Africa News Digest
UN Resolution Against Sudan Passes
The U.S.-drafted UN Security Council resolution that threatens Sudan with sanctions, passed July 30 by a vote of 13-0, with China and Pakistan abstaining.
Chinese UN Ambassador Wang Guangya, announcing China's abstention, said mandatory measures were "not helpful in resolving the situation in Darfur and may further complicate the situation." He stressed the importance of listening to and supporting the African Union (AU) as it attempted to resolve the Darfur dispute, according to the UN News Service July 30. His comments about the AU resonated with Ambassador Erwa's accusation that the U.S. had "hijacked" the AU initiative (see below).
Sudanese Ambassador Denounces UN Resolution
After passage of the resolution, Sudan's UN Ambassador, Elfatih Erwa, addressed the session July 31, identifying the Council's blindness in a powerful speech. He said the military rebellion in Darfur "occurred at a strange time that raised many questions," just as negotiations ending the war in the South were ending, according to SUNA's paraphrase of his address. The rebellion destroyed peaceful coexistence in Darfur, precipitating a humanitarian crisis. The government had an agreement with the UN (the joint communique with Kofi Annan) and was carrying out its obligations. The rebels ditched negotiations before they began, by setting preconditions.
Erwa asked, "Would Sudan have been safe from the Council even if there were no crisis in Darfur? Was the crisis a Trojan horse? The government was fully aware that some activists in the U.S. administration had worked to foster the rebellion. It had sound recordings of talks between rebel leaders and U.S. officials. The resolution had been determined by the U.S. Congress, before it had been discussed in the Council. Congress had decided that there was genocide, contrary to the African Union summit. While the resolution claimed to support efforts of the AU, it hijacked the issue of Darfur from the AU."
Sudan Rejects UN Security Council Resolution
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Usman Isma'il told the press after the Council of Ministers met Aug. 1, "The Council of Ministers condemned the [30-day] time period and views it to be illogical and difficult to implement, especially since the agreement we reached with the UN gave a 90-day implementation period. Sudan will commit to implement the agreement that it signed on July 3 with [UN Secretary General] Kofi Annan and will commit to the joint implementation mechanism," set up to monitor it.
Isma'il said the joint implementation mechanism, which brings together U.S. and Sudanese officials, will meet Aug. 2 to continue its work, Reuters reported.
Anglo-American Puppet Garang Helped Set Up Darfur Crisis
That is one of shocking revelations in the EIR's article (Aug. 6) on the current international assault against Sudan (see InDepth for complete article). Author Uwe Friesecke reports the following:
"The current crisis in Darfur is the result of active intervention from the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA), the South Sudanese rebel groupand its leader John Garangthat has, for the decades-long duration of the South Sudan conflict, worked for Anglo-American geopolitical interests. According to reports by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), the SPLA trained 1,500 Darfurians near Raja in western Bahr el-Ghazal in southwest Sudan in March of 2002. These were the core of the young military fighters attacking government installations in February of 2003. The first SLA political declaration, of March 13, 2003, was edited by exiled Darfur activists and SPLA leaders. The chairman of the SLA, Abdel Wahid, met officially with John Garang in Asmara, Eritrea, last April.
"Even though Garang denied that he was arming the SLA, according to the ICG reports, supplies for the SLA and JEM, besides coming through Chad, are being delivered by the SPLA from Uganda and Kenya. The SLA also has the support of Eritrea.
"This means that the crisis in Darfur was not due to a spontaneous uprising of one population group against the injustices of the government, or of the Africans against the Arabs, as claimed by most news media; the military operation of the SLA rebels in February of 2003 was already planned a year earlier, and is part of the broader strategy of the Anglo-American backers of John Garang and the SPLA. It also adds the threat of secession of Darfur from Sudan; the SPLA has been wielding the threat of secession of the South for the last 20 years. To underline this, the SLA rebels set as preconditions for negotiations with the government, the withdrawal of all government troops from Darfur, and they walked out of the meeting in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia's capital, two weeks ago, when the government refused it."
This revelation underscores the truth in the Sudanese government's assertion that it is being targetted as part of geopolitical scheme, for which the humanitarian concerns are simply window-dressing.
Russia Delivers MIGS to Sudan; U.S. Expresses 'Grave Concern'
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko July 23 defended the early delivery to Sudan of 10 MiG fighters and two trainers by the state-owned MiG enterprise, saying, "At issue here is the fulfillment of a contract ... signed with our Sudanese partners in 2001." The head of MiG, Valery Toryanin, had said, several days earlier, that the company had fulfilled its contract, and that further contracts could follow, according to Moscow Times July 26.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman was responding to U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, who told the press July 22 that if deliveries were taking place, "the U.S. would view this with grave concern," adding that Sudan is a "state sponsor of terrorism" and that the crisis in Darfur was "cause for strong opposition to any transfers to Sudan."
