanese authorities to regroup in eastern al-Geneina. According to this information, the Chadian Defense Minister threatened that if Sudan continues sending the rebels to attack Chad, we will not wait until they reach Chad, we will cross the border and scatter them inside Sudan, as Sudan is the one who has started first, not us.”

However the Government of National Unity has dismissed the allegations by Chadian officials, threatening to “crush” the Chadian army if they cross their border.

The advisor to the Minister of Information in GONU, Dr. Rabie Abdulaati, spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum.

[Rabie Abdulaati]: ”First of all, these are lies and baseless accusations, and have nothing to do with the reality. Sudan has never targeted Chad either through the opposition or by trespassing on Chadian territory. Sudan is capable of crushing the Chadian army and eliminating it. Otherwise Sudan wouldn’t have signed the Doha, Dakar and Libya declarations. Sudan see that there is no any comparison between it’s army and Chadian army, Chad is a very small country, so what the Chadian Minster of Information has said is baseless, Sudan does not need to conspire through phone calls, Chad knows it’s capacity and can't face Sudan in any case.”

Abdulaati went on to accuse France of being behind the recent Chadian attacks inside Sudan’s territory.

[Rabie Abdulaati]: ”The Chadian government is being supported by certain countries, especially France. Chad is doing these things through France. There are foreign forces who are behind these accusations for the sake of realizing their agendas. I swear that the Chadian regime is just machinery used by the French government to do what ever it wants.”

Since 2005, Chad and Sudan have often accused each other of supporting anti-government groups in their respective countries.

Gambian ICC Prosecutor tells African Commission "nobody cares for the Darfurians, they have no oil"

One wonders if there is something in the water at the ICC. If the following article quoting Deputy ICC Prosecutor Fatoumatta Bensouda is accurate, I don't know what to make of the part that I have marked in red. Google search on the words "oil in Darfur" and you will see that the top page shows Oil found in South Darfur [Sudan Watch, April 03, 2005]. The archives of Sudan Watch hold many reports of oil in Darfur and along the Chad-Sudan border. What on earth is the Deputy Prosecutor talking about when she says "Nobody cares for the Darfurians. They have no oil." If people at the ICC believe that there is no oil in Darfur, I wonder what they think is the reason behind rebel group leaders fighting for "their people" to live in hot barren God forsaken deserts that offer little to sustain life of any kind. Click here to view Mia Farrow's photo of Kalma camp in South Darfur, not a blade of grass in sight.

From Foroyaa.gm (Gambia) by Fabakary B. Ceesay on 20 May 2009:
Gambian ICC Prosecutor Addresses African Commission

Madam Fatoumatta Bensouda, a Deputy Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Gambian national, on Friday 15th, addressed the African Commission on Human and People’s Right (ACHPR) on the theme, “A Global System of Justice for the Victims of the most serious crimes”.

In her deliberation, Madam Bensouda, first, said that, the most important beneficiaries of their work are the victims of gross human rights violations. She cited the Rome Statute that contains new fundamental provisions concerning victims of the most unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity. She said those crimes are so serious that they are of concern to the international community as a whole.

Deputy ICC prosecutor Bensouda said the purpose of the ICC is to put an end to these crimes and, as such, to bring justice through accountability to ensure redress for the victims and the affected populations. Other goals, she added, include the contribution to the prevention of such crimes and the victimization of other generations and communities.

“This is especially true for Africans. As you know, the Court has opened investigations into four situations, all within the African continent. Contrary to what some critics might say, this is not the sign of some sort of “Western bias” from the Court. In fact, as a Deputy Prosecutor, and as an African Woman, I am dismayed by suggestions that this Court is targeting Africans”, said Deputy Prosecutor Bensouda.

She noted the crucial role played by African countries in the negotiation of the Rome Statute of the Court, adding that the result of that process was a comprehensive treaty establishing the first Permanent International Criminal Court.

The Deputy Prosecutor said that Africa is the single largest region represented in the Assembly of State parties to the Rome Statute; that there are more African States membership to the Rome Statute than there are African States membership to the African Union (AU). She said the court will continue to work consistently for and with the victims and that it will do so following the evidence and the horrific trail of massive crimes.

