Darfur attack kills peacekeepers

AU soldier in El Fasher, Sudan - photo 5 September
The African Union mission has been in Darfur since 2003

A troubled mission
An attack on an African Union army base in the Sudanese region of Darfur has killed at least 10 peacekeepers.

Thirty vehicles overran the base, and 50 AU soldiers were missing and seven seriously injured. Vehicles and property were looted or vandalised.

Rebel sources told the BBC that the raiders were members of breakaway factions from two rebel groups.

The casualties were the most serious suffered by the AU mission since it arrived in 2003, an AU statement said.

AU-UN Joint Special Representative Rodolphe Adada said he was profoundly shocked and appalled by the "outrageous and deliberate" attack, which happened on Saturday evening at a base in Haskanita town.

BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says the fighting comes at a particularly unfortunate moment, with discussions about to take place between the AU and UN to pave the way for peace talks between government and rebels.

Prospects of an agreement at the talks are starting to look bleak, he says.

'Unconscionable crime'

A spokesman for the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) condemned the attack, saying it was carried out by three dissident commanders from his own movement, in conjunction with one of the groups that broke from the Sudan Liberation Army.

"It's a group which has been expelled," Ibrahim Jalil said.

"They're looking for equipment - vehicles and weapons. They couldn't get these within JEM, and they don't have the capability to fight government forces. They found the AU an easy target."

Sources told the BBC that the attackers made off with all the weapons and vehicles they were able to take, and burned the vehicles that remained.

The AU statement described the attackers as "a large and organised group of heavily armed men", but did not say whether they were rebels or government troops.

"It is staggering to imagine what could possibly have been the intentions of those who perpetrated this wanton and unprovoked act," Mr Adada said.

"Not only was it a flagrant violation of the ceasefire but an unconscionable crime that breaks every convention and norm of international peacekeeping."

About 7,000 African Union troops are deployed in Darfur on a limited mandate.

The UN Security Council has approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force to expand the current AU force, which has been struggling to protect civilians.

Mission to Sudan

The attack came as South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu was expected in Sudan, in the latest initiative to bring peace to Darfur.

The archbishop is leading a delegation that includes former UN special envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi, US ex-President Jimmy Carter, and Graca Machel, a children's rights advocate and the wife of Nelson Mandela.

The group of retired elder statesmen came together at Mr Mandela's invitation to find ways to tackle some of the world's toughest problems, such as HIV-Aids, poverty and conflict.

The BBC's Amber Henshaw in Khartoum says it is no coincidence that Darfur is the focus of the group's first mission.

At least 200,000 people have died and some 2m have been forced from their homes during the four-year conflict.

The delegation will meet President Omar al-Bashir and others in Khartoum before travelling to Juba, capital of southern Sudan.

They will then travel to Darfur where they will meet community leaders and displaced people living in camps.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7020596.stm

Not cool.

Darfur activists urge China to stop arming Sudan
18 Oct 2007 20:47:45 GMT
Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - International activists working to end the conflict in Darfur called on Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday to stop selling weapons to Sudan and press Khartoum to admit U.N. peacekeepers.

The letter to Hu by the Save Darfur Coalition was accompanied by a new study that accused China of "trying to have it both ways" by appearing to help ease the Darfur crisis to avoid trouble before the 2008 Beijing Olympics while continuing to arm and enrich the Khartoum government.

"The balance of Chinese engagement in Sudan, Mr President, does not clearly prioritize ending the horrific and destabilizing conflict in Darfur, and indeed can still more easily be assessed to the contrary," said the letter.

The coalition, an umbrella group of 180 religious and human rights groups, applauded China's recent decision to help international efforts to resolve the Darfur crisis. But it said Beijing's stance is "ambiguous and sends mixed messages".

"It is entirely plausible to view China's positive steps toward resolving the Darfur crisis primarily as an effort to deflect criticism directed against your country as you prepare to host the Olympic Games next summer, and not as sincere," said the letter to Hu. "We wish to believe differently."

International experts say some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have fled their homes in Darfur since 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government, which in turn mobilized predominantly Arab militias to crush the revolt.

Khartoum, which long resisted demands for a U.N. force, says only 9,000 are dead and the crisis has been exaggerated.

China has supported the Sudan government's version of events, but has advised Khartoum to cooperate with U.N. efforts to send peacekeepers and name a special envoy for Darfur.
At the same, however, China increased trade with Sudan 124 percent in the first six months of this year compared to 2006, according to Chinese statistics.

China is Sudan's biggest arms supplier following a 25-fold leap in arms sales between 2002 and 2005 and the bilateral military relationship "continues unabated and may even be expanding," the study said.

"On balance, China's engagement in efforts to end the Darfur conflict appears modest and is outweighed by its much deeper, unconditioned economic, military and diplomatic support for Sudan's government," said the report.

The letter urged China to push for the swift deployment of U.N. peacekeepers, contribute helicopters and heavy transport vehicles to the U.N. mission, and suspend all arms sales and military aid to Sudan until atrocities have ended.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18408