New Attacks in West Darfur

On the ground – Sudan’s armed forces launched an offensive in West Darfur on February 8 with the supposed aim of clearing out rebel fighters from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). But residents of the targeted towns Abu Surouj, Suleia and Sirba, and surrounding villages, say the rebels had left days before the attacks.  The violence was the region’s worst in months and affected up to 60,000 Darfuris, 12,000 of whom fled into Chad.  Locals say more than 100 civilians were killed.

Today, Sudan’s army clashed again with Darfur rebels in the mountainous Jabel Moun area.  The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) withdrew a team caring for refugees from the Chad/Darfur border after today’s fresh aerial bombing.

In diplomacy – American President George W. Bush paid somber homage today to the estimated 800,000 killed in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.  President Bush, who is currently on a five-country Africa tour, urged global action to end the bloodshed in Sudan’s Darfur region “once and for all.” He called again for a “robust” UN/African Union peacekeeping force Darfur, and insisted that China must act “collaboratively” on efforts to end violence there.

The president of Chad declared a 15-day nationwide state of emergency on Thursday.  President Idriss Deby said the emergency powers, which include a night-time curfew and controls on the movement of vehicles, are needed to restore order after the recent coup attempt in the capital.

In the activist movement – US film director Steven Spielberg withdrew last week as an artistic adviser for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.  In a statement, he accused China of not doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the “continuing human suffering” in western Darfur.