Madam Bensouda listed the four Africans who have been indicted by the ICC, namely Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of DR Congo, Joseph Kony of Uganda, President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan and Ahmed Harun, a Janjaweed leader in Darfur, Sudan. According to her, Lubanga is facing war crimes for having victimized thousands and thousands of children, boys and girls, turning them into killers, looters, sexual slavers; Kony and the other leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Northern Uganda, are indicted for using thousands of young children to kill their own families and destroy their own communities; that President Omar Al Bashir is indicted for the extermination of 2.5 million Africans in Darfur and Harun is facing war crimes for attacking his victims in camps on the orders of President Bashir with the help of the State apparatus to facilitate the criminal plans he (Harun) had for Darfur,.. Bensouda added that today in Darfur, a man is indicted by the ICC for attacking his victims in camps on orders of president Bashir with the command of the state apparatus to help and facilitate the criminal plans Ahmed Harun has for Darfur.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor told the session that due to the lack of execution of these pending arrest warrants, the LRA continues to commit horrible crimes upon a whole new generation of victims in Southern Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR) and the DRC. “This not acceptable,” she said.

She continued, “We are working for the African victims. Nobody cares for the Darfurians. They have no oil. Everything they had that was of value to them, their land, their homes, their crops, their families, has been taken from them by the government. Africans are tired of double standards. So are we. The ICC is a solution. It is based on only one standing, applicable to all, the law.”

Madam Bensouda said ‘the ICC is a fantastic new tool, a judicial tool, not a tool in the hands of politicians who think they can decide when to plug or unplug them.’

She underscored the need for a united voice of the international community to play its part in the enforcement of the court’s decisions with a louder voice.

“The law is not just for legal advisor, prosecutors and defence counsels. The law also applies to political leaders, military and negotiators. This is where the biggest challenges lie for the Rome system,” concluded Madam Bensouda.

A few of the many reports on Oil and Darfur from Sudan Watch archives:

Oil and Darfur

Chinese sign up with Eronat's Cliveden and Canada's Encana to explore oil in Chad

Friedhelm Eronat is behind Cliveden Sudan and Darfur oil deal

Mia Farrow's fast prompts Black Caucus to give up food "in solidarity with Darfur's people"

Imagine what the rebels think when they hear news that Mia Farrow's fast has prompted US Congressman Donald Payne to announce plans for his Black Caucus members to give up food "in solidarity with Darfur's people". Most of the rebels and their families are "Darfur's people". Ironically, by siding with the Darfur rebels, the publicity stunts of Mia Farrow et al are actually helping to prolong the agony and suffering of "Darfur's people".

From 3news.co.nz Thursday, 21 May 2009:
Mia Farrow's prompts Black Caucus to give up food

Members of America's Congressional Black Caucus are following Mia Farrow's lead and fasting for Sudanese refugees.

The actress was forced to give up a much-publicised awareness hunger strike earlier this month after 12 days when doctors warned her she'd be putting her health at great risk if she continued.

Farrow began her fast on 27 April and hoped to survive without food for 21 days as part of an effort to raise awareness of the plight of starving refugees in Sudan. But her fasting came to an end on 6 May when her doctor instructed her to stop immediately.

The Rosemary's Baby star's initial disappointment at not being able to complete the fast has been replaced by the pride her efforts were not in vain.

Virgin boss Richard Branson took over from her and staged a three-day fast for the cause, and now US Congressman Donald Payne has announced plans for his Black Caucus members to give up food "in solidarity with Darfur's people".

Payne, who started fasting last week, says, "I joined the Darfur Fast for Life because I wanted to stand in solidarity with the people of Darfur and to express my outrage at the ongoing crisis in the Sudan.

"In addition to my personal fasting, I am launching a Darfur Fast for Life Campaign on Capitol Hill to urge my colleagues to join me... It is my hope that our fasting will compel decision makers to act more decisively to put an end to the suffering of millions of innocent men, women and children in Darfur. We must do all we can until the violence, suffering, and displacement have ended."

See Sudan Watch 14 May 2009: Mia Farrow ends Darfur fast, Sir Richard Branson takes over

Sudan accuses Chad of sending troops to aid rebels - JEM has taken Sudan army base at Kornoi

Andrew Heavens, the author of the following two reports, tweeted on Monday, May 18, that he is "back from a four-hour trip to Darfur - invaluable insights gained". Also, on May 17 he tweeted: "Khartoum has run out of tonic water - the expats are restless."

Sudan accuses Chad of sending troops to aid rebels
From Reuters by Andrew Heavens, Monday, 18 May 2009:

* UN chief Ban urges Chad, Sudan to cease fighting
* Arab League's Moussa optimistic on Darfur peace outlook

EL FASHER, Sudan, May 18 (Reuters) - Sudan's top official in North Darfur accused Chad on Monday of sending troops into his territory to fight alongside Darfur rebels, raising the stakes in the simmering tension between the two countries.

North Darfur governor Osman Kebir said Chadian forces had reinforced fighters from Darfur's rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in an attack on the strategic town of Kornoi on Saturday.

