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 دارفور .. Save Darfur Coalition
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New clashes break out in Darfur
Sudan's army and rebels have accused each other of staging attacks in the Darfur region, days after peacekeepers said security had improved.
Rebels accused government forces of using helicopters and planes to bomb villages while the army said the rebels had killed four soldiers.
A helicopter crashed in Darfur during bad weather with the deaths of 19 military personnel, a statement said.
More than 2m people have fled their homes in two years of conflict.
'High alert'
Four villages have been bombed since Friday, one of which was completely destroyed, Sudan Liberation Movement spokesman Mahjoub Hussein told the AFP news agency.
"Our movement is in a state of high alert and we will blame the government for any instability in the area," he said.
Armed forces spokesman Gen Abbas Abdel Rahman Khalifa said the army had not attacked villages, only rebel camps, after armed guards with a civilian convoy were attacked on the road between Darfur's two biggest towns, al-Fashir and Nyala. African Union peacekeepers confirmed the attack on the convoy and said they were investigating the incidents.
Later, a military statement said the M-17 helicopter had crashed in the Damayat region west of Nyala after several failed attempts to land.
It said the crew had been on an "administrative" mission.
Peace talks between the two sides are due to resume next month.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged Khartoum to end the violence.
Ms Rice, who visited Sudan last week, said the government had a "credibility problem" regarding Darfur and demanded "action not words" to stop the violence.
The US has described the violence in Darfur as genocide.
Sudan denies backing the Janjaweed militias, accused of widespread atrocities.
Last week, the commander of the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, Festus Okonkwo, told the BBC that there had been no major attacks in the region since January and that there had also been a reduction in attacks on villages.
But US aid official Andrew Natsios said this was chiefly because there were no villages left to burn down.
25 July, 2005
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Re: دارفور .. Save Darfur Coalition (Re: hamid hajer)
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By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Violence in Sudan's Darfur region has diminished greatly over the past year, partly because militia have run out of targets after razing countless villages, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.
His report to the U.N. Security Council, obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, said active combat had been replaced by intimidation and fear, perpetuated by an ever-present militia when homeless people leave refugee camps.
"The decrease in attacks on civilians may also be a function of a reduced number of targets," Annan said. "So many villages have been destroyed since the war began that there are now fewer locations for militia to strike."
At least 180,000 people in Darfur have died from violence, hunger and disease and 2 million have been driven out of their homes, most into squalid camps or neighboring Chad.
The Darfur conflict, in Sudan's west, broke out in early 2003 after rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government, complaining of discrimination
Khartoum is accused by the United Nations and humanitarian groups of retaliating by arming local Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, who pillaged, killed and raped. It has denied the charge.
The U.N. report said that in some areas of Darfur, police were guarding the perimeter of the camps and escorting women and girls when they leave to collect firewood. But it said police were still indifferent to criminal complaints and some had recruited Janjaweed into their ranks.
Annan urged Khartoum to disarm the Janjaweed and other armed groups but said government officials made it known that that would begin only after a political settlement is reached.
100 DEATHS A MONTH
Annan's observations in the 16-page report are similar to ones made on Wednesday by Andrew Natsios, the top U.S. aid official, who said the drop in casualties was largely because most villages had already been razed.
On a visit to Sudan with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Natsios said he also suspected the Sudanese government still supported militia in Darfur despite the recent installment of a new government with former southern rebels.
The U.N. report, prepared by Jan Pronk, Annan's special envoy in Sudan, said the number of confirmed deaths due to violence had not exceeded 100 a month since January when the figure was 300 to 350 people.
A reduction in deaths over the past year was attributed to monitoring by an African Union force as well as actions by the Sudanese government.
Despite some successful talks among rebels and the government, led by Nigeria, divisions during negotiations led to clashes on the ground among rebel groups.
While their actions on the ground had have less impact on civilians than those government forces of the Janjaweed, they have frequently hindered relief as well as patrols by the Africa Union, the report said.
In Khartoum, the new Government of National Unity presented a new opportunity to engage parties at the negotiating table and move the political process forward.
But Annan said that international political pressure on all parties to enter serious and sustained talked was uncoordinated and often ineffective.
He also said gains made by humanitarian groups remained precarious in the absence of a political agreement to end the fighting. He feared international assistance would taper off if the violence continued with no end in sight
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Re: دارفور .. Save Darfur Coalition (Re: hamid hajer)
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Rice says Sudan has credibility problem on Darfur
ABO SHOUK, Sudan (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday told Sudan's president his government had a "credibility problem" on the issue of Darfur and she wanted to see "actions not words."