Egypt, Arab League Oppose Sanctions Against Sudan
Egypt said on July 28 that imposing sanctions on its southern neighbor Sudan would be damaging and should be avoided. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit also said Egypt shared concerns over the situation in Darfur.
The European Union on July 27 called on the United Nations to consider imposing sanctions on Sudan if it does not neutralize militias which have been in conflict in Darfur. But Aboul Gheit told reporters in Cairo, "While we understand the aspects of concern and we share the aspects of concern and the interest in ... getting Darfur out of this situation, we underline the importance of avoiding the concept of sanctions and threatening sanctions, because this will damage the situation and complicate aspects of this matter."
For its part, the Arab League said the UN should give Sudan time, to fulfill its commitments to end the conflict. In a statement, it hailed the efforts made by the Khartoum government, and proposed that the parties in conflict negotiate a solution. "The Sudan Liberation Movement and the Movement for Justice and Equality [need] to resume direct negotiations with the Sudanese government under the auspices of the African Union to find a comprehensive solution to the crisis in Darfur and restore stability to the region," it said.
U.S. Plays Word Games with UN Sanctions vs. Sudan
The U.S. dropped the word 'sanctions' from its draft resolution on Sudan, saying the new wording means the same thing, the New York Times reported July 30. Because seven of the 15 members of the UN Security Council objected to threatening Sudan with sanctions, the U.S. draft resolution was revised to eliminate the word, but continued to threaten "measures as provided for in Article 41 of the UN Charter." U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Danforth, waving the Charter in one hand, said this was "UN-speak for exactly the same thing," the Times said.
The measures that Article 41 refers to, which the Security Council may invoke, include complete or partial interruptions of economic relations and communications. The resolution must have nine votes to pass.
Powell Rules Out U.S. Military Force in Sudan
In its review of the Arab press of July 29, UPI stated, "The London-based as-Sharq al-Awsat reported on ... [U.S. Secretary of State Colin] Powell's pledge to Egyptian officials against using military force to resolve the Darfur crisis ... in which he said Washington was studying several other options." The newspaper "quoted informed American sources accompanying Powell in Cairo as saying that time would be given to Sudan to settle the dispute.... The sources added that Washington 'fears getting involved again in a struggle with the Arab world in Darfur after Iraq, and it would be very dangerous for U.S. interests in the Arab and the Islamic world.'" The paper quoted Egyptian sources as saying that Egyptian-Sudanese coordination had contributed to the position expressed by Powell.
Powell, in Kuwait, said some nations want Sudan to have more time "to deal with the security issue," the New York Times reported July 30. He told reporters, "There is a concern that we don't want to put so much on the Sudanese government, that causes internal problems that might make the situation worse. At the same time, everybody recognizes that pressure is needed or else we would not get any action at all."
UPI's review of the Arab press quotes the Lebanese as-Safir "as commenting that Powell's statement ruling out war on Sudan 'triggers fear that Washington is really considering using force against Khartoum' and referred to the American position on Iraq, which it said moved in the exact opposite direct of what Powell stated, expected and urged. The independent Lebanese paper argued that the difference between Powell's statements and ... plans of the George Bush Administration were 'based on the division of roles among American officials.' It said, therefore, one 'can speculate that Sudan could become the next ideal target for Washington.'... The paper said Powell's assurances... 'mean the people should start preparing shelters and digging trenches in Khartoum.'"
Eastern Sudan Rebels Appeal to U.S. for Help
In its roundup of the Arab press for July 29, UPI says that al-Khaleej, the United Arab Emirates daily, "reported that rebels in eastern Sudan had contacted U.S. officials and were preparing to 'expand' their confrontation with the Sudanese government. The pro-government paper quoted unnamed sources in ... Cairo, as saying that eastern Sudan will be 'the next game for the international community after Darfur.'... The sources said the eastern rebels 'have recently contacted American experts to brief them on the details of their region, demanding that the West adopt their cause, amid reports of the discovery of large amounts of gold, oil, and uranium in the mountains' of the region."
Al-Khaleej is apparently referring to the Sudanese Free Lions Association, an insurgent organization of the mostly nomadic Beja people who live along the Red Sea.
Khartoum Says It Will Release Hassan al-Turabi
The Sudanese government announced July 27 that it will release former leader Hassan al-Turabi, who was jailed in March for inciting rebels in the Darfur region, as soon as possible, Minister of Agriculture Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed reported. Majzoub is the minister responsible for Darfur. Al-Turabi is to be released along with other members of the Popular Congress, the opposition. Other members were released in early 2003 based on an April 8 ceasefire between the Darfur rebels and the Sudanese government.
Al-Turabi was credited on July 27 as having "trained all the present leaders of Sudan," by Le Figaro's African intelligence specialist, Pierre Prier, who also identified Al-Turabi as "more Muslim than Arab."
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