Africa Theater

Arab refugees flee Chad —into Darfur?

Sudan has asked a UN team to travel to Darfur to evaluate the status and needs of 45,000 men, women and children who have crossed over from Chad in the last three months. Gathered in camps near the Sudanese border post of Foro Baranga, West Darfur, they appear to be Arab nomads, but it is not clear if they are refugees fleeing conflict in Chad. "The Sudanese government has asked us to provide assistance," UNHCR spokeswoman Helene Caux told Reuters in Geneva. "At this point we don't know who they are and we need more information—are they refugees or nomads, have some been fighters in Chad? We have to determine their status."

China to send military engineers to Darfur?

The Chinese foreign ministry has announced the appointment of a new special representative to Africa and confirmed plans to send 275 military engineers for UN peacekeeping operations. The move comes just as China is coming under international criticism for its economic and military support of the Sudanese regime. In an open letter to President Hu Jintao earlier this week, 108 US congressmen warned that the 2008 Beijing Olympics could be marred by protests if there was no change in the host nation's position on Sudan. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu refuted the charges, saying China's non-confrontational approach to Sudan is yielding results: "We hope to solve the issue by political means, so we are ready to make joint efforts with the international community, including the US." She said the new special representative on African affairs, Liu Guijin, would focus on solving the Darfur crisis. (The Guardian, May 11)

Somali pirates strike again

Pirates off Somalia's coast have hijacked a cargo ship headed for Mogadishu, the third attack since January. Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the Mombasa-based Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), said the UAE-registered freighter was seized and taken to Hobyo, a well-known pirate base about 400 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu. The vessel, carrying cargo for Somali traders, had originated in Dubai. Piracy continues unabated off Somalia, even as a degree of stability has come to Mogadishu in recent weeks. (Xinhua, IOL, May 10)

Somalia: transition government bans hijab

Transitional government security forces in Somalia have begun seizing and burning women's face veils in Mogadishu in an attempt to stop insurgents disguising themselves in order to carry out attacks. When the city was under the control of the Islamic Courts Union in the second half of 2006, women were ordered to cover their heads; now they are being ordered not to. Police spokesman Ali Nur told Reuters: "Every policeman and government soldier has orders to confiscate veils from veiled women." (AlJazeera, May 9)

Amnesty: China supplies arms for Darfur conflict

From Amnesty International, May 8:

Arms transfers to Sudan fuel serious human rights violations

Arms, ammunition and related equipment are still being transferred to Darfur in the west of Sudan for military operations. Extremely serious violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law are being committed by the Sudanese government, the government-backed Janjawid militias and armed opposition groups in these operations.

Darfur one year after "peace accords": worse than ever

Celebrations were held May 5 at the Gereida displaced persons camp in Darfur, to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of the "Darfur Peace Agreement" (DPA). Significantly, the camp is controlled by the Minni Menawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), the only rebel group to sign the DPA. The faction's leadership had much to celebrate. Menawi was made an adviser to Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and moved into a plush Khartoum residence next door to the British Embassy. At the time of the signing last year, diplomats were also celebrating. The UK's international development secretary Hilary Benn heralded the deal as a "very significant agreement which means that the process of bringing peace to Darfur can now begin." But instead, the security situation across Darfur has worsened and the conflict has broadened.

Sudan-Chad co-operation over Darfur?

Sudan and Chad are to co-operate with the African Union (AU) and UN in an effort to stabilize the troubled Darfur region. As part of the agreement signed in Saudi Arabia, a joint border force is to be created and observers assigned to the region, while both parties have also pledged not to aid one another's dissident movements. [BBC, May 4]

Madagascar: new terror war front?

Receiving virtually no international coverage, this past weekend saw an outburst of ethnic violence in Madagascar, with homes and shops of the Indo-Pakistani immigrant community looted in the southwest coastal town of Toliara. A serious escalation is reported April 30 in the Madagascar Tribune—a grisly killing and ritual desecration at a mosque in Ankatso, near the capital Antananarivo. The body of the 20-year-old student was found in the mosque on the morning of April 29, the day after the Toliara violence. His blood had apprently been intentionally spilled around the mosque's interior, and the Koran was torn. The Tribune writes that following this development, and the slaying of a brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden in Madagascar earlier this year, the island nation "risks being placed on the black-list of Muslim extremists."

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