Sudan accused Chad of carrying out three air strikes on its territory last week, calling the raids an "act of war."

However, this was the first occasion in recent times that it had said Chadian ground troops had breached its border.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeated his call for all parties to cease fighting, according to a statement from U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe.

"(Ban) underscores that there is no military solution to the situation in the sub-region and urges the governments of Chad and Sudan to refrain from any act that may lead to a further escalation of tensions," Okabe said.

Chad said on Sunday it had carried out the air raids, and fought near Sudan's border, to destroy anti-Chadian insurgents it said were taking refuge inside Sudan. It has so far not commented on Saturday's ground attack on Kornoi.

"Chadian aggression has reached the locality of Kornoi, a town near the Chadian border," said Kebir, speaking through a translator as he addressed a delegation of the leaders of the Arab League, the African Union Commission and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

"Kornoi has been attacked by Chad forces with JEM. Our armed forces have stopped the aggression."

Chadian President Idriss Deby has ethnic links with JEM's leader Khalil Ibrahim and many of his top commanders and Khartoum regularly accuses its neighbor of supporting the rebel force.

Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, said he remained hopeful about the prospects for peace in Darfur, despite an increase in violence along the Chadian border.

"We are assured the government of Sudan is trying hard to mend fences with the government of Chad to move toward a low intensity situation," he told reporters at the end of his delegation's one-day visit to El Fasher.

Jean Ping, chair of the African Union Commission, declined to comment on the reports of Chadian involvement in Sudan. [...]  (Additional reporting by Megan Davies at the United Nations) (Editing by Andrew Dobbie and Todd Eastham)

- - -

From Reuters by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum, 17 May 2009 12:38:06 GMT:
Darfur rebels say Sudan army base seized

Darfur's rebel Justice and Equality Movement said on Sunday it attacked Sudanese government troops in north Darfur, forcing them out of a strategic base in the latest of a series of clashes in the area.

U.N. sources confirmed Sudanese government soldiers were attacked on Saturday afternoon in the town of Kornoi, which is on a key road, but no one was immediately available to comment from the Sudanese army.

The reports will stoke growing tensions in the volatile area which borders Chad. Sudan accused Chad of launching three airstrikes in north Darfur on Friday and Saturday.

Diplomatic sources in Khartoum have said JEM may be planning a major offensive in Darfur, partly in retaliation for an incursion by Chadian insurgents into Chad earlier this month.

Sudan's government says JEM is backed by Chad, while Chad accuses Khartoum of supporting insurgents in its territory.

"JEM has taken Kornoi. We attacked a garrison there. We want to clear them out of the area," JEM leader Khaili Ibrahim told Reuters by satellite telephone, saying the two-hour battle had taken place late afternoon on Saturday.

"We now control a very large area. JEM will proceed to control the whole area - the whole of Darfur, including the capitals (El Fasher, El Geneina and Nyala, the capitals of the states of north, west and south Darfur)."

Ibrahim said there had been casualties on both sides, but it was too early to release statistics.

Darfur's U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force said it had received unconfirmed reports of clashes between JEM and Sudan government forces at Kornoi -- but could not confirm them as it did not have a base in the settlement.

U.N. sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed there had been an attack, and said government soldiers had been seen retreating from the area.

"We can confirm an attack took place, an attack on Sudanese military forces. The attackers are now controlling that locality," said one U.N. officer."We do not have information on who the attackers were or the number of casualties."

There have been signs that JEM has been re-arming and re-grouping. JEM clashed with former rebels backed by Sudan's government close to the town of Umm Baru earlier this month.

Kornoi and Umm Baru are just 50 km (30 miles) apart on a strategic route which stretches southeast from the Chadian border across north Darfur towards El Fasher.
[...]

JEM, which says it intends to control Darfur and the neighbouring regions of northern and southern Kordofan, also launched a shock attack on Khartoum in May last year, saying it wanted to overthrow the government.

JEM has been holding a series of discussions with Sudan's government in Qatar. But they have so far not evolved into full peace talks.

- - -



Map found on the internet, source unknown. Note, El Fasher.  Kornoi and Umm Baru are just 50 km (30 miles) apart on a strategic route which stretches southeast from the Chadian border across north Darfur towards El Fasher.

More than 90 now face death penalty over raid on Khartoum

Sudan court sentences nine to death over rebel attack
Wednesday May 20, 2009 7:03am EDT

* More than 90 now face death penalty over raid on Khartoum
* Darfur rebels denounce sentence
* Rebels say move may undermine talks with government

By Maaz Idris Alnugomi

KHARTOUM, May 20, 2009 (Reuters) - A Sudanese court on Wednesday sentenced nine men to death for taking part in a Darfur rebel attack on Khartoum.

