Friday, October 19, 2007

Daily Update: Militia attacks Kalma camp

Simon Warren

On the Ground
According to Reuters Africa report, government-backed militias have attacked the Kalma refugee camp outside the capital of South Darfur. Witnesses say that six people were killed and fourteen injured today. In addition, some fifty shacks were burnt down. The UN has confirmed reports of shooting in the camps, but has not said who is responsible. The camp is home to roughly 90,000 people, and has been raided often in the past. Some reports said that the most recent raids have been happening off and on for the past month. Sudanese officials have made no comment, but were reportedly looking for six people they meant to arrest.

Three drivers for the World Food Programme have been killed in the past four days. Last Friday, one was shot on his way from southern Darfur to the north, and two more were shot and killed on Tuesday. Elsewhere in Africa, the top official of the WFP in Somalia was arrested by the government of that country. (From ABC News)

In diplomacy- Talks between the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Sudanese government finished without resolution this week, however, may open again next week. The SPLM had demanded a reshuffle of its cabinet ministers, and this was allowed by the government in Khartoum. SPLM chairman Salva Kiir will talk with Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki in Khartoum tommorrow and then go to Jonglei for a peace conference.

On Wednesday a US Senate panel passed a bill that would give greater protection to individuals and companies that remove investments from Sudan. The bill wll now go to the Senate floor.

Similarly, Warren Buffet sold his last remaining shares in PetroChina, a state-owned oil company, which is the single largest shareholder in Sudan’s oil industry. While Buffet says that his decision was based solely on the increase of PetroChina stock’s value, the withdrawal of the company’s largest foreign stockholder comes a blow to the company.

In the activist movement-- The Save Darfur Coalition has sent a letter to Chinese president Hu Jintao, demanding that China stop arming the Sudanese government and militias. The letter came at a time when China is under increasing international scrutiny, as it will be hosting the Olypmics this summer and has pledged to uphold human rights.