In a meeting marred by scuffles involving Rice's aides and Sudanese security officials, Rice told President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to stop violence, especially against women, in the remote western region of his country
"I said to the Sudanese government that they had a credibility problem with the international community I have said; actions not words,"' Rice said in a round of interviews with journalists at a Darfur refugee camp.
A senior U.S. official traveling with Rice said the secretary of state told Sudanese officials the situation in Darfur was getting in the way of improved relations.
"On Darfur, her message was this is the obstacle to normalization," the official, who did not want to be named, told journalists traveling with Rice
The official said Bashir's priority was for the United States to lift sanctions on Sudan, which Washington says is a state sponsor of terror. Sudan hosted al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the 1990s
On Wednesday, Rice held out the possibility of sending an ambassador to Sudan for the first time since 1997, in a sign of improving ties after the installation of a new government on July 9 which included former rebels from the country's south
A peace deal earlier this year ended the southern civil war, which had lasted more than two decades and killed 2 million people
UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE"
Before arriving in Khartoum early on Thursday morning, Rice said she would seek to strike a balance between helping consolidate the coalition peace government and holding Sudanese accountable for the violence in Darfur.
Rice said she was particularly concerned women were still being raped in the conflict
"Welcome, welcome Condoleezza," sang scores of children who greeted Rice when she visited the northern Darfur Abo Shouk camp, home to some 50,000 people.
After talking to women who were victims of abuse, Rice said: "The stories are unbelievable but true ... we have got to have a better response (from the Sudanese government)."
Rebels in Darfur took up arms against the government in early 2003, accusing Khartoum of marginalising the arid province and discriminating against non-Arab settled communities in favor of Arab nomads
The violence, which abated this year, has driven some 2 million people from their homes and killed tens of thousands
Andrew Natsios, a top U.S. aid official with Rice, said the dip was largely because most villages had already been razed
He said he suspected the government was still giving material support to the militia. But he said the government no longer sent gunships to assist militia attacks
At the camp, Rice said the United States could loosen some of its sanctions after Sudanese officials told her the measures hindered efforts to move people and aid around the country
"Obviously, if there is a case on the humanitarian side we would be willing to look at it," she said
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Re: دارفور .. Save Darfur Coalition (Re: hamid hajer)
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Sunday, July 24, 2005; Page B03
ABU SHOUK, Sudan
The crisis in Western Sudan's Darfur region, where African rebel groups have battled militia supported by the Arab-led government since 2003, has left as many as 400,000 people dead and about 2 million homeless. Many of the displaced have been herded into more than 100 camps across the region, an area the size of France.
One of these camp keeps getting high-level American visitors. It's called Abu Shouk. It's conveniently located near the airport at El Fasher, which has a landing strip long enough to accommodate the Boeing 757 jet used by the U.S. secretary of state. A sign on the gate to the airport says it all: "Very Important Persons Only."
The camp has so many visitors that a small mall of ersatz camp life, picture-ready for when visitors arrive, has been created in a compound of seven thatched huts. To demonstrate how they can earn a living, women make pasta on Italian machines in one hut. In another, a few dozen children and adults are taught folklore by a teacher scrawling Arabic on a chalkboard. The Khartoum government has even been known to clear out troublemakers before dignitaries arrive, replacing them with well-dressed substitutes.
Colin L. Powell, then secretary of state, made the first pilgrimage here in 2004, when the camp held 40,000 people in makeshift tents. Now it holds about double that number, in increasingly permanent-looking brick homes. I'm the only reporter to have been to the camp with three top officials -- Powell, Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick and, this past week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. But while the senior officials change, there's a certain sameness to the events at this perennial photo-op location -- the same visuals, same points, same war.
Before her arrival at Abu Shouk, Rice defended the Bush administration's response to the situation in Darfur as more than campaign-style optics. She said that U.S. efforts had averted a humanitarian disaster, helped bolster the number of African Union troops monitoring the region and led to a peace deal for a separate north-south conflict that could serve as a model for Darfur. During her visit, Rice met privately with women who had been raped by Sudanese militia, attempting to draw attention to that issue.
It's true that sometimes even superficial events can have an impact. Aid workers said Powell's brief stop helped force the Sudanese government to end restrictions on aid convoys. But the sameness of these events underscores how they are designed mainly for the pictures and images. Policy implementation is another matter.
For the people who live here, a photo op just doesn't do much to end the suffering.
-- Glenn Kessler, Washington Post Staff Writer
COLIN L. POWELL
Date of visit: June 30, 2004
Arrival vehicle: An armored SUV with District plates
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Re: دارفور .. Save Darfur Coalition (Re: hamid hajer)
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Posted to the web July 22, 2005
Washington, DC
Africa Action today acknowledged the leadership asserted by Congress one year ago, when it unanimously declared that genocide was taking place in Darfur, Sudan, but criticized the legislative branch for its failure to take sufficiently strong action since that time to provide protection to the people of Darfur.
Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said, "On the one-year anniversary of this critical Congressional statement on Darfur, the time for legislation is over, and the time for action is now. Legislative action on Darfur has failed to build on the strong statement of bipartisan support shown on this date last year. Congress has focused on sanctions and divestment, which are insufficient to stop genocide, and it has let the Administration off the hook for its appalling apathy on this crisis."
Africa Action notes that numerous Members of Congress have traveled to Darfur over the past year, and the most committed among them have participated in various public actions, as well as public education through the media. Congressional appropriations have yielded important humanitarian assistance and financial support for the African Union observer mission in Darfur. But the organization emphasizes that Congressional leadership has failed to exert strong pressure on the Bush Administration to take urgent action at the international level on the most immediate priority - protecting the people of Darfur.
Ann-Louise Colgan, Director of Policy Analysis & Communications at Africa Action, said, "Last July, Congress demonstrated moral leadership in declaring genocide in Darfur, and its unanimous statement generated political pressure on the White House to recognize this genocide on September 9, 2004. Since this time, Congressional debates have stalled over weak pieces of legislation, and critical momentum has been lost. The genocide has continued, more than 400,000 lives have been lost, and the U.S. has failed to take action to protect civilians in Darfur."
Marie Clarke Brill, Director of Public Education & Mobilization at Africa Action, said, "People from across the U.S. have been outraged by the failure of their Members of Congress to follow last July's genocide declaration with the determined action necessary to help end this crisis and provide protection to people in Darfur. Recognizing the unwillingness of Congress to push President Bush, concerned Americans are taking action in growing numbers to pressure the Administration directly to support an urgent humanitarian intervention to stop genocide in Darfur."
Last July's Congressional action on Darfur was itself the result of leadership within the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which joined with Africa Action in a petition drive and press briefing in June 2004 to call on then-Secretary of State Powell to acknowledge the genocide in Darfur. Upon his return from Darfur, Powell met with the CBC to receive more than 30,000 signatures on this petition, and the State Department conducted its own study into the crisis in Darfur. The political pressure generated by Congress and thousands of Americans in that petition, plus the overwhelming evidence on the ground, left the Administration with no alternative but to declare genocide was taking place in Darfur on September 9, 2004 - almost 11 months ago.
One year on, Africa Action is running another petition drive, gathering 400,000 signatures for a message to President Bush, demanding urgent action to stop the genocide in Darfur. The petition demands the President take every step necessary to achieve a multinational humanitarian intervention in Darfur in support of the African Union troops with a mandate to protect civilians. Africa Action will feature the petition in a major event outside the White House on September 9, 2005, the one-year anniversary of the Bush Administration's recognition of the genocide in Darfur
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Re: دارفور .. Save Darfur Coalition (Re: hamid hajer)
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NCC, NGOs call for Security Council action on Darfur
Friday July 22nd, 2005 17:21
National Council of Churches
Press Release
FRENCH, BRITISH, AMERICAN GROUPS URGE THEIR NATIONS TO SPONSOR UN RESOLUTION TO ENFORCE PEACE IN DARFUR
WASHINGTON, July 22, 2005 -- Leading non-governmental organizations in the United States, France and Great Britain are urging their countries to immediately sponsor a United Nations Security Council resolution that will mandate peace enforcement operations in Darfur, Sudan.
"This joint declaration is important because it recognizes the influence that the US, the UK and France can have in urging the international community to get involved in stopping the genocide in Darfur," said Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, Associate General Secretary of the National Council of Churches USA for International Affairs and Peace
Estimates for Darfuri Africans killed since February 2003, range from 180,000 to 400,000. Over 2.5 million have been displaced and remain at mortal risk today, facing continued violence, malnutrition and disease
"Specific steps need to be taken, and one is to get all of the Security Council members to act on behalf of the victims in Darfur," Kireopoulos said. "Peacekeeping forces are needed to protect the civilians in this crisis, and only a concerted effort by those who have influence can actually make it happen
"As three of the permanent five members, the governments of the USA, France and the United Kingdom have significant influence at the UN Security Council," declares the joint statement issued July 21 by the Save Darfur Coalition (U.S.), of which the NCC is a member; Collectif Urgence Darfour (France); and Protect Darfur (U.K.)
"We therefore call on our governments to show leadership and immediately sponsor a resolution at the UN Security Council that will mandate peace enforcement operations in Darfur," the statement continues. "Action now, though two years into the genocidal crisis, will go down in history to their credit. Failure to act, however, would go down in history to their shame -- and rank alongside the failure of previous governments to prevent mass murder in Bosnia and genocide in Rwanda. Now is the time to show that lessons have been learned, not by words alone but by actions
Organizers of the effort hope to spur the UN Security Council to act
"It is imperative that the UN Security Council give a mandate, through a new resolution, for the protection of Darfur's African population through peace enforcement in Darfur," the statement says. "The Government of Sudan bears primary responsibility for their protection, but has failed to provide it. As a matter of urgency, this must now become an international responsibility
The National Council of Churches USA and its partners in the Save Darfur Coalition are seeking specific outcomes to alleviate the situation in Darfur, Kireopoulos explained
"The coalition is seeking the expansion of the African Union's mandate, and thus increase the number of African Union forces, to protect civilians," Kireopoulos said. "The U.S. effort is critical to influencing this outcome. American, British and French support is critical for the UN Security Council resolution
The coalition is also seeking the appointment of a U.S. special independent envoy to work on this issue and is calling upon President Bush to emphasize the issue in his public statements.
The coalition is also seeking the imposition of various measures to ensure Sudanese cooperation in ending the genocide, such as travel and asset sanctions, and logistical support for the African Union, Kireopoulos noted
The full text of the NGO statement is below
Joint call on US, UK and France to sponsor a resolution for peace enforcement in Darfur
It is imperative that the UN Security Council give a mandate, through a new resolution, for the protection of Darfur's African population through peace enforcement in Darfur. The Government of Sudan bears primary responsibility for their protection, but has failed to provide it. As a matter of urgency, this must now become an international responsibility
The African Union's great effort in Darfur is constrained by its mandate, which it is reluctant to extend. Even if the AU had many more troops in Darfur, the Janjaweed militia would need to be neutralized before people can return home safely to plant their crops. The UN Security Council can help the African Union by providing a broad mandate which will allow it to enforce the peace
As three of the permanent five members, the governments of the USA, France and the United Kingdom have significant influence at the UN Security Council. Our governments are also all party to the Stockholm Declaration 2004, which commits its signatories to 'protect groups identified as potential victims of genocide, mass murder and ethnic cleansing
We therefore call on our governments to show leadership and immediately sponsor a resolution at the UN Security Council that will mandate peace enforcement operations in Darfur. Action now, though two years into the genocidal crisis, will go down in history to their credit. Failure to act, however, would go down in history to their shame -- and rank alongside the failure of previous governments to prevent mass murder in Bosnia and genocide in Rwanda. Now is the time to show that lessons have been learned, not by words alone but by actions
The National Council of Churches is composed of 36 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historic African American and peace communions representing 45 million Christians in 100,000 local congregations in the United States
Collectif Urgence Darfour was created in February 2005 to initiate a Darfur Campaign as the plight of the Darfur people had been completely ignored so far by French public opinion. It now includes over 80 organizations. It has launched a Call for Action supported by a large number of leading personalities, scholars, humanitarian activists, singers, actors and politicians. A big public Meeting took place in Paris on April 21st and a Rally was organized on May 15th outside Sudan embassy
Protect Darfur is a campaign coordinated by the Aegis Trust, which addresses causes and consequences of genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2000, Aegis developed from the work of the UK Holocaust Centre (opened 1995). It is also responsible for the Kigali Memorial Centre in Rwanda (opened 2004). It works closely with survivors, educationalists, academics and policy makers in areas relating to genocide education, research and prevention
The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 130 faith-based, humanitarian and human rights organizations. Its mission is to raise public awareness and to mobilize an effective unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of 2.5 million people in the Darfur region
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hamid hajer
محمدين محمد اسحق
Ahmed Mohamedain
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست