In this issue:

Sudanese Peace Talks Collapse and War Resumes

SPLA Reneges on Peace Agreement in Dual Provocation

Washington Post Makes New Allegations of Sudan Links to al-Qaeda

Namibian President to European Union: "If You Don't Change, We Are Going To Get You"

Namibia Leadership Aggressive Against Colonialism

Business Daily in Johannesburg Sees Zimbabwe Conflict Spreading

From the Vol.1,No. 27 issue of Electronic Intelligence Weekly
Africa News Digest

Sudanese Peace Talks Collapse and War Resumes

Peace talks between the government of Sudan and the SPLA rebels broke down Sept. 2, after the latter succeeded in militarily conquering the town of Tobit, in the south, close to the Ugandan border. The capture of the strategically important town occurred Aug. 31, while "peace talks" were going on, which raises the question: Were the talks, de facto brokered by the U.S., merely camouflage for an escalation on the part of the rebels? The underlying truth, according to Executive Intelligence Review's sources, is that Washington has trashed its own Danforth strategy, again setting its SPLA pawn in motion for war.

Dr. Ghazi Salahuddin Attabani, adviser to the President for peace, and head of the Sudanese government delegation, left Machakos, where talks were being held, and Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Cairo, "The energies of the state and the Sudanese people will be directed towards military operations." Sudanese President Gen. Al Bashir announced a general mobilization, and the war is on. The SPLA deployed 9,000 troops to take Tobit, which indicates significant logistical back-up. The shift in the military situation dovetails with a renewed campaign against Sudan, now accused of harboring al-Qaeda financial assets.

SPLA Reneges on Peace Agreement in Dual Provocation

Not only did the SPLA seizure of the town of Torit near the Ugandan border force the government of Sudan to respond militarily, but the government also reports that the SPLA is now insisting on demands that backtrack from the peace proposals to which it agreed in the first round of talks, in July.

The SPLA now proposes a two-state solution, which is axiomatically at odds with the Danforth framework, and at odds with the July agreement, the Machakos Protocol, which called for a six-year period of unity, followed by a referendum on the question of one state or two. The SPLA also opposes having Khartoum as the capital if Shari'a (Islamic law) is the law there— the capital must not be under Shari'a, it says. This is also outside the Danforth framework and the Machakos Protocol. The government could never accept these two proposals, and the SPLA knows that.

Now, in response to (or in tandem with) the breakdown of the peace talks, elements in the U.S. Congress are looking to pass legislation that will impose sanctions against the government of Sudan, unless a firm peace agreement is reached with southern Sudan over the next six months, writes the London Financial Times. "But supporters of the bill, known as the Sudan Peace Act, have agreed to drop a controversial provision that would have prevented foreign oil companies that operate in Sudan from raising funds in U.S. capital markets."

The new legislation— which supporters are hoping will pass the Senate and House this month— would require the Bush Administration to block all international financial aid to Khartoum and to downgrade diplomatic relations if the peace deal is not finalized in six months. In addition, Congress would authorize up to $100 million annually in aid to the south if peace talks fail.

Washington Post Makes New Allegations of Sudan Links to al-Qaeda

Just as the U.S.-backed SPLA reignited the war in Sudan, and sources reported U.S. plans to partition the country, to seize its oil, the Washington Post has launched a new attack against the country, alleging that al-Qaeda and Taliban "financial officers" have smuggled large amounts of gold into Sudan. The story goes that the gold was shipped from Pakistan, via Iran and the UAE, to Sudan, "according to European, Pakistani and U.S. investigators."

The intelligence officials quoted in the Post "said the movement of gold ... highlighted three significant developments in the war on terrorism: the growing role of Iranian intelligence units allied with the country's hard-line clerics in protecting and aiding al-Qaeda; the potential reemergence of Sudan as a financial center favoring the organization; and the ability of the terrorist group to regenerate new sources of revenue despite the global crackdown on its finances." Russia was also brought into the equation, as one Victor Bout, an arms merchant with 50 planes in the UAE, is said to have transported the loot.

While the Washington Post sources of this allegation are not revealed, it is well known that Sudan has been on the target list of Israeli disinformation operatives, particularly those who are ensconced in U.S.-based neo-conservative think tanks and institutions. In 1998, Israeli intelligence operative Joseph Bodansky originated a disinformation report that Iraq and Yemen had stored chemical weapons in Sudan. Similar disinformation led to the August 1998 U.S. bombing of a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, where one maintenance man, an innocent civilian, was killed. The bombing was carried out because the plant was allegedly part of the Osama bin Laden terrorist network. The State Department later settled out of court with the pharmaceutical company's owner, rather than offer evidence that the company was linked to terrorism.

Namibian President to European Union: "If You Don't Change, We Are Going To Get You"

Western analysts, following the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, are no doubt scrambling to determine whether Namibian President Sam Nujoma's threats against Britain and the European Union might have substance (or a following). Nujoma's widely published remarks, speaking to 104 assembled heads of state including Tony Blair, were: "We here in southern Africa have one big problem, created by the British. The Honorable Tony Blair is here and he created the situation in Zimbabwe!"

Less publicized was a Sept. 2 BBC interview in which Nujoma finished the subject with: "European Union [you] must change your attitude towards Africa. We are no longer your slaves, neither [are we] any longer colonized by you. If Tony Blair's government, as he has done it, to mobilize the European Union to impose sanctions against Zimbabwe, we [in the] African Union can also do the same. We will mobilize the whole continent of Africa not to allow any raw material from Africa to Europe. Unless you change your attitude.... I just want to make it categorically clear that if the European Union does not lift the sanctions against Zimbabwe, the whole African Union will also impose economic sanctions against Europe. Either there is peace or war. And we don't want war. Because you, Europeans, you enslaved us, you colonized us and you continue to do the same. Change your attitude; if you don't change, we are going to get you."

On his return from the Johannesburg summit, Nujoma told reporters at Eros airport that he had "told" Western nations "that we don't need your money. We can develop ourselves."

The remarks by Nujoma, and equally harsh remarks made by Zimbabwe's President Mugabe, set the stage for a backlash of negative reaction that other government leaders received when they attempted to attack President Mugabe for his controversial land reform policy.

On Sept. 3, Secretary of State Colin Powell's reference to Zimbabwe and its "lack of respect for human rights and the rule of law" triggered pandemonium as delegates jeered, booed, slow-clapped and shouted down Powell, forcing him to stop speaking.

President Mugabe's actions in Johannesburg indicated he is clearly sticking to his guns— for which he received a lot of applause. As for President Nujoma, the summit reflected his decision to go on the offensive. News wires from Namibia late this summer have charted his policy direction of increased independence.

Namibia Leadership Aggressive Against Colonialism

Namibian President Sam Nujoma said at his party's conference Aug. 24-25: "The landless majority of our citizens are growing impatient by the day. If those arrogant white farmers and absentee landlords do not embrace the government's policy of willing-buyer, willing-seller now, it will be too late tomorrow." The law in Namibia states that the government may expropriate under-utilized commercial farms with due compensation.

*Namibian Minister of Agriculture Helmut Angula announced in a statement in mid-August, that the government would allow farmers to export meat "on the hoof" for another 12 months only. Nujoma promoted the idea that all livestock be slaughtered locally, in order to add value and provide jobs for Namibians.

*On Aug. 21, as he opened the third Swapo Congress in Windhoek, Nujoma insisted that the recently launched African Union and its economic implementation arm, NEPAD, need to ensure that "we manufacture and produce value-added goods for the purpose of export to other countries. We must ensure that in the 21st century, African resources are utilized for the benefit of the African people."

*In a policy document called the 2002-2007 Country Support Strategy Paper, issued in August 2002, the European Union said, as published in The Namibian in mid-August, that it was greatly concerned about human rights in Namibia. The EU named the Namibian government's alleged verbal assaults on the judiciary, and its alleged assault on the press reflected in its ban on public funds being used to purchase or place advertisements in the daily The Namibian; and the EU charged the country discriminated against foreigners. Following the release of this report, President Nujoma personally assumed responsibility for the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, and started broadcasting indigenous-language news bulletins immediately after the main English-language bulletin.

*A significant Cabinet reshuffle in August— which included replacing the Prime Minister with the former Foreign Minister, Theo-Ben Gurirab— has the business community on edge.

Business Daily in Johannesburg Sees Zimbabwe Conflict Spreading

South African Business Daily calls on Zimbabwe's white farmers to recognize reality and get out. The editorial of Aug. 26 does not say, "Get out before the crisis does damage to South Africa," but it comes close, and astute readers will read between the lines. It says in part:

"One of the mysteries of the Zimbabwe saga, now hurtling towards its catastrophic climax, is why the white farmers still sit passively, like sheep, on their expropriated farms, waiting for somebody to deliver them from ethnic cleansing [sic].... [Perhaps] they are misled by their vociferous but uninfluential local [South African] supporters to believe South Africa will throw the place into economic collapse and social disorder by cutting off the electricity.... Local whites respond with enraged declamations about justice and property rights that never occurred to most of them when their own government was stealing land. It is sound and fury, signifying nothing. Some kindly person should tell the farmers that the game is up...."

Then, having told Zimbabwe's white farmers to get out and get out now, the editorial addresses the cognate problem in South Africa:

"White South Africans argue, some in genuine conviction, that if [South African President Thabo] Mbeki refuses to berate Mugabe, it proves he himself will soon be nationalizing the mines and the banks, as well as the farms. The argument is silly, but if you truly believe it, take heed of what happened to Zimbabwean farmers who sat complacently, waiting for the Great White Queen Across the Sea to send a warship. The time to act is now.... If you plan to leave, go quickly, but if you plan to stay here, try to learn some lessons from Zimbabwe."

Predicting a spillover to South Africa, the paper says, "Above all, don't take sides in Zimbabwe, lest you prompt the landless majority of your countrymen to take the other side, and so import Zimbabwe's racial conflict into this country."

All rights reserved © 2002 EIRNS