France: Sarkozy and Brown ready to go to Darfur
Paris, 20 July On Thursday, the UN envoy for Darfur urged a rebel leader to reverse his opposition to efforts by the UN and the African Union to launch peace talks with the government.
Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, leader of a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement, said in a statement that his group would not attend a meeting of rebel leaders to take place in Tanzania in early August.
"We need him on our side and I hope that we will see a positive interest from him," said Jan Eliasson, the U.N. Darfur envoy.
International experts estimate 200,000 have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes in fighting in Darfur, where mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003.
An estimated 4 million people are facing the threat of famine.
Pertinent Links:
1) France: Sarkozy and Brown ready to go to Darfur
Showing posts with label darfur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label darfur. Show all posts
Friday, July 20, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - DARFUR/SUDAN: JANJAWEED HAS ETHNICALLY CLEANSED
Arabs pile into Darfur to take land 'cleansed' by janjaweed
By Steve Bloomfield, Africa Correspondent
Arabs from Chad and Niger are crossing into Darfur in "unprecedented" numbers, prompting claims that the Sudanese government is trying systematically to repopulate the war- ravaged region.
An internal UN report, obtained by The Independent, shows that up to 30,000 Arabs have crossed the border in the past two months. Most arrived with all their belongings and large flocks. They were greeted by Sudanese Arabs who took them to empty villages cleared by government and janjaweed forces.
One UN official said the process "appeared to have been well planned". The official continued: "This movement is very large. We have not seen such numbers come into west Darfur before."
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, sent a team to the border with Chad at the end of May to interview the new arrivals. Fighting in eastern Chad has been steadily increasing and it was thought that many could be refugees. But only a very small number have required support from UNHCR.
"Most have been relocated by Sudanese Arabs to former villages of IDPs (internally displaced people) and more or less invited to stay there," said the UN official.
The arrivals have been issued with official Sudanese identity cards and awarded citizenship, and analysts say that by encouraging Arabs from Chad, Niger and other parts of Sudan to move to Darfur the Sudanese government is making it "virtually impossible" for displaced people to return home.
James Smith, chief executive of the Aegis Trust, said the revelations proved that the Sudanese government was "cynically trying to change the demographics of the whole region", adding: "If the ethnic cleansing has been consolidated because the land has been repopulated it will become irreversible. The peace process will fall to pieces."
Repopulation has also been happening in south Darfur where Arabs from elsewhere in Sudan have been allowed to move into villages that were once home to local tribes. Aid agency workers said the Arabs were presented as "returning IDPs".
Before the conflict started in 2003, Darfur was home to seven million people, mainly from three African tribes, Fur, Marsalit and Zargahwa. Darfur literally translates as "Land of the Fur". But some 2.5 million have now been forced to flee their homes after attacks by Sudanese troops and planes, and Arab militia on horseback known as janjaweed.
Most are now in camps around Darfur's main towns, relying on handouts from international aid agencies. About 250,000 have become refugees in Chad. A further 1.5 million have been affected by the conflict, meaning at least four million people are now reliant on the 80 or so international aid agencies in the region. More than 200,000 people are believed to have been killed so far during the four-and-a-half-year conflict.
And if Khartoum is moving Arabs from abroad to replace them, diplomats fear that Darfur rebels may try to remove them forcibly. "It could be quite explosive," said one western diplomat. "It is a very serious situation."
Nomadic Arab tribes have been crossing the border between Chad and Sudan for centuries, long before lines were drawn on a map. It is normal for tribes to follow the rains from west to east and back again, searching for fertile grazing land for their cattle. Straight lines carve out the northern borders of the five countries which spread across the Sahel, taking no notice of traditional tribal links and nomadic routes.
In Mauritania and Sudan, both countries long ruled by Arabs, black African tribes have suffered most. In Mali, Niger and Chad, the Arab and Tuareg nomads have been suppressed.
Towards the end of last year, Niger announced that it planned forcibly to remove more than 150,000 Arab nomads into Chad. Many of the Arabs, known as Mahamid, moved from Chad in the 1970s after a serious drought. Although the government later rescinded the order, it is thought that many decided to return to Chad voluntarily.
Apart from the 30,000 Arabs from Chad and Niger cited in the UNHCR report there have been consistent rumours that a further 45,000 Arabs from Niger have also crossed over. For most nomads citizenship means very little; the lines that separate the countries of the Sahel have not created a sense of nationality. But for the Khartoum regime it could be pivotal. Elections are to be held in two years, the first since President Omar al-Bashir seized power in a coup in 1989.
