2007

Monday 10 December 2007 Delay, Obstruction and Darfur
The world’s leaders say they care desperately about Darfur’s suffering, until they get distracted.

Peace talks get underway Frustrated are the peacemakers Oct 27th 2007

Monday 29 October 2007
see Beryl P. Wajsman on CTV

October 27, 2007 Video Archbishop Desmond Tutu talks to Sir David Frost about his recent visit to Darfur and why he thinks African leaders should be hanging their heads in shame over Zimbabwe.

Monday 15 October 2007 MONTREAL: DARFUR WARNING HEARD AT GENOCIDE CONFERENCE
A former United Nations official says that prospects to end the violent conflict in Sudan's Darfur region remain bleak. Juan Mendes acted for three years as the U.N.'s special adviser on preventing genocide. At a three-day international genocide conference in Montreal, Mr. Mendes said that there is less humanitarian aid available today for Darfur, and more people in need of help. Many delegates accused Sudan's government of defying international efforts to end the conflict. It's estimated that 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and some two million others have been displaced. The U.N. plans to deploy 26,000 troops to Darfur to bolster an ineffectual African Union force there.

The UN Secretary-General’s trip to meet one-on-one with African leaders to try to find an end to the crisis in Darfur gives some hope, but in our start-of-the-new-year impatience, we remain dismayed by the slow progress

Monday 17 September 2007 OTTAWA: DARFUR RALLY PLANNED FOR PARLIAMENT HILL
Canadians campaigning for more action on the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan will hold rallies across Canada on Monday. In Ottawa Global Day for Darfur will be marked on Parliament Hill. Human rights groups have asked participants to wear blindfolds. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say that will send a message to governments not to turn a blind eye to the crisis. International experts estimate that some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes during four-and-a-half years of fighting in Darfur. Sudan puts the death toll from the conflict at 9,000.

People in 30 nations around the world held events Sunday to mark Global Day for Darfur. Human rights activists from groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch wore blindfolds in an appeal to world leaders not to look away from the continuing violence in the war-torn region. The Sudanese government in Khartoum and Arab militias allied to it have been blamed for massacres of the Darfur's black African population since 2003. International experts estimate that some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes during four-and-a-half years of fighting in Darfur. Sudan puts the death toll from the conflict at 9,000. Britain's prime minister said Sunday a combination of opportunities could create a real chance to settle the Darfur conflict. Gordon Brown said he was encouraged by three factors: peace talks due next month, the offer of a truce by Sudan and the planned deployment of an African-United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur.

Monday 03 September 2007 Chaos in Darfur on Rise as Arabs Fight With Arabs
Some of the Arab tribes accused of massacring civilians in Darfur are now unleashing their firepower against each other in a battle that is displacing tens of thousands.

August 26, 2007 video A political solution to the conflict could be getting closer Darfur rebels agree position for talks with Sudan
ARUSHA -- Darfur rebel factions meeting in Tanzania have reached a common negotiating position and want final peace talks with the Sudanese government within months, international mediators said on Monday.

Saturday 25 August 2007 Canada boosts Darfur aid1
MacKay announces additional $41-million for food and transportation in war-torn region of Sudan
CHARLOTTETOWN — Canada has increased the amount of aid it will send to the warn-torn Darfur region of Sudan, an announcement that comes on the heels of a UN decision to send 26,000 peacekeepers to help end the violence. Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay announced Thursday morning that the Canadian government will donate an additional $48-million to buy food and to pay for the planes and helicopters needed to transport it toremote villages.

Mon Aug 06 2007 Helping Darfur with physics 02:02 video

Sat Aug 04 Chad/Darfur border in crisis 07:18 video

Saturday 04 August 2007 Good intentions alone won't help Darfur
We're trying to be optimistic about the new United Nations force for Darfur, really we are.

No time to take the pressure off Darfur Friday 03 August 2007

July 22, 2007w-n ', LEFT);" onmouseout="return nd();" traget="_new">Underground lake find may be mixed blessing for Darfur
DAKAR, Senegal: The announcement by researchers at Boston University last week that a vast underground lake the size of Lake Erie had been discovered beneath the barren soil of northern Darfur, a blood-soaked but otherwise parched region of Sudan racked by war for the past four years, was greeted by rapturous hopes. Could this bring deliverance from a cataclysmic conflict that has killed at least 200,000 people and pushed more than 2.5 million from their homes?

Thu Jul 19 2007 Darfur's underground 'megalake' 02:17 videro

8 June 2007 rci SUDAN
The United Nations and the African Union have reached a tentative pact on a peacekeeping force for the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur. But the question of who will control the 23,000-member force has yet to be settled. The UN Security Council as well as a security committee of the African Union must endorse the plan. In other developments, the London-based human rights group Amnesty International has just launched a website that allows the public to access satellite images of villages in wartorn Darfur. Some 200,000 people have died in the conflict and several million others have been displaced. more

5 June rci Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu has called on the international community to impose sanctions on Sudan to end the conflict in Darfur. Desmond Tutu says the same kinds of sanctions should be used against Sudan as were used to force an end to apartheid in South Africa. The former Anglican archbishop told EU lawmakers to consider such sanctions as a ban on Sudanese ministers and senior officials from travelling, and an embargo on their funds. Mr. Tutu also urged the EU to stop its companies from operating in Sudan and to impose a no-fly zone over Darfur. International experts say 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and two million forced from their homes since February 2003.

March 28th, 2007 Despite His New Advocacy Files, He's Still Kilgour of Darfur
...I point out that while the Darfur cause may still be alive in Parliament, no other MP has measured up to him because the government nearly collapsed of his vote.

30 April 2006 Time is short so permit me to speak briefly to three issues: (1) what continues to go on across Sudan’s western province, (2) why the genocide has not been stopped to date, and (3) a new proposal for concerned governments to bring the violence to a halt quickly.
The 21st century’s first genocide astonishingly has now entered its third year while the world watches. According to an analysis of UN data by Eric Reeves of Smith College, fully 215,000 Darfuri civilians have been murdered since early 2003, with approximately 200, 000 more dead from disease and malnutrition.
With more than 400,000 Darfurians already dead, will the international community allow this to increase to half a million before acting? To 800,000 as in the case of Rwanda? To one million? more

Wednesday 11 April 2007 U.S. Sends (Another) Warning on Darfur
The Bush administration is dispatching Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte to Sudan, while Democrats are demanding a plan to address the crisis.

STEVEN EDWARDS, CanWest News Service

Published: Tuesday, March 13, 2007

In what amounts to a challenge for the United Nations Human Rights Council to take action, investigators commissioned by the 47-member body have accused Sudan's government of "orchestrating and participating" in crimes in Darfur that include, rape, murder and kidnapping.

