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 news from and about sudan
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Big US pension fund may divest Sudan-linked stakes
Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:36pm EDT
By Jason Szep
BOSTON, March 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. pension fund that is one of the world's largest money managers threatened on Thursday to divest from Sudan-linked holdings within a year in protest against human rights abuses in Sudan's Darfur region.
New York-based TIAA-CREF said it will tell companies in which it holds stock to cease relations with Sudan or work to ease suffering in Darfur, where international experts say 200,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been uprooted since 2003.
The announcement is among the biggest victories yet for activists who have waged a campaign to pressure U.S. money managers into divesting from PetroChina Co Ltd (601857.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (0857.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other companies with ties to the oil industry in Sudan, which the U.S. government accuses of complicity in genocide.
"For us it's a breakthrough," said Eric Cohen, chairman of Investors Against Genocide, a Boston nonprofit group. "It's the first clear commitment that a major financial institution has taken to not connect their customers with genocide."
TIAA-CREF, which manages $363 billion, said it would seek meetings with executives from PetroChina and its parent, China National Petroleum Corp [CNPET.UL], along with India's state- run Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), China's Sinopec Corp (600028.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(0386.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Malaysia's state oil company, Petronas [PETR.UL].
If within nine months the companies fail to either end ties to Sudan or take "positive and meaningful humanitarian steps and attempt to end genocide," TIAA-CREF said it will divest their shares from its accounts.
If the companies refuse to meet TIAA-CREF executives, the money manager said it "will divest promptly."
"If they agree to engage in a productive dialogue, we will continue to hold their shares as long as progress continues and as long as portfolio management concerns warrant," said the money manager, which bills itself as America's largest provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.
Human rights activists have waged a three-year campaign to persuade money managers to divest Sudan-linked holdings in protest against human rights abuses in Darfur.
The activists targeted Fidelity Investments, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other funds over their holdings in PetroChina and other Asia-based oil companies with ties to Sudan.
They have had some success. Many U.S. universities and states have taken steps to divest Sudan-linked holdings. In 2007, a Fidelity fund sold a big piece of its PetroChina holdings, while Buffett sold his entire holding.
The U.S. Congress passed legislation in 2007 to shield mutual funds and private pension funds from investor lawsuits if they divested shares of companies active in Sudan.
Democratic Representative Melvin Watt applauded TIAA-CREF's announcement.
"I am hopeful that TIAA-CREF's decision to divest from companies that do business with the government of Sudan will inspire other companies to follow suit," he said. (Editing by Andre Grenon
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news from and about sudan (Re: imad hassan)
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Sudan suspects Israel in raids
Friday, March 27, 2009
By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer
ADVERTISEMENTKHARTOUM, Sudan —
Sudan said Friday it believes Israel carried out airstrikes on its soil last month that targeted weapons smugglers. If Israel were behind the attacks, it would mark a dramatic escalation in its attempts to cut off the flow of arms to Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said his country would not comment on the reports, but a day earlier Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hinted Israel did launch the February strikes, vowing that it would hit "terror infrastructure" wherever it is.
Stopping the flow of weapons to Hamas has been a top priority of Israel and the United States. But until now, Israel has focused mainly on blocking what is believed to be a main route _ smuggling through tunnels under the border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
During Israel's 22-day offensive against Hamas in Gaza this year, Israeli warplanes repeatedly pounded the tunnels on the Gaza side, destroying many, though most were quickly repaired. Negotiations on a long-term truce between Hamas and Israel have centered in part on installing measures to stop the smuggling.
The two airstrikes in February in a remote mountainous desert region of northeast Sudan, however, hit much further back in what Israeli officials believe is part of the supply line. Israel and the United States contend that Iran is the ultimate main source of Hamas' weapons, including rockets that militants have fired on southern Israeli towns.
Israeli intelligence officials say Sudan is a major route for Hamas weapons _ not in quantity, but in quality, particularly Iranian-made anti-tank missiles and rockets capable of hitting Tel Aviv.
The officials said it is not known whether the Sudanese government is implicated in the smuggling. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press, and would not comment on whether Israel was behind the strikes.
The Sudanese government _ a close ally of Iran and Hamas _ denies sending weapons to Hamas. But Sudanese officials admit that smuggling is rife in its poorly patrolled border regions, including smuggling of African migrants and weapons. Some of those weapons, they acknowledge, likely head to Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor told The Associated Press that the smuggling was "not good" for Sudan. He said it was possible that some of the weapons convoys hit in the strike "were destined to Gaza."
Word of the strikes emerges at a time when Sudan is already feeling international pressure. Earlier this month, an international court ordered the arrest of President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes in the war in Darfur. The pressure makes Khartoum _ which has cooperated with the U.S. on counterterrorism issues concerning al-Qaida _ especially wary of now being accused of helping arm Hamas.
Details of the airstrikes remain unclear. Sudan's State Minister for Transportation Mubarak Mabrook Saleem said the strikes came about a week apart, with the second on Feb. 11, hitting convoys of smugglers trucks in an area near the Egyptian-Sudanese border and the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.
Saleem, who is from that region, said the first strike hit trucks carrying "small weapons," including automatic rifles, and African migrants. The vehicles hit in the second strike were only carrying migrants, he said, claiming that dozens of people were killed.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Sadiq said authorities had not known about the first strike because of the remote location, and learned of it only after discovering the second, because of wounded who reached hospitals.
The United States was initially suspected, but in direct contacts with Khartoum, Washington denied any role, Sadiq told the Sudanese daily Akhbar al-Youm. Suspicion has now fallen on Israel, he told the paper.
U.S. officials have also publicly denied any role in the strikes.
A senior Sudanese official also told The Associated Press that the government now believes Israel was most likely suspect. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because an official government statement on the issue was expected later.
The strikes come after the United States and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding on Jan. 16, promising "new initiatives" to address arms smuggling to Hamas "including through the Mediterranean, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and eastern Africa." The U.S. has also been working with Egypt to beef up counter-smuggling efforts on its border with Gaza.
Israel has reached beyond the border before against Hamas weapons: In 2002, it intercepted a ship called the Karine A in the Red Sea that it said was bringing rockets from Iran to Hamas. In January, Cyprus seized a Cypriot-flagged vessel, Monchegorsk, after the U.S. said it was suspected of carrying weapons from Iran to Gaza, via Syria. Cyprus removed a cargo of material that could be used for building munitions. Iran and Syria have denied it was sending weapons.
Retired Sudanese army general Mohammed al-Abbas said the strikes hit what is known to be a major smuggling route in Sudan. But he said he doubts Khartoum has a direct role in the weapons traffic, since "it is very concerned about its international image" amid the al-Bashir warrant and the Darfur conflict.
More likely, he said, it turned a blind eye to it, reasoning that the vast desert region is too remote to control anyway.
"There are many disembarkation areas along the Red Sea. It is very easy for boats to use, and it is used for smuggling, all kinds of things...It is easy and there are plenty of areas for unloading," he said.
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sudan tribune (Re: imad hassan)
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Click here to close this window Sat, Mar 28, 2009 00:47 UT
Sudanese army admits to raid near coastal city, contacts Egypt
Friday 27 March 2009.
March 26, 2009 (KHARTOUM) —The Sudanese army issued a statement today saying it was aware of an air strike launched by allegedly Israeli warplanes when it happened last January.
The spokesperson of Sudan’s military Osman Al-Agbash said that the army “took all necessary procedures and contacted parties of concern with this issue”.
The London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted the military spokesperson as saying that they consulted with the Egyptians and other parties through the foreign ministry.
Asked why the incident was not made public when it occurred, Al-Agbash said that “the government and specialized agencies determine the right time for that [disclosure]”.
However it appeared that Khartoum was hesitant to confirm the report after an ex-rebel leader from Eastern Sudan unexpectedly revealed it in a press conference this week.
The Los Angeles Times said that the news was not reported in the country’s newspapers, suggesting the government might be embarrassed to acknowledge that its sovereignty and air space could be violated so easily.
The Sudanese state minister for highways Mabrouk Mubarak Saleem had told reporters on Monday that “major power bombed small trucks carrying arms burring all of them”.
“It killed Sudanese, Eritreans and Ethiopians [passengers] and injured others” Saleem said and pointed figures at the US.
But CBS news quoting unidentified US officials yesterday disputed the report about US involvement in the operation.
CBS News national security correspondent who covers the Pentagon was told by those officials that “Israeli aircraft carried out the attack”.
“Israeli intelligence is said to have discovered that weapons were being trucked through Sudan, heading north toward Egypt, whereupon they would cross the Sinai Desert and be smuggled into Hamas-held territory in Gaza” the officials said.
Today another unidentified senior figure from east Sudan told Reuters that his colleagues spoke to a survivor of the raid.
“There was an Ethiopian fellow, a mechanic. He was the only one who survived. He said they came in two planes. They passed over them then came back and they shot the cars. He couldn’t tell the nationality of the aircraft ... The aircraft destroyed the vehicles. There were four or five vehicles” he said.
The politician added that the route, in a desert region northwest of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, was regularly used by groups smuggling weapons into Egypt.
“Everyone knows they are smuggling weapons to the southern part of Egypt” he said.
But Saleem today told the Qatar based Al-Jazeera TV channel that 800 people were killed in the attack including 200 Sudanese and the remaining 600 were Somalis and Eritreans.
The Sudanese official said that there were two raids conducted, one on January 27th and the second on February 11th. He also retracted his earlier version on the convoy saying it was engaging in human trafficking and not arms smuggling saying that extreme poverty in the region is the biggest driver of this activity.
Israel has declined to confirm or deny the reports on its involvement but its outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the government is “operating in every area in which terrorist infrastructures can be struck”.
“We are operating in locations near and far and attack in a way that strengthens and increases deterrence…..there is no point in elaborating. Everyone can use their imagination. Whoever needs to know, knows” he added.
His statements were taken by observers as a confirmation of the role played by Israel played in the bombing.
Israeli officials in the past have said that arms are funneled into Sudan and then to Sinai, where they pass through the tunnels into Gaza.
They also said Iran is the main supplier of weapons to the Islamic militant group Hamas which controls the Gaza strip.
But Hamas representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan denied any connection to the convoy.
The US signed an agreement with Israel last January that calls for an international effort to stem the flow of weaponry and explosives to complement those of Egypt.
American and Israeli diplomats said at the time the agreement includes intelligence coordination to prevent arms from Iran from entering Gaza, maritime efforts to identify ships carrying weaponry, and the sharing of US and European technologies to discover and prevent the use of weapons-smuggling tunnels.
(ST)
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sudan in the news (Re: imad hassan)
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No proof now Israel behind raids: Sudan
Submitted 4 hrs 59 mins ago
KHARTOUM (AFP) - Sudan is investigating the possibility that Israel was behind deadly airstrikes this year against suspected Gaza-bound arms convoys, but so far it has found no proof, a government official said.
Foreign ministry spokesman Ali Sadiq said there were two separate bombing raids against smugglers in a remote desert area near the Red Sea town of Port Sudan in January and February, killing about 40 people.
“First we suspected it was the United States, but we received assurances it was not them, and we are investigating other possibilities, including Israel,” Sadiq told AFP.
The New York Times, citing unnamed US officials, reported on Friday that Israeli warplanes were behind the attack.
Two American officials who are privy to classified intelligence assessments added that Iran had been involved in the effort to smuggle weapons to Gaza, the newspaper reported.
Hamas on Friday denied that the alleged weapons convoys were destined for the Palestinian movement. “First of all we are not sure any convoy has been hit, but it is ironic to link these convoys to Hamas,” one of the movement’s leaders, Salah al-Bardawil, told AFP.
“Should it turn out that there were raids and a high number of people killed, this would mean Israel is seeking to use the opportunity to blame Hamas and hit Sudan,” he said. The fact that the Gaza Strip is not a neighbour of Sudan, with Egypt in between, “shows these are false claims,” he added.
An Israeli military spokesman has refused to confirm or deny involvement, saying only: “We are not in the habit of reacting to this sort of report.”
Israel fought a devastating 22-day war with Hamas in December and January, and has vowed to stop the flow of weapons into the Palestinian enclave.
“We operate in many places near and far, and carry out strikes in a manner that strengthens our deterrence,” Israel’s outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said after reports of the bombing raids emerged.
The New York Times said intelligence analysts noted that the strike on Sudan was consistent with other measures Israel had taken to secure its borders.
The pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat quoted Sudanese officials on Friday as saying the convoys were transporting Eritrean migrants.
News of the alleged raids surfaced as Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir flouted an international arrest warrant against him by going on a series of foreign trips.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-...l-behind-raids-Sudan
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sudan in the news (Re: imad hassan)
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Exclusive: Three Israeli Airstrikes Against Sudan
Email
Share March 27, 2009 7:47 PM
ABC News' Luis Martinez reports: Israel has conducted three military strikes against targets in Sudan since January in an effort to prevent what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments from reaching Hamas in the Gaza Strip, ABC News has learned.
Earlier this week, CBSNews.com was the first to report that Israel had conducted an airstrike in January against a convoy carrying weapons north into Egypt to be smuggled into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
But actually, since January, Israel has conducted a total of three military strikes against smugglers transporting what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments destined for Gaza, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The information matches recent reports from Sudanese officials of two airstrikes in the desert of eastern Sudan and the sinking of a ship in the Red Sea carrying weapons.
Jonathan Peled, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, would only say, "No comment," when contacted by ABC News on the matter.
Sudanese officials initially said this week that 39 people riding in 17 trucks were killed in a mid-January airstrike conducted by an unidentified aircraft in a desert area north of the Red Sea port of Port Sudan.
Today, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry representative said there were two separate bombing raids against smugglers in January and February. The Sudanese minister for highways was more specific, saying the airstrikes took place Jan. 27 and Feb. 11.
Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera also reported today a Sudanese official's claim that Israel had sunk a ship carrying weapons.
Israeli officials continue to refuse to confirm or deny the reports of airstrikes, but Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, “Israel hits every place it can in order to stop terror, near and far."
In January, the United States signed an agreement with Israel to stop arms smuggling into Gaza. At the time, Israel was conducting a military operation in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas' firing of rockets on Israeli towns.
Shortly after the agreement was signed, the U.S. Navy twice boarded a Cypriot ship in the Red Sea that was traveling from Iran to Syria and believed to be carrying Iranian weapons bound for Hamas.
After the boardings were inconclusive, the United States asked Egypt and Cyprus to search the vessel when it made ports of call. Cypriot authorities ultimately found material that could be used to manufacture munitions, which they described as a violation of the U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports
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imad hassan
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
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بنتيريست