Although opinion polling is not very advanced, it is thought that no party is likely to win an overall majority. By providing citizenship for the new arrivals, one Khartoum-based diplomat said, President Bashir could be hoping to bolster his election chances.
For the Arabs who have crossed into Darfur there are both push and pull factors. Drought in parts of northern Africa has forced nomads to look further afield for fertile land. Although the spread of desert is rapidly reducing the amount of land available for farmers and nomads in Darfur, much of the area cleared by the janjaweed and government forces is fertile.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Arabs pile into Darfur to take land 'cleansed' by janjaweed
By Steve Bloomfield, Africa Correspondent
Arabs from Chad and Niger are crossing into Darfur in "unprecedented" numbers, prompting claims that the Sudanese government is trying systematically to repopulate the war- ravaged region.
An internal UN report, obtained by The Independent, shows that up to 30,000 Arabs have crossed the border in the past two months. Most arrived with all their belongings and large flocks. They were greeted by Sudanese Arabs who took them to empty villages cleared by government and janjaweed forces.
One UN official said the process "appeared to have been well planned". The official continued: "This movement is very large. We have not seen such numbers come into west Darfur before."
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, sent a team to the border with Chad at the end of May to interview the new arrivals. Fighting in eastern Chad has been steadily increasing and it was thought that many could be refugees. But only a very small number have required support from UNHCR.
"Most have been relocated by Sudanese Arabs to former villages of IDPs (internally displaced people) and more or less invited to stay there," said the UN official.
The arrivals have been issued with official Sudanese identity cards and awarded citizenship, and analysts say that by encouraging Arabs from Chad, Niger and other parts of Sudan to move to Darfur the Sudanese government is making it "virtually impossible" for displaced people to return home.
James Smith, chief executive of the Aegis Trust, said the revelations proved that the Sudanese government was "cynically trying to change the demographics of the whole region", adding: "If the ethnic cleansing has been consolidated because the land has been repopulated it will become irreversible. The peace process will fall to pieces."
Repopulation has also been happening in south Darfur where Arabs from elsewhere in Sudan have been allowed to move into villages that were once home to local tribes. Aid agency workers said the Arabs were presented as "returning IDPs".
Before the conflict started in 2003, Darfur was home to seven million people, mainly from three African tribes, Fur, Marsalit and Zargahwa. Darfur literally translates as "Land of the Fur". But some 2.5 million have now been forced to flee their homes after attacks by Sudanese troops and planes, and Arab militia on horseback known as janjaweed.
Most are now in camps around Darfur's main towns, relying on handouts from international aid agencies. About 250,000 have become refugees in Chad. A further 1.5 million have been affected by the conflict, meaning at least four million people are now reliant on the 80 or so international aid agencies in the region. More than 200,000 people are believed to have been killed so far during the four-and-a-half-year conflict.
And if Khartoum is moving Arabs from abroad to replace them, diplomats fear that Darfur rebels may try to remove them forcibly. "It could be quite explosive," said one western diplomat. "It is a very serious situation."
Nomadic Arab tribes have been crossing the border between Chad and Sudan for centuries, long before lines were drawn on a map. It is normal for tribes to follow the rains from west to east and back again, searching for fertile grazing land for their cattle. Straight lines carve out the northern borders of the five countries which spread across the Sahel, taking no notice of traditional tribal links and nomadic routes.
In Mauritania and Sudan, both countries long ruled by Arabs, black African tribes have suffered most. In Mali, Niger and Chad, the Arab and Tuareg nomads have been suppressed.
Towards the end of last year, Niger announced that it planned forcibly to remove more than 150,000 Arab nomads into Chad. Many of the Arabs, known as Mahamid, moved from Chad in the 1970s after a serious drought. Although the government later rescinded the order, it is thought that many decided to return to Chad voluntarily.
Apart from the 30,000 Arabs from Chad and Niger cited in the UNHCR report there have been consistent rumours that a further 45,000 Arabs from Niger have also crossed over. For most nomads citizenship means very little; the lines that separate the countries of the Sahel have not created a sense of nationality. But for the Khartoum regime it could be pivotal. Elections are to be held in two years, the first since President Omar al-Bashir seized power in a coup in 1989.