Headed by Nobel peace laureate Jody Williams, the team makes the case for the rights council and the wider UN to push for international intervention, sanctions and war crimes prosecutions.

Dispatching the team had been something of a victory for Canada and other Western countries on the council after they pushed for the December special session on Darfur that created it. But even before the investigators made their findings public yesterday, the opening day of the year-old council's newest session, Arab-led Sudan was claiming it has the backing of the 57 countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to reject the report.

With the report serving as the strongest international indictment yet of the Sudanese government's complicity in the Darfur atrocities, the council's reaction could serve as a test of its credibility one year after the UN General Assembly mandated it to succeed the discredited Human Rights Commission.

But the Geneva-based council has so far shown itself - through its heavy focus on condemning Israel while largely ignoring problems elsewhere - to be more a clone of the former body.

Opening the new session, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said the council needs to prove it can live up to the UN's billing as the world's foremost human rights monitor.

"The world is watching to see whether this young council will live up to its promise," he said.

Williams, best known for her work that helped launch the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, was more blunt.

"If (the Darfur report is) blocked, which some are wondering might happen, then I think one should really consider the future and meaning of the council," she said.

Doubts about whether a monitoring system run by countries can ever be effective were raised last month in New York by UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour, former Supreme Court of Canada justice.

"Whatever its composition, whatever its mandate ... we're going to have to accept the reality that this is a body of 47-member states that react to a situation, or fail to - not just with abstract human rights principle, but very much on the basis of their political inclination," she said.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, meanwhile, has stalled Security Council efforts to deploy a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur.

The high-level panel's report says the crisis is so grave the international community should invoke a principle Canada under the Liberals strongly promoted: Responsibility to Protect. Applied to its extreme, the principle would see international peacekeeping forces enter Darfur whether the Sudanese government approved or not.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007

Thursday 18 January 2007 UN agencies have issued an unprecedented joint appeal for an end to violence in Sudan's western region of Darfur. Wednesday's statement said that some 250,000 people have been forced to flee violence in Darfur in the past six months. It also said that more than a dozen foreign aid workers had been killed, more than at any other time during the four-year conflict. The agencies said that humanitarian aid cannot assure the survival of the population as long as the violence and insecurity continues.

2006

Thursday 21 December 2006 OTTAWA: LEGISLATORS FORM NON-PARTISAN COMMITTEE FOR DARFUR
Canadian Sen. Roméo Dallaire will head a non-partisan committee of Members of Parliament and senators who will attempt to influence the Canadian government's policy toward the strife in the Sudanese region of Darfur. The legislators will try to persuade the government to do more to stop the civil war in western Sudan. Gen. Dallaire says it's regrettable that there isn't more momentum towards the dispatching of UN peacekeepers to Darfur, regardless of the opposition of the Sudanese government, adding that the world community has a duty to intervene there. The Darfur conflict has led to as least 200,000 deaths and the displacement of more than two million people. Gen. Dallaire was the head of the small UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda at the time of the genocide there in 1994.

Fri 01/12/2006 The African Union has extended by six months the mandate of its 7,000 peacekeeping troops in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. The development followed Sudan's rejection of the deployment of a larger force of between 17,000 and 2000 AU and UN troops, a force authorized by a Security Council resolution. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir says his government would agree to UN "support" elements of the force. The world body has estimated that 200,000 Darfurians have died since fighting broke out in 2003 between rebels and government-backed militias, a figure which Mr. al-Bashir said on Monday was in reality 9,000.

Saturday 11 November 2006 nyt Movie look for Nichokas Kristof 21st Century GENOCIDE'S FACE
While traveling in Chad, the Op-Ed columnist finds a new horrible face for the 21st century's first genocide.

Monday 06 November 2006 rci The African Union leadership, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Sudanese counterpart, Omar Al-Bashir, met Sunday in Beijing to discuss the Darfur crisis. The meeting was attended by the chairman of the AU commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, AU Chairman and President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso and Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade. Diplomatic sources said Darfur crisis and the deployment of troops to the region dominated discussions at the meeting. At least 200,000 people have died from fighting, famine and disease, and more than two million have fled their homes in Darfur since fighting began between local rebels and pro-government militia in February 2003.

Sat 04/11/2006 rci The United Nations says pro-government militia fighters in Sudan killed about 50 civilians this past week in Darfur. Citing witnesses, the UN says young boys and elderly men made up the majority of the victims in the October 29th attack in seven villages and a relief camp. The UN report says residents described the attackers as Arabs riding on horseback, wearing camouflage military uniforms and firing assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. The description fits the Janjaweed militia who fight on the side of Sudan's government against rebels. More than 200,000 people have been killed and two and a-half million others displaced since the conflict began in February 2003.

Tuesday 12 September 2006 Darfur government resisting UN peacekeeping force
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and members of the UN Security Council took turns Monday demanding swift intervention to ease the mounting humanitarian crisis in Darfur, but the Sudanese government again resisted a UN peacekeeping force.

The edge of the Rwanda camp in Tawila, Sudan, a precarious refuge for uprooted villagers in Darfur. " Darfur Trembles as Peacekeepers’ Exit Looms September 10, 2006

Sunday 10 September 2006 WP Rescue Darfur Now John McCain and Bob Dole had an important op-ed in the Washington Post Saturday, calling for the world to intervene in Darfur

Sunday 10 September 2006 nyt Darfur Trembles as Peacekeepers' Exit Looms Fear is mounting in refugee camps as it grows more likely that African Union peacekeepers will leave or be ejected.

Monday 28 August 2006 The UN Security Council will meet Monday to address the situation in Darfur and Khartoum's objections to the proposed deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur. The closed-door meeting will coincide with US efforts to persuade Sudan to back a draft Security Council resolution put forward by Britain and the United States last week on the deployment of a UN force in Darfur. The proposed 17,000-strong UN force would take over from the ill-equipped and under-funded African Union mission, which has proved unable to prevent killings, rape and internal displacement of civilians in the region. In Khartoum Sunday, US envoy Jendayi Frazer faced an uphill struggle to convince a defiant Sudanese regime that UN peacekeepers should be deployed in Darfur. Ms. Frazer was greeted by an angry mob when she arrived in Khartoum on Saturday. She was not expected to get a much warmer welcome when she meets government officials to push for a UN deployment in the western Sudanese region. In a further sign that Khartoum was not about to soften its stance, a US journalist and two Chadian assistants were charged with espionage by a court in Darfur's largest town of of El-Fasher Saturday. Paul Salopek, a Pulitzer-winning correspondent on assignment for the Chicago Tribune and National Geographic, was also charged with reporting false information and entering Sudan without a visa. On August 14th Slovenian writer and human rights activist Tomo Kriznar, who was acting as Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek's personal envoy in Darfur, was convicted by a Darfur court of espionage, publishing false reports and entering the country without a visa, after being arrested in July. Some 300,000 people have died in the conflict between Sudanese troops and rebels in Darfur. Millions have been displaced.