The ruling brought the number of people facing death by hanging for the shock raid last year by the insurgent Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to 91.

After the sentences were announced in Khartoum North court, six of the defendants jumped to their feet, shouting "Revolution till victory", while women inside the room cried out in shock.

JEM forces drove across hundreds of miles of desert to attack Khartoum in May 2008 and were stopped just short of the presidential palace and army headquarters.

JEM denounced the judgment, the latest in a series of death sentences handed out over the attack in hearings dating back to July.

The group's U.K.-based spokesman, Ahmed Hussein Adam, called it an act of provocation and said it could undermine already troubled negotiations with Sudan's government that have been taking place in Doha.

"Day after day, week after week, they are bringing our members into court and sentencing them to death," Adam told Reuters, speaking by phone.

"They are trying to keep the pressure on us so we won't attack again. But this will not give them any safety."

Adam said the sentencing violated international law and a goodwill agreement signed between JEM and the Sudanese government in Qatar in February.

"The agreement said our members should be treated as prisoners of war. And prisoners of war should not be sentenced. They should not be tried," said Adam.

He added his movement would bring up the sentencing with joint U.N./African Union mediators who have been organising the Doha talks.

JEM commanders met senior government leaders in Qatar twice this year for discussions which are supposed to pave the way to full peace talks.

The latest session adjourned without any concrete signs of progress and some JEM officials have raised doubts about whether they will return for a scheduled resumption on May 27. JEM has also clashed with government forces in North Darfur in recent weeks.

One defendant, accused of sheltering a JEM member in his house, was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday, while two other men were acquitted.

Sudan's government said more than 200 people, many of them civilians, were killed in the JEM attack on Omdurman, across the river Nile from downtown Khartoum. (Additional reporting by Andrew Heavens; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Sudan Chad rebels: Leave your RPGs in the Shanghai car park please

It's good to know that when I stop off for lunch at my favourite Chadian Chinese restaurant, the Shanghai in Abeche, our armed friends are asked to leave their rocket propelled grenades in the car park. (Source: Rob Crilly's blog post The Shanghai Car Park May 16, 2009)
- - -

Rob Crilly's tweet from Chad

First impressions of N'djamena: gosh what a lot of chinese people
Twitter / robcrilly 12/5/09 20:03

Chadian gov't launched air attacks inside Sudan - Sudan threatens to destroy Chad troops

Reports from Chad claim that rebel forces are using anti-aircraft guns. The Chadian government admits launching air attacks inside Sudan in a bid to wipe out rebel camps.

Sudan threatens to destroy Chad troops. Sudan says no sign yet of threatened Chad invasion.



Archive photo/caption: Wounded Chad army soldiers are evacuated in a helicopter on May 08, 2009 in the area of Am Dam, 130 kms south of Abeche. Chad declared victory Saturday over Sudan-based rebels after fierce desert battles that left scores dead and then threatened to break off diplomatic relations with Khartoum. (AFP/File/Georges Gobet - 09 May 2009)

Sudan threatens to destroy Chad troops
Wed May 20, 2009 3:51am EDT

* Sudan says no sign yet of threatened Chad invasion

* U.N. has reports of Sudan bombing land near recent rebel clashes

By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM, May 20 (Reuters):

Sudan on Wednesday threatened to destroy any Chad forces that invaded its territory, stepping up its rhetoric after Chad said it was readying its troops to cross the countries' shared border.

Chad's interim defence minister said on Tuesday his forces would enter Sudan within hours to intercept rebels, as recent tensions between the two oil-producers mounted.

Sudanese officials on Wednesday said they had not seen any signs of a Chadian attack overnight, but were ready for any incursion.

"The Sudanese Ministry of Defence pointed out it will not tolerate any aggression on the Sudanese lands, and warned that the Armed Forces will destroy any force that attempts to attack the Sudanese territories," read a statement on the Suna state media agency.

The underdeveloped neighbours regularly accuse each other of supporting each others rebels.

Troubled relations have worsened in recent weeks. Chad said Khartoum backed a rebel attack earlier this month, hours after the countries had signed a reconciliation deal in Doha.

The Chadian government went on to admit launching air attacks inside Sudan in a bid to wipe out rebel camps.

Khartoum, which denied backing the rebels, has up to now made relatively restrained public statements, referring only to unspecified repercussions of any Chadian attack and signalling that it was still seeking a diplomatic resolution.

In another sign of heightened tensions in the remote region, U.N. sources said they had unconfirmed reports Sudanese army planes bombed land close to the Chad border in north Darfur on Monday and Tuesday, the site of recent clashes between Khartoum and Darfur rebels.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were also reports from the area that rebel forces had fired back, using anti-aircraft guns.