Although opinion polling is not very advanced, it is thought that no party is likely to win an overall majority. By providing citizenship for the new arrivals, one Khartoum-based diplomat said, President Bashir could be hoping to bolster his election chances.
For the Arabs who have crossed into Darfur there are both push and pull factors. Drought in parts of northern Africa has forced nomads to look further afield for fertile land. Although the spread of desert is rapidly reducing the amount of land available for farmers and nomads in Darfur, much of the area cleared by the janjaweed and government forces is fertile.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Arabs pile into Darfur to take land 'cleansed' by janjaweed
Sunday, May 27, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM - SUDAN: GANG RAPE IN DARFUR
Darfur Women Describe Gang-Rape Horror
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU
KALMA, Sudan (AP) -- The seven women pooled money to rent a donkey and cart, then ventured out of the refugee camp to gather firewood, hoping to sell it for cash to feed their families. Instead, they say, in a wooded area just a few hours walk away, they were gang-raped, beaten and robbed.
Naked and devastated, they fled back to Kalma.
"All the time it lasted, I kept thinking: They're killing my baby, they're killing my baby," wailed Aisha, who was seven months pregnant at the time.
The women have no doubt who attacked them. They say the men's camels and their uniforms marked them as janjaweed - the Arab militiamen accused of terrorizing the mostly black African villagers of Sudan's Darfur region.
...
Pertinent links:
1) Darfur Women Describe Gang-Rape Horror
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU
KALMA, Sudan (AP) -- The seven women pooled money to rent a donkey and cart, then ventured out of the refugee camp to gather firewood, hoping to sell it for cash to feed their families. Instead, they say, in a wooded area just a few hours walk away, they were gang-raped, beaten and robbed.
Naked and devastated, they fled back to Kalma.
"All the time it lasted, I kept thinking: They're killing my baby, they're killing my baby," wailed Aisha, who was seven months pregnant at the time.
The women have no doubt who attacked them. They say the men's camels and their uniforms marked them as janjaweed - the Arab militiamen accused of terrorizing the mostly black African villagers of Sudan's Darfur region.
...
Pertinent links:
1) Darfur Women Describe Gang-Rape Horror
Monday, March 19, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM: "DON'T HAVE BLACK SKIN AND COME TO DARFUR"
When Muslims ignore the Prophet
Don’t have a black skin and come from Darfur
Adam LeBor
Question: When do Muslim states deem the lives of fellow Muslims not worth saving? Answer: When they are black Africans.
...
There is much talk of what the West must do to save Darfur. Whatever our obligations, the crisis is also a chance for the Islamic world to save lives. It’s a tragedy for the people of Darfur, for all of us, that the hypocrisy and double-standards of the OIC make this an opportunity wasted.
So it is still "whiteys" fault...Ohhh brother...It really is too bad that these people that are afraid of "whitey" happen to use so much of what "whitey" has invented...
They may actually try separating themselves from the evil "whitey" and living on their own...
Pertinent Links:
1) When Muslims ignore the Prophet
Don’t have a black skin and come from Darfur
Adam LeBor
Question: When do Muslim states deem the lives of fellow Muslims not worth saving? Answer: When they are black Africans.
...
There is much talk of what the West must do to save Darfur. Whatever our obligations, the crisis is also a chance for the Islamic world to save lives. It’s a tragedy for the people of Darfur, for all of us, that the hypocrisy and double-standards of the OIC make this an opportunity wasted.
So it is still "whiteys" fault...Ohhh brother...It really is too bad that these people that are afraid of "whitey" happen to use so much of what "whitey" has invented...
They may actually try separating themselves from the evil "whitey" and living on their own...
Pertinent Links:
1) When Muslims ignore the Prophet
Sunday, February 25, 2007
DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - DETROIT: PROBLEMS IN DARFUR COULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED TRADITIONALLY [DHIMMITUDE], INFIDEL INTERVENTION RUINED IT ALL
President Al-Bashir answers questions raised by American Worshipers at the Mosque of Detroit regarding Darfur Khartoum
Feb. 24 (SUNA) - President of the Republic Field Marshal Omer Al-Bashir said only 19 administrative units in the three States of Darfur are affected by the conflict out of 122 units, refuting the misleading and inflated reports in this connection.
This came as he addressed Friday to the members of the Nation of Islam and the worshippers at the Mosque of Detroit city in the United States after Friday Prayer through video conference.