Friday 25 August 2006 Sudan's ruling party has rejected a draft UN resolution calling for deployment of 17,000 UN peacekeepers to the strife-torn region of Darfur.
The United States and Britain presented the draft resolution on the troop deployment to the UN Security Council last week despite threats by the central Sudanese government to attack any UN troops who go to the area.
The proposed UN force would take over from the ill-equipped and under-funded African Union mission. The AU force has been unable to prevent killings, rape and internal displacement of civilians in the region. The UN Security Council is due to hold a meeting on the tense situation in Darfur next Monday.

Sunday Jun 4, 2006 rci Rebel groups in Darfur failed to meet a Wednesday evening deadline for signing a peace deal with the government of Sudan. The two sides had come under intense international pressure, including the threat of sanctions, if they failed to sign an agreement by May 31 to end the conflict in Darfur. The head of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konaré, expressed regret at the failure. Sudan's government and the main faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement signed the accord on May 5. The accord calls for a more equitable distribution of power and wealth, the disarming of Janjaweed militias and a referendum on the future of Darfur.

Thursday Jun 1, 2006 As Darfur War Rages On, Disease and Hunger Kill These days most people in Darfur die not from bullets, but from not being able to get health care, clean water or food.

Monday May 22, 2006 Canada should send troops to Darfur, says Dallaire
The federal government needs to stop its political "fiddling" with the military mission in Afghanistan and must also "get off its butt" to send troops into Darfur, says retired Lt.-Gen. Romeo Dallaire.

Monday May 22, 2006 Darfur's Fleeting Moment Unless the U.S. acts now, the only peace in Darfur, Sudan, will be on paper.

Saturday May 20, 2006 Violent Rebel Rift Adds Layer to Darfur's Misery Two of the main rebel factions fighting the Sudanese government have turned on each other in a grisly battle.

Friday May 19, 2006 BRAMPTON: DALLAIRE OFFERS STERN WARNING
Retired Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire, meanwhile, has hailed the House's vote to extend the commitment in Afghanistan, an idea which he had supported. He also has advised Canadians to become accustomed to seeing their country's soldiers dying abroad in defence of peace and democracy. Earlier in the week, a 16th Canadian soldier died in a firefight in Afghanistan, the first female soldier to die in action since World War Two. Lt.-Gen. Dallaire has also called on Canada to take part in an eventual UN peacemaking mission in the Sudanese region of Darfur to prevent another genocide there. The general himself witnessed genocide in Rwanda in 1994 when he commanded a poorly supported UN mission that was unable to prevent ethnic Hutu militias from slaughtering 800,000 ethnic Tutsi and politically moderate fellow Hutu.

Sunday May 14, 2006 NEXT STOP DARFUR?
maisonneuve.org The Globe leads with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s declaration in the House of Commons yesterday that Canada has not ruled out contributing to a possible international peacekeeping mission in Sudan. Harper said his government “is in consultation with our friends in the international community to do whatever is necessary to advance the peace process,” adding: “If that involves sending troops, that will be an option that we consider.” His statement appeared to contradict the position taken by Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor, who told a Senate committee earlier this week that Canada’s troops were stretched too thin by the mission in Afghanistan to participate in a still hypothetical UN mission to Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region. Harper’s comments also came as Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, visiting Canadian troops in Afghanistan, told reporters that Canada’s deployment in the country may be longer than expected, reports The National.

In his national affairs column, the Star’s James Travers writes that former prime minister Paul Martin made Canada’s deployment in Afghanistan contingent on the country’s armed forces remaining capable of sending troops to Darfur. Citing sources present at a March 2005 meeting between Martin and chief of defence staff General Rick Hillier, Travers says “Hillier was ordered to ensure Canada would be ready within about a year to respond positively if the United Nations was able to form a Sudan peacekeeping force.” Even though Martin’s own advisers were reportedly cool to the idea, the former Liberal PM’s insistence apparently led to the deployment of the 100 Canadian soldiers currently in Darfur advising the African Union.

Friday May 12, 2006 maisonneuve.org THE STRAIGHT GOODS:
The debate over how to help out in Darfur continues, even as Stephen Harper says Canada will not send troops. Europe starts talking about ballistic missile defence. The Canadian military tries to block photos of suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan.
DARFUR ONE DAY, GONE THE NEXT
The National leads, while the Globe, the Post, the Citizen and the Star all go inside with reports about the growing pressure for a coordinated response to the bloodshed in Sudan, and what Canada’s role could be in such a mission. The Post and the Citizen both run articles on UN human rights chief Louise Arbour’s criticism of the International Criminal Court and its slow response to a year-old call for legal action against rape and murder suspects in the Darfur region of Sudan, which has been ravaged by violent clashes between the government and rebel militias. Arbour is calling on the tribunal to more “robustly and visibly discharge its mandate.” Her feelings are being echoed around the world in the form of an increased push for an international military force to help diffuse the violence and maintain the current hints of peace.

Here at home, the debate over Canada’s involvement has focused on how thin we should spread the country’s already taxed military—especially with public support apparently sagging for Canada’s main military operation in Afghanistan. The National’s Keith Boag lays out the issue nicely: the cause is clearly worthy, but how realistic would it be to send troops? Very realistic, say the Liberals; impossible, say the Conservatives. The latter cite the Afghan mission as well as current efforts to beef up the military, which ironically sucks up resources before making them more abundant. But the debate might be moot; the Globe reports that Stephen Harper has dismissed the possibility of sending troops—after saying a day earlier he was still open to the idea. The National’s “At Issue” panel delved deeper still into the topic, exploring the links between the Afghan mission and Darfur, as well as the political implications of Harper’s move. Chantal Hébert suggested that sticking with Afghanistan could be the Conservatives’ downfall, given the declining public support and the increasing challenges from the opposition parties. She then linked the issue to Darfur, arguing Canadians’ humanitarian sentiments would be better appeased by sending troops there rather than to Afghanistan. It’s an interesting argument, and one that highlights the need for more polling on what mission Canadians feel should be our priority.

Friday May 12, 2006 nyt Darfur Needs U.N. Peacekeepers Now A peace deal reached last week between the government of Sudan and the largest rebel group is meaningless without a strong U.N. force on the ground to back it up.

Sunday May 7, 2006 nyt Largest Faction of Darfur Rebels Signs Peace Pact But two smaller rebel groups angrily demurred, leaving open the possibility that they would threaten the accord

Darfur Gets a Fighting Chance After three years of war and genocide in Darfur, any movement toward peace, however fragile, is a step in the right direction.

rci The Africa Union is vowing to make efforts to bring all warring parties in Sudan's Darfur region into the peace accord that was signed on Friday. The United Nations sponsored the agreement at talks in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. It marks a significant step toward ending a conflict that's killed thousands of people and forced millions of others from their homes. The leading rebel group, Sudanese Liberation Movement, signed the accord, but an offshoot of the group along with another major rebel faction, Justice and Equality Movement, refused. The A.U. will try to persuade them to join before the A.U. Peace and Security Council meets in ten days.