No one was immediately available to comment from Darfur's rebel Justice and Equality Movement, which says it is holding the key town of Kornoi in the area, or the Sudanese armed forces.

Khartoum says N'Djamena arms and supports JEM, one of two main Darfur rebel groups that launched a rebellion against the Sudanese government in 2003. (Editing by Giles Elgood)

Just posted a comment at Rob Crilly's blog wishing him all the best during his visit to Chad where he is now and managing to tweet.

Sudanese and Chadian civilians getting away with murder and war crimes against peacekeepers

The truth is stranger than fiction. In my neighbourhood here in England I have a civilian neighbour who has spent the past five years swanning around the neighbourhood with a machine gun and killing people.  His professed occupation is a self appointed gunman and killer.  After the media picked up on his story, he was reported to the police.  But nothing happened until several months later when he turned himself in at a police station.  The police took him to court and the court charged him with murder, directing murders and pillaging. He spoke only briefly during his short court appearance, to thank the court. He then left the court as a free man and returned to live in my neighbourhood. He has not been tagged nor banned from carrying or using guns.  There is nothing to stop him getting involved in further killings in my neighbourhood.  The police won't do anything.  All I can do is blog about it. Here is a true story:



Photo: URF rebel group commander Bahar Idriss Abu Garda was summoned to appear before the ICC. (AFP/Getty Images)

Bahr Idriss Abu Garda spoke only briefly during his short court appearance at The Hague, to thank the court.

"We know how innocent he is. After the court, he will be freed. He will return to Darfur to continue his struggle," said Tadjadine Bechirniam, communications director for Garda.

Garda faces charges of murder, directing attacks on peacekeepers and pillaging.

From CNN dated Monday, May 18, 2009:
Rebel commander defiant over Sudan war crimes hearing

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Bahr Idriss Abu Garda faces charges in deaths of peacekeepers in 2007
12 killed when a soldiers stormed North Darfur African Union peacekeeping base
Abu Garda scheduled to appear at the pretrial hearing at 3 p.m. Monday [18 May 2009]
Three other suspects, including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, are at large

A Sudanese rebel commander accused of responsibility for the deadliest attack on African Union peacekeepers in Darfur faced an International Criminal Court hearing Monday.

Sudanese rebel commander Bahar Idriss Abu Garda was summoned to appear before the ICC.

Bahr Idriss Abu Garda spoke only briefly during his short court appearance at The Hague, to thank the court.

Garda surrendered himself to the court voluntarily.

His spokesman said earlier he was not guilty and that he had come to The Hague to show an unwavering commitment to justice.

"We know how innocent he is. After the court, he will be freed. He will return to Darfur to continue his struggle," said Tadjadine Bechirniam, communications director for Garda.

Garda is charged with three war crimes allegedly committed in September 2007, when rebel-led soldiers stormed an African Union peacekeeping base in Haskanita, in northern Darfur. Twelve peacekeepers were killed and eight were wounded, in the deadliest single attack on African Union peacekeepers since they began their mission in late 2004.

Bechirniam said he could not speak about Garda's defense before the pre-trial hearing.

Garda faces charges of murder, directing attacks on peacekeepers and pillaging.

"There should be no immunity for anyone. We show our commitment to justice, to support justice for people in Darfur and Sudan," Bechirniam said in explaining why Garda is voluntarily appearing before the court. Garda believes in the court's independence, his spokesman said.

Three other suspects, including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, also were summoned, but remain at large.

"The voluntary appearance of Abu Garda might serve to encourage other suspects currently at large to come before the court to be heard with all guarantees of a fair trial," said Silvana Arbia, registrar of the international court.

The attack on the African Union peacekeepers came months before the 7,000-strong force was replaced by a joint A.U./U.N. peacekeeping force of 26,000 troops.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 after rebels in the western region of Sudan began attacking government positions. Sudan's government responded with a fierce military campaign that has led to some 200,000 deaths and forced 2 million people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

Note, the above report describes rebel commander Bahar Idriss Abu Garda as being Sudanese. Some other reports refer to him as Chadian and that the URF rebel group he leads is Chadian.
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Quotation

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.
- Mark Twain
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Update: See Sudan Watch:

Monday, May 18, 2009 - Haskanita: Sudanese rebel leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda appears at ICC

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - ICC charges URF Commander Bahar Idriss Abu Garda with murder, directing attacks and pillaging


Thursday, May 21, 2009 - A Sudanese rebel leader manipulates the ICC - URF's Abu Garda could be hiding a political ambition to "outdo his opponents"