The President said many American Organizations and media tried to magnify the figures about those who are affected by the conflict in Darfur by saying that some 400,000 person were killed in Darfur.
The President moreover referred to the report of a 12-member committee from the American government and the National Scientific Academy, who affirmed that the information, data and procedures about the death toll in Darfur were untrue and subjective and lack credibility.
Answering questions raised by the audience, President Al-Bashir said the issue of Darfur could have been solved by the traditional norms and native administration but the issue was complicated by foreign interventions.
The President explained that Sudan signed N'djamena ceasefire agreement in April 2004 which was not respected by the rebels as well as the Abuja Peace Agreement and that the rebels were rewarded by more pressures on the government a matter which encouraged some countries to extend weapons and ammunitions to them while the international community and the African Union turned a blind eyes.
In this connection, the President explained that Sudan has embarked on talks with the rebel movements which did not sign the Abuja Peace Agreement and have been destabilizing the situations in the whole region.
As for the issue of the peacekeeping in Darfur, the President it was assigned to the African Union troops according to Abuja Peace Agreement, which was witnessed by the USA, UK, EU, UN and the AU, explaining that surprisingly Sudan was subject to pressures to transform these forces into international forces.
The UN's resolution No. 1706 affirmed the doubts that peace in Sudan was not the objective because it included restructuring of police and judiciary of Sudan as well as supervise the human rights in Sudan which means putting Sudan under tutelage in a similar way like the allied forces in Iraq, affirming rejection to the resolution 1706 as well as the international forces.
President Al-Bashir explained that Sudan has accepted the 3-stage UN plan with regard to the peace achievement in Darfur, explaining that the implementation of the first phase is underway and that Sudan raised reservations over some points in the third phase, saying that the African Peace and Security Council issued resolution last December with respect to these reservations and that the government and the UN's Security Council have accepted the African resolution.
Pertinent Links:
1) President Al-Bashir answers questions raised by American Worshipers at the Mosque of Detroit regardi
Feb. 24 (SUNA) - President of the Republic Field Marshal Omer Al-Bashir said only 19 administrative units in the three States of Darfur are affected by the conflict out of 122 units, refuting the misleading and inflated reports in this connection.
This came as he addressed Friday to the members of the Nation of Islam and the worshippers at the Mosque of Detroit city in the United States after Friday Prayer through video conference.
The President said many American Organizations and media tried to magnify the figures about those who are affected by the conflict in Darfur by saying that some 400,000 person were killed in Darfur.
The President moreover referred to the report of a 12-member committee from the American government and the National Scientific Academy, who affirmed that the information, data and procedures about the death toll in Darfur were untrue and subjective and lack credibility.
Answering questions raised by the audience, President Al-Bashir said the issue of Darfur could have been solved by the traditional norms and native administration but the issue was complicated by foreign interventions.
The President explained that Sudan signed N'djamena ceasefire agreement in April 2004 which was not respected by the rebels as well as the Abuja Peace Agreement and that the rebels were rewarded by more pressures on the government a matter which encouraged some countries to extend weapons and ammunitions to them while the international community and the African Union turned a blind eyes.
In this connection, the President explained that Sudan has embarked on talks with the rebel movements which did not sign the Abuja Peace Agreement and have been destabilizing the situations in the whole region.
As for the issue of the peacekeeping in Darfur, the President it was assigned to the African Union troops according to Abuja Peace Agreement, which was witnessed by the USA, UK, EU, UN and the AU, explaining that surprisingly Sudan was subject to pressures to transform these forces into international forces.
The UN's resolution No. 1706 affirmed the doubts that peace in Sudan was not the objective because it included restructuring of police and judiciary of Sudan as well as supervise the human rights in Sudan which means putting Sudan under tutelage in a similar way like the allied forces in Iraq, affirming rejection to the resolution 1706 as well as the international forces.
President Al-Bashir explained that Sudan has accepted the 3-stage UN plan with regard to the peace achievement in Darfur, explaining that the implementation of the first phase is underway and that Sudan raised reservations over some points in the third phase, saying that the African Peace and Security Council issued resolution last December with respect to these reservations and that the government and the UN's Security Council have accepted the African resolution.
Pertinent Links:
1) President Al-Bashir answers questions raised by American Worshipers at the Mosque of Detroit regardi
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