Sunday May 7, 2006 rci Canada's foreign minister, Peter MacKay, has welcomed the tentative peace accord reached on Friday in Abuja, Nigeria, between the Sudanese government and the principal rebel faction of the western region of Darfur, the Sudanese Liberation Movement. Mr. MacKay says the conclusion of the accord is only a first step to guarantee the peace in the region, because the parties must now ensure the protection of civilians and the return of aid workers to Darfur. The minister says it's vital as well for the entire Darfurian population throw their support behind the accord. The negotiations were sponsored by the African Union, but Mr. MacKay says Canada played a central diplomatic role in negotiating the agreement through a delegation in Abuja led by UN Ambassador Allan Rock and the high commissioner to Nigeria, David Angell. The minister says Canada worked closely with diplomats from the UK, the U.S., and the EU.

Wednesday May 3, 2006 maisonneuve.org MPS TAKE NOTE OF DARFUR
While the Globe devotes a full page to the crisis in Darfur, and The National, the Star, and La Presse go inside with Canada’s potential role in resolving the conflict. With a midnight deadline looming for Sudanese rebels to accept an African Union-brokered peace accord with the government, Canadian MPs held a special “take-note” debate in the House of Commons last night. La Presse writes Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay would not explicitly rule out the possibility of sending Canadian troops to Darfur. The Globe reports MacKay also would not commit to pushing the UN to take over the peacekeeping mission. For its part, the AU is calling for the replacement of its 7,700-troop mission with a UN contingent of 21,000 troops. While the Citizen’s editorial says “the only way to stop the killing in Darfur is to put soldiers on the ground,” a piece in the Globe notes that “Khartoum has repeatedly warned that anything other than an African peacekeeping contingent would amount to colonialism and has threatened that Darfur would be a ‘graveyard’ for a multinational force.” The Star reports that Canada has increased its contribution to the World Food Program in Darfur from $16.7 million to $26.7 million, after the UN said a lack of money forced the program to cut its aid to refugees by half.

George Clooney Tuesday May 2, 2006

Tuesday May 2, 2006 Deadline Passes Without Darfur Accord The talks were extended 48 hours after Sudan's government accepted a peace agreement, but two of Darfur's three main rebel groups raised last-minute objections.

Tuesday May 2, 2006 rci Two rebel groups in Sudan's Darfur region on Sunday rejected a peace plan proposed by the African Union. The Sudanese Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement say that the plan fails to meet their demands for security, and sharing power and wealth. The A.U. set today as the deadline for all parties to accept the plan. Sudan's government had already approved it, although with some concern about how and when rebels will disarm. The government has been accused of supporting Arab militias to fight the rebels. Several thousand A.U. peacekeepers in Darfur have been unable to control the violence. Delegates for the rebels and the government discussed the plan with A.U. officials at a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.

Monday May 1, 2006 wn In the international arena, as usual these days, the news is not good. Iran, as expected, is balking at the idea of the Security Council having a say in its bid for nuclear power and many thoughtful people question the usefulness of sanctions. What is of greater interest is the split in the Arab world over the question . The tragedy in Darfur continues as the rebels have refused to sign the latest peace agreement - not even George Clooney is able to solve the problem [We remain unconvinced by celebrity interventions in trouble spots, but at least many of them are lending their names to causes that would otherwise be ignored by the fans, and in Clooney's case, he is doing more than most to ensure that the American government pays attention]. And Afghanistan is providing Canada's troops with the unpleasant challenges that were foretold.

Rebels reject Darfur deal
Two Sudan rebel groups said on Sunday they would refuse to sign a proposed Darfur peace agreement in its current form, throwing into doubt two years of talks to end fighting which has killed tens of thousands.

Tuesday Apr 11, 2006 Darfur crisis deteriorates, global efforts stymied
Almost two years of negotiating, and efforts to stop atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region are unraveling, with a new peacekeeping force uncertain, relief aid under attack and U.N. sanctions stymied - particularly disheatening as the world marks the 12th anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan slaughter

Tuesday Apr 11, 2006 Almost two years of negotiating, and efforts to stop atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region are unraveling, with a new peacekeeping force uncertain, relief aid under attack and U.N. sanctions stymied - particularly disheatening as the world marks the 12th anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan slaughter

Friday Apr 7, 2006 rci Canada's foreign minister, Peter MacKay, says Canada can and should be doing more in the Sudanese region of Darfur. Mr. MacKay made the observation during question period in the House of Commons on Thursday. The question also arose earlier in the day during a joint news conference held by Members of Parliament representing all four political parties in the House of Commons. The leader of the opposition New Democratic Party, Jack Layton, said that Canada and other countries should provide more help and that Canada has to address the fact that a genocide is underway in the western Sudanese region. A Conservative Party MP, James Lunney, said the world ignored Rwanda's genocide in the 1990s and must not repeat the error now in Sudan. Darfur has been engulfed by violence between Darfurian farmers and Arab nomadic guerrillas known as janjawid. Canada has several dozen military advisers in Africa assisting in a effort to stop the killing in Darfur. The African Union has deployed several thousand peacekeeping troops there but their presence has had little effect on stemming the violence, which has spilled across the border into Chad.

Wednesday Apr 5, 2006 rci Sudan and the United Nations are at loggerheads after Khartoum refused to allow a top UN envoy and humanitarian official to visit the western region of Darfur. Khartoum also denied Jan Egeland permission to fly over its territory to visit refugees in Chad. Mr. Egeland accuses Sudan of trying to cover up ongoing violence in Darfur. The disagreement is described as the most serious crisis between Sudan and the UN since UN plans to take over peacekeeping operations in Darfur. The United States says Sudan's repression of rebels in Darfur is genocide. A spokesman in the State Department says it's difficult to understand why a government refuses to allow a UN official responsible for providing relief to help its own citizens.

Monday Apr 3, 2006 nyt If Not Peace, Then Justice For three years, the people of Darfur have been attacked, abused and killed. The international community has denounced these actions as genocide but has failed to stop them. Now, Luis Moreno-Ocampo and the International Criminal Court are building a case against the perpetrators.

Monday Apr 3, 2006 nyt If Not Peace, Then Justice For three years, the people of Darfur have been attacked, abused and killed. The international community has denounced these actions as genocide but has failed to stop them. Now, Luis Moreno-Ocampo and the International Criminal Court are building a case against the perpetrators.

Sunday Mar 26, 2006 Sci-Fi Battles: Kirk vs Picard
The bald guy finally gets his! From the archetype. A great splicing of existing footage into something totally different!
rci Members of the Arab League are voicing opposition to the United Nations' plan to deploy forces in Sudan's Darfur region. The opposition comes in a resolution drafted on Sunday by Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Khartoum. They're meeting in advance of the Arab League summit that begins there on Tuesday. On Friday, the U.N. Security Council voted to hasten its plan to replace African Union troops in Darfur with U.N. forces. African Union forces are said to be inadequately supplied and staffed. Sudan opposes replacing the African Union mission, saying that the Arab world should give more support.

Sunday Mar 26, 2006 rci Iraq is a major topic of discussion for the Arab League as it prepares for a summit this week in Khartoum. Arab League foreign ministers met today in the Sudanese capital for two days of preparatory talks. They resolved to ensure that the Arab League plays a prominent role in the future of Iraq. Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyari Zebari, asked for Arab involvement in stabilizing his country and more Arab diplomatic representation in Iraq. Summit leaders are also expected to discuss what kind of financial support to offer to the Palestinian Authority following the refusal of the United States and the European Union to fund a Palestinian government led by Hamas. The eighteenth Arab League summit begins on Tuesday. Some Arab leaders are not attending. Among them are the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Tunisia.

Sunday Mar 26, 2006 rci The UN Security Council has agreed to ask Secretary-General Kofi Annan to speed planning for a new UN force in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
A resolution on the matter was proposed by the United States. It is set to be adopted by the 15-nation Security Council today. It would give Mr. Annan until April 24 to prepare a range of options for a United Nations operation in Darfur.
The resolution will also ask Mr. Annan to prepare recommendations on how a separate UN peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan could help crack down on Uganda's notorious Lord's Resistance Army. The LRA has wreaked havoc in the region for decades.
Tens of thousands have died and millions left homeless by fighting in Darfur.

Saturday Mar 18, 2006 rci China has rejected on Friday criticism of its military spending expressed on Thursday by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Miss Rice said China should be more forthcoming in explaining why it has increased military spending by almost 15 per cent for this year. The foreign ministry has responded by saying that the Chinese government published documents that explain military spending and has increased military exchanges with other countries. Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said his country's military would never present a threat to China's neighbours.

Tuesday Mar 14, 2006 rci Mediators from the African Union have presented a detailed ceasefire proposal to end the fighting in Sudan's western region of Darfur. The proposal was presented at talks in Abuja, Nigeria, between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels. The African Union says the key elements of the plan are the demilitarization of humanitarian supply routes and camps for the displaced. The AU's chief mediator, Salim Ahmed Salim, says that if any party refuses to sign the new agreement, the AU will have no option but to conclude that it is not interested in peace and the well-being of the people of Darfur. The AU and the United Nations say the peace talks must conclude by the end of next month. On Friday, the AU extended its mission in Darfur until the end of September.

Monday Mar 13, 2006 rci The main rebel group in Sudan's Darfur region is welcoming news that the United Nations will take over peacekeeping duties in the region from the African Union. A-U foreign ministers meeting in Addis Ababa made the announcement on Friday. But the ministers also said that AU troops would remain in Darfur for six more months. Today, the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement said that it would cooperate with AU forces while they're there. The SLA urged AU forces to continue monitoring the movements of Sudanese troops in the area. About 7,800 AU troops have been in Darfur for the past two years. Critics of the force say that it lacks money and resources to maintain regional peace effectively. Meanwhile, another rebel group in Darfur, the Justice and Equality Movement, is accusing Sudanese forces and Janjaweed militiamen of attacking six villages in southern Darfur on Friday, killing 27 people, injuring 17 others, and stealing livestock.

Tuesday Feb 28, 2006 nyt Refugee Crisis Grows as Darfur War Crosses a Border By LYDIA POLGREEN
The chaos in Darfur, Sudan, has spread across the border into Chad, deepening one of the world's worst refugee crises.

Wednesday Feb 1, 2006 nyt

Find [168] W-N pages On Iran

Saturday Jan 14, 2006 rci The United Nations warned Thursday that the refugee crisis in Sudan's western region of Darfur could spill over into other parts of Africa. The UN's High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, called Darfur 'the most pressing political and humanitarian problem in Africa today. He also warned the situation threatens to destabilise the whole region, noting that tensions between Sudan and neighbouring Chad have recently escalated. Mr. Guterres said major powers, the UN and

2005

Tuesday Oct 11, 2005 rci UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is warning it may suspend aid to Darfur because of increased violence in the troubled western Sudanese region. On Sunday dissident rebels kidnapped 37 members of an African Union team, and an American monitor. They were later released. The hostage drama occurred a day after two African Union troops were killed by another rebel group, the first fatalities suffered by the pan-African body since it deployed peacekeepers to Darfur in April 2004.

Wednesday Aug 3, 2005 rci Clashes continued in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, in a second day of violence sparked by the death of the former rebel leader, John Garang. Thirty-six people died on Monday in clashes between northern and southern Sudanese. Diplomatic efforts are underway to ensure that a peace accord between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Sudanese government will not unravel. Mr. Garang, who led the peace movement, was named Sudan's vice-president as a result of the accord. He died in a helicopter crash over the weekend. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement has announced five days of mourning leading to Mr. Garang's burial on Saturday. The SPLM has also announced that Mr. Garang's deputy, Salva Kiir, will succeed him. A political leader in Uganda, Reagan Okumo, says that Mr. Garang's death is a blow to efforts to restore peace in northern Uganda. Mr. Okumo had hoped that Mr. Garang would take firm control in southern Sudan and end the menace from the Lord's Resistance Army. One of Mr. Garang's last comments was a vow to flush the LRA and its leader, Joseph Kony, out of southern Sudan from where they have launched raids into Uganda for 19 years.

July 12, 2005 bbcSudanese unity is 'in jeopardy'
1.5 million people have died in the 21-year civil war in Sudan and fighting continues in the western region of Darfur

Sunday Jul 10, 2005 rci The former rebel leader, John Garang, was sworn in as Sudan's vice-president on Saturday, a result of a power-sharing deal signed six months ago. The deal formally ended decades of fighting between the country's north and south. Mr. Garang became deputy to his former enemy, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The president also took his own oath of office and signed an interim constitution. The swearing-in of the leading officers of the coalition government took place in the presence of the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan and six African heads of state.

Wednesday Jul 6, 2005 Ottawa aids firm in genocide case As Prime Minister Paul Martin joins other leaders of the world`s eight major industrialized nations today in a summit focusing on aid for Africa, documents show his government asked the U.S. government this year to persuade its courts to dismiss a suit against Talisman Energy Corp. for assisting genocide in Sudan.

Sunday Jul 3, 2005 rci United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is criticizing the developed world for being too slow to respond to the crisis in Sudan's western Darfur region. Mr Annan said in an interview with the BBC that the world has learned nothing from the Rwandan genocide in l994. The conflict in Darfur has cost 180-thousand lives since it erupted in 2003. And more than two-million people have been forced from their homes.

Tuesday Jun 14, 2005 rci OTTAWA: CANADIAN MILITARY MAY SEND VEHICLES TO HELP STABILIZE SUDANESE AREA
Canada could send about 100 Grizzly-type armoured vehicles to Sudan, in support of the African Union's efforts to restore peace in the Darfur region. The African Union has deployed about 3,000 soldiers in the region. But Washington must give its approval before Canada goes ahead with the plan, since the Grizzlies contain American hardware. Ottawa is also considering sending Canadian soldiers to the region to maintain the vehicles provided by African countries.

Sunday Jun 12, 2005 United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan says he welcomes the agreement by the NATO alliance to provide the logistical support to the African Union to airlift its peacekeeping soldiers in Sudan's wartorn area of Darfur. Mr. Annan's spokesman says the secretary general is glad that NATO is helping the AU expand its mission in Darfur. The spokesman also says that Mr. Annan hopes that the development will encourage the donor nations who promised millions of dollars in aid for Darfur at a conference in Addis Ababa on May 26 to fulfil their pledges. Darfur has been plunged in civil war since 2003 between two rebel groups and Arab militias supported by the government in Khartoum.

Friday Jun 10, 2005 rci The NATO alliance says it will help the African Union airlift peacekeeping troops to Sudan's embattled western area of Darfur. NATO defence ministers will discuss details of the operation at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday and also talk about training for AU peacekeepers. The AU wants to double the numbers of its troops in Darfur. About 180,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since a conflict broke out in February 2003 between two rebel groups trying to defend black farmers and Arab militias that support the government in Khartoum.

Monday Jun 6, 2005 rci The U.S. has called for more African Union soldiers and police officers to patrol the refugee camps in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. The American deputy secretary of state, Robert Zoellick, visited one of the camps on Friday. He says that a bigger AU presence would make the camps where two million Darfurians have sought refuge safer. He also repeated the oft-made demand that the Sudanese government disarm the Arab militias accused of numerous atrocities in Darfur. The AU has 3,000 troops and police in the territory but wants to increase the number to 7,000 by September. The troops have the task of monitoring a shaky ceasefire between the militias and Darfur's two main rebel groups. Nations taking part in a donors' conference last month promised almost $300 million US more to assist Darfur. Canada's pledge was an additional $198 million Cdn.

Wednesday Jun 1, 2005 rci The United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights, Canada's Louise Arbour, has condemned the arrests by Sudanese authorities of several aid workers. She called the development 'disturbing' and called on Khartoum to allow aid workers to work freely and without fear of retaliation. A second worker for Médecins Sans Frontières was arrested on Tuesday over the release of a report that details the rape of some 500 women over four-and-a-half months in Darfur. MSF's Dutch mission head in Sudan, Paul Workman, was detained on Monday over the same matter. Both men have now been released. A Sudanese translator who accompanied UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to hear rape victims in Darfur has also been arrested. Khartoum had promised that all those who spoke to or co-operated with Mr. Annan would be safe.

Saturday May 28, 2005 ts .Saudi King Fahd in Riyadh hospital
RIYADH—King Fahd, whose efforts to strengthen ties between Saudi Arabia — the world`s largest oil exporter — and the United States provoked the wrath of Islamic militants, was hospitalized yesterday, apparently suffering from pneumonia.

Saturday May 28, 2005 The secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, says he's pleased with the results of Thursday's international donors' conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for Sudan. About $292 million was pledged to assist the wartorn western region of Darfur. Canada's pledge of $134 million US was the biggest. The U.S. promised most of the rest. Mr. Annan said in Khartoum that he's delighted that the entire world community joined to help the African Union restore peace in Darfur. The AU has said it needs $460 million in cash, military equipment and logistical support to increase its peacekeeping force of 2,700 soldiers threefold by September. Mr. Annan warns, however, that more aid is need for southern Sudan, where an 18-year-long civil war ended last year. The secretary general says that in the absence of the aid, the peace accord between southern insurgents and the Khartoum government could collapse.

Friday May 13, 2005 Canada's prime minister has announced measures to help resolve the conflict in Sudan's western region of Darfur. The measures also apply to southern Sudan where a recent accord was signed to end more than 20 years of civil war. Mr. Martin says Canada will send up to 100 soldiers to help African Union peacekeepers in Sudan. The Canadian soldiers will help the African Union with intelligence and logistics. Paul Martin says Canada has an obligation to help but that the situation in both Darfur and southern Sudan require an African solution. So he says Canada will contribute $170 million over the next two years to help the African Union in its duties in the area. The new funding is in addition to the $90 million recently announced.

Friday May 6, 2005 ts
Ottawa boosts aid effort for Darfur OTTAWA—Canada will send more troops, boost aid efforts and help co-ordinate multi-nation peacekeeping in Sudan`s war-torn Darfur region.

Sunday Apr 24, 2005 Sudan's foreign minister has defended the current methods of dealing with the insurgency in the country's western province of Darfur. Mustafa Osman Ismail offered that defence in remarks at the Asia-Africa conference in Indonesia. Mr. Ismail defended the sending of government security forces to Darfur to try to restore order. He says Sudan's and Chad's militaries are now conducting joint operations to establish law and order. Mr. Ismail also says Sudan won't turn over war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Court. On Monday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that despite previous declared ceasefires, fighting is worsening between Darfur's two main rebel groups and government-back militias.

Wednesday Apr 20, 2005 rci The leaders of Sudan, Egypt, Nigeria and Ethiopia are trying to restart talks on ending the conflict in Darfur. Talks between the Sudanese government and rebels groups broke down recently. Sudan's president, Omar al-Beshir, his Nigerian counterparts, Olusegun Obasanjo and Hosni Mubarak and Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, met after attending the African Union Summit in Egypt. A delegation from the African Union will travel to Khartoum next week to try to mediate an end to the two-year conflict. An estimated 300,000 people have been killed and some two million displaced since the Darfur conflict erupted in March 2003.

Wednesday Apr 13, 2005 rci International donors have pledged $4.5 billion to help Sudan recover after Africa's longest civil war. The pledges came at a two-day donor conference in Oslo, Norway, attended by representatives of 60 countries. Norway's Development Minister, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, says the pledges exceeded a combined $3.6 billion aid request for 2005-2007. The conference was called to bolster the January peace accord which ended a 21-year war in southern Sudan. Canada pledged $90 million at the conference. The new funding will be used for peace-building, good governance and to reduce poverty. The funding is in addition to the $180 million Canada has contributed to Sudan since 2000.

Tuesday Apr 12, 2005 rci A Canadian newspaper says Canada plans to increase its development aid to Sudan by $90 million. The Toronto Globe and Mail reports that the new funding will be split into three areas: $40 million will go to reduce poverty and to support the UN and World Bank peace process. Another $40 million will be used for international aid. And $10 million will be used for peace-building and governance. The Globe and Mail says that the minister responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency, Aileen Carroll, will announce the new funding in Oslo at a 60-nation donors' meeting for Sudan. Canada has contributed $180 million to Sudan since 2000.

Wednesday Apr 6, 2005 Sudan has rejected a resolution by the United Nations for the International Criminal Court to prosecute war crimes in the western province of Darfur. President Omar el-Bashir denounced the UN resolution, which he says violates the country's sovereignty and will make the situation in Darfur more complicated. The rejection came as the United Nations gave the international court a sealed list of more than 50 suspects accused of war crimes in Darfur. A recent UN report by the UN into killings, torture and rape implicates several Sudanese government and army officials as well as militia and rebel leaders.

Wednesday Mar 30, 2005 The United Nations reports that the number of displaced persons in the western Sudanese region of Darfur has increased to 2.4 million. A UN spokeswoman in Khartoum says that represents an increase from the world body's previous estimate of between 1.6 and 1.8 million. A ceasefire is supposed to be in effect between two Darfurian rebel groups and government-backed Arab militias but the violence has shown no signs of abating. The UN has said that 180,000 people have died in the region in the past year-and-a-half.

Monday Mar 28, 2005 Official media reports said Sunday that Sudan will try 164 suspects, some of them government officials, for abuses including rape and murder in the war-wracked western region of Darfur. The announcement came as the UN Security Council prepared to debate a French draft resolution referring 51 suspects identified by a UN probe for trial on war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Also Sunday, Sudan's attorney-general said he expected 72 men charged with attempting a coup in Khartoum would be sentenced to death because the evidence against them was so clear.

Saturday Mar 26, 2005 OTTAWA: CANADA WELCOMES UN SUDAN RESOLUTION
Canada's foreign minister, Pierre Pettigrew, says the government is glad that the UN Security Council has passed a resolution to authorize the deployment of 10,000 peacekeepers in southern Sudan to enforce an end to Africa's longest civil war. But Mr. Pettigrew says he regrets the fact that the resolution doesn't touch upon the serious human rights violations continuing in the country's western region of Darfur. The Canadian government has accused both Darfur's rebels and government-backed militias of committing atrocities and recommended that their perpetrators be turned over to the International Penal Tribunal for judgment.

Thursday Mar 3, 2005 rci An Arab militia leader in Sudan says that orders to terrorize villages in the Darfur region were given by government officials. Musa Hilal is a leader of the marauding Arab group known as the Janjaweed. He's on a United Nations list of suspected Sudanese war criminals. The Janjaweed has been accused of murdering thousands of black residents and burning villages in Darfur. In a taped interview with the humanitarian group Human Rights Watch Hilal said that the Janjaweed marauders were led by top army commanders. Sudan has admitted recruiting tribesmen as a counter-insurgency force, but denies links to the Janjaweed.

Saturday Feb 5, 2005 The UN's top envoy to Sudan has warned the Security Council that the peace accord in the south of the country that ended an 18-year civil war will collapse unless the situation is the western province of Darfur is resolved. Jan Pronk has urged the Council to accept his recommendation for 10,000 troops and 755 police officers to patrol the peace in southern Sudan. The envoy also says that the Sudanese government has broken its promise to stop Arab militias from attacking villages in Darfur and that they killed 100 people last month, four-fifths of them women and children.

Thursday Feb 3, 2005 cbc
SUDAN'S MASS KILLINGS NOT GENOCIDE: UN REPORT A United Nations report says Sudan's government is responsible for mass killings, rape and other atrocities in the Darfur region, but it stopped short of saying Khartoum actively supported genocide.

Saturday Jan 29, 2005 A UN spokeswoman says Sudan's air force killed or wounded about 100 people and forced thousands to flee when they bombed a town in Darfur in western Sudan. Radhia Achouri says that Wednesday's attack forced UN staff to withdraw from the area. Sources in the aid community in Khartoum say that eight villages were burned in the raid. A member of the African Union who declined to give his name says the Sudanese government prevented the African Union from investigating the attack. The AU is monitoring a shaky ceasefire signed in April last year between the Sudanese government and rebels in Darfur province. Britain and the United States have condemned the air attack. In New York, a senior UN official said the raids are severely disrupting efforts to bring relief to the area.

Friday Jan 14, 2005 SUDAN PEACE TREATY ENDS CONFLICT BUT FEARS REMAIN The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the troubled eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has found evidence that former Mayi-Mayi militiamen have killed seven civilians, a soldier and perhaps another six former officers from a rival militia...

Monday Jan 10, 2005 Government leaders of Sudan and rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement from the south of the country signed an historic peace agreement in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday, ending half a century of civil war---the longest in Africa. The fighting, which pitted the Muslim north against the Christian south, caused widespread famine and disease that left between one and two million people dead. As part of the deal, residents of the south will eventually have the right to vote for full independence from Sudan. The pact does not include the western Darfur region, where 70,000 people have died and nearly two million others have been displaced as a result of attacks by marauding raiders. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was on hand for the signing, urged Sudan to start working on peace in Darfur.

Sun Jan 9, 2005 globe Sudanese peace deal signed Vice-president and main rebel leader reach comprehensive agreement to end Africa's longest-running conflict
Nairobi, Kenya — Sudan's Vice President and the country's main rebel leader signed a comprehensive peace agreement to end Africa's longest-running conflict on Sunday.
The deal brings to an end an eight-year process to stop a civil war in the south that has cost more than 2 million lives since 1983.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 One of the rebel groups in Sudan's western region of Darfur says it shot down a government helicopter. The Sudanese Liberation Movement says it shot the helicopter down on Monday after government troops attacked their stronghold in North Darfur's Alssaiah area. Meanwhile, the United Nations says that talks between Sudanese forces and rebels are faltering because neither side wants to make any concessions. Spokeswoman Radhia Achouri says a rebel threat to withdraw from the talks could end all efforts to bring peace to the region. The SLA, one of the two main rebel groups in Darfur, also criticized the African Union for failing to stop the government from attacking civilians. A Chadian official at the meeting blames the rebels for the lack of progress in talks.

Wednesday Dec 22, 2004 The government of Sudan and rebels in the country's western Darfur region ended their latest round of peace talks on Tuesday with an agreement to stop fighting so that peace efforts could resume in January. The head of Sudan's delegation said that his government will honour an April ceasefire and move back to the positions held at the time that the truce was signed. The end of the talks came as the British aid group, "Save The Children," began withdrawing staff of 350 from Darfur. The announcement came after renewed clashes in the area and the murder of four of the group's staff. The head of the agency, Mike Aaronson, said that rebel attacks against aid convoys had made it too dangerous to continue. The agency was serving 250,000 children and members of their families.

Monday Dec 20, 2004 Sudan indicated on Sunday that it would immediately and un-conditionally cease hostilities in its remote Darfur region. Sudanese authorities asked that the United Nations and the African Union to request that Darfur's rebel forces do the same. Sudan's foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Islmail, made the request during an emergency meeting with Western diplomats as well as U.N. and African Union members. The African Union had given Sudan a 24-hour deadline that expired on Saturday to stop hostilities or the matter would be referred to the U.N. Security Council. But the fighting continued on Sunday morning. The conflict in Darfur has claimed over 70,000 lives and left about two million people without shelter.

Saturday Dec 18, 2004 Sudanese forces are heading toward the western region of Darfur. The African Union says there has been a build-up of forces and arms in the area suggesting plans for further military action. Gen. Festus Okonkwo says Darfur has become more dangerous over the past two weeks and could explode at any moment. He says pressure should be brought against Khartoum to withdraw its forces from

Thursday Dec 2, 2004 ts PM could lead the way on Sudan To no one`s surprise, Prime Minister Paul Martin failed to convince Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to rein in the vicious militiamen who are brutalizing the people of Darfur.

Monday Nov 29, 2004 cbc
UN SUSPENDS FOOD AID IN DARFUR Renewed fighting between Sudanese troops and rebels has forced the UN to stop supplying food and other aid to 300,000 refugees in northern Darfur.

Friday Nov 26, 2004 Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin ended his short visit to Sudan on Thursday with a meeting in Khartoum with Sudan's President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir. According to the prime minister, the president repeated his contention that his government has no control of the "janjawid" Arab militias who have terrorized the ravaged western province of Darfur. Mr. Martin says he expected the militias to come under government control because it's the responsibility of a government to control "extraneous military forces." The prime minister says there are always excuses but that the world community shouldn't accept them. However, Mr. al-Bashir did promise Mr. Martin that his government would make it easier for international aid workers to enter Sudan. The prime minister promised $17 million in Canadian military aid for the African Union peacekeeping troops being deployed in Darfur. Canada also will provide them with 18 chartered helicopters, in addition to the five already in Darfur. Earlier, Mr. Martin received a warm welcome from children at a displaced persons camp.

Friday Nov 19, 2004 cbc
PLEDGE FOR PEACE SIGNED IN SUDAN'S CIVIL WAR With members of the United Nations Security Council looking on, representatives from both sides of Sudan's 21-year civil war signed a pledge to end the violence by Dec. 31.

Monday Nov 15, 2004 OTTAWA: CANADA IS CRITICAL OF UNITED NATIONS ACTION IN DARFUR
The United Nations is dragging its feet in trying to halt the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region, says Canada's prime minister, Paul Martin. By the U.N.'s own estimate, some 70,000 people have died in a civil war that started in the area nearly two years ago. Mr. Martin plans to visit the stricken Sudanese region later this month. In September, the federal government agreed to spend CDN$20 million to help supply and train an African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. About one-quarter of that money has already been spent. On Saturday, Mr. Martin said that Canada will spend more if the African Union needs to send a larger force to the area. "I spoke to the president of Nigeria, the head of the African Union responsible for providing the troops, and it will come down to the number of troops," said Mr. Martin after a speech to his Liberal Party caucus in Penticton, British Columbia. "Canada must help create a permanent pan-African peacekeeping regiment that will be ready to move in the future to stop fighting before it gets as deadly as it has become in Darfur."

Sunday Nov 14, 2004 ts
Martin pledges help for Sudan
PENTICTON, B.C.—Canada will move ahead on a plan to outfit and train peacekeepers in Sudan`s Darfur region and other countries in need, Prime Minister Paul Martin said yesterday, criticizing the United Nations for not working fast enough to stop genocide in the area.

Saturday Nov 6, 2004 Peace talks between representatives of two rebel groups in western Sudan and the Khartoum government have again failed to lead to peace. The government negotiators refused on Friday to sign a draft agreement drawn up by the African Union. The government says the document is slanted in favour of the insurgents. But the AU says it nonetheless hopes for an accord during the weekend. The document calls for a no-fly zone above Darfur and the disarmament of Arab militias. But it contains no clauses containing the Sudanese government's demand that the insurgents retire to barracks. Khartoum also demands that the rebel reveal the locations of their fighters. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Darfur since the rebels launched their revolt in February 2003. One-and-a-half-million residents of the region have become refugees.

Sunday Oct 3, 2004 Sudan has agreed to plans by the African Union to deploy 3,500 more troops and 800 policemen to the western region of Darfur. An AU official says the additional security forces will help Sudanese police protect refugees camps. The official also says Sudan will allow 250 observers to monitor a shaky ceasefire in the region, double the current number of observers now in Darfur. Sudanese officials at African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa were not immediately available for comment.

Thursday Sep 30, 2004 GENEVA: CANADIAN UN RIGHTS CHIEF WANTS WORLD BODY PERSONNEL IN DARFUR INCREASED
Canadian jurist Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, says the UN should massively boost staff numbers in Sudan's embattled Darfur region to help protect refugees.
Mrs. Arbour has returned to Geneva after a seven-day visit to Darfur.
The former member of the Supreme Court of Canada, says she will recommend the staff increase to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Mrs. Arbour says a higher international presence is needed on the ground to counter what she says are very serious human rights violations.
The United Nations has called the situation in the western Darfur region the world's worst humanitarian crisis. About 1.2 million people in Darfur have fled villages because of attacks blamed on government-backed militias. More than 200,000 people have fled to neighbouring Chad.

Sunday Sep 26, 2004 KHARTOUM: CANADA AIDS DARFURIANS
Canada's minister of international co-operation has announced $10.8 million in aid for Sudan. Aileen Carroll says that $6 million would go to the World Food Programme and $3 million to Canadian groups handing out food supplies in Sudan. She says the extra funds will help emergency food aid for displaced peoples in Sudan western region of Darfur and in Chad. An additional $1 million will go to the Canadian Red Cross to pay for two mobile health units in Sudan. The funding is in addition to the $20 million that Canada is giving to the African Union to provide a stabilization force in Darfur. Mrs. Carroll is currently in Sudan to assess the situation there. She has visited several refugee camps and met with representatives of aid organizations operating in Sudan. Meanwhile, the UN has called for a form of political autonomy for Darfur.

Thursday Sep 23, 2004 cbc
End Darfur pain: PM
UNITED NATIONS—"Tens of thousands have been murdered, raped and assaulted. War crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed."

Wednesday Sep 22, 2004 ts
Massacre looming in Darfur: Dallaire
MONTREAL—Canada should demand a military force be sent to Darfur before the situation