Thursday, January 17, 2008

Update: UNAMID negotiates with Sudanese Government

Brede Eschilman

Diplomatically:
On Tuesday, officials from UNAMID met with Sudanese government officials in Khartoum to negotiate terms for the operations of the force, including the composition of its troops.  UN and AU special envoys Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim arrived in Khartoum at the same time.

One rebel group, SLA Unity, has agreed to meet with envoys for preliminary unity talks among rebel factions in preparation for peace negotiations.  JEM has refused to participate in the talks, citing as reason the participation of smaller rebel groups.

On the ground:

Humanitarian workers have claimed two bombings near El Geneina in Darfur.  This, in combination with increased violence in the area from Chadian forces, has made El Geneina inaccessible to aid workers.

Amnesty International has claimed that the rebel faction led by Abdel Wahid Nur, founder of the SLA, has kidnapped 17 people due to the kidnapped persons’ support of the unity talks with the UN and AU special envoys.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Update: Sudanese troops fire on UN convoy

Christina Hueschen

On the ground – Sudanese soldiers fired on a convoy of UN peacekeepers in Darfur late Monday - the first attack on UNAMID troops since their mission began earlier this month.  The gunfire critically wounded a local driver and destroyed a fuel tanker; UN troops suffered no casualties.  One UN peacekeeper said the Sudanese troops apparently mistook the convoy for Darfur rebels, but the UN has condemned the attack, stating that the vehicles were clearly marked.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that the situation in Darfur is deteriorating, and the current peacekeeping force of 9,000 is not sufficient.  He called for “the rapid deployment of hybrid operations as agreed to the level of 26,000 (peacekeepers) as soon as possible.” Ban also announced that he plans to meet with Sudanese President al-Bashir in person at an upcoming AU summit in Addis-Ababa.

In diplomacy – The president of Chad, Idriss Deby, has threatened to send his armed forces into neighboring Sudan to destroy Chadian rebel fighters he accuses Khartoum of supporting.  He also announced that he may break off diplomatic ties with Sudan.

A group calling itself Ansar al-Tawhid has come forward to claim the New Year’s Day murder of US diplomat John Granville in Sudan.  In a statement posted on a militant website, the Ansar al-Tawhid group said the January 1 killing of USAID official Granville, 33, and his driver in Khartoum was in response to attempts to impose Christianity on Sudan.

In the activist movement – The Darfur Community Peace and Stability Fund, which supports programs to develop local livelihoods in Darfur alongside efforts to work for peace and security, received its first donation of funds – 350,000 euros from Germany – this week.  The fund represents a new approach to work for peace in Darfur, one that links political progress to community-based support for development.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Update: UN-AU force takes over for AU.

Simon Warren

On the ground-- In a symbolic move yesterday, the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur became a United Nations one, swapping their green berets for blue ones, and gaining the promise of more troops, better equipment, and greater security mandate. 20,000 troops and 6,000 police from several nations are planned to be sent to the country, however, there currently are only 9,000, mostly from the previous AU mandate. In the next two months, soldiers from Egypt, Pakistan, and Ethiopia, and police from Nepal are expected to be deployed. The force will be the largest peacekeeping operation in the world.

After a meeting with Libyan president Moammar Gadhafi, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak announced that his country would be sending 1,200 troops in the next few days.

In the ceremony yesterday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the gaps in the UNAMID deployment, particularly the lack of logistical support. The new force is asking for 24 helicopters to patrol the Dafur region, and no country has yet pledged the transportation or other units needed to protect civilians. He also went on to discuss the troubling role of the UN as a peacekeeping force, rather than a diplomatic force, and urged both sides to negotiate and avoid violence.

In diplomacy-- An American diplomat, John Granville, and his driver, Abdel Rahman Abbas, were shot an killed early Tuesday morning in Khartoum. Granville had been working as part of the US international development agency, and had been part of a team working to bring peace to South Sudan. A U.S. Embassy spokesman said it is “too early to tell” if Granville and Abbas’s deaths were terror or al-Qaida related, or if they were random killings. The Sudanese government says the act had no political or ideological connotations.

On Monday, US President George Bush signed a bill that would allow state and local governments as well as private businesses to divest from companies with large ties to Sudan’s mining, oil, or military industries. The White House had reservations in regard to the bill as it allows non-federal governments to have a hand in foreign policy, however, decided to sign the bill given its humanitarian value, and under the condition that it not interfere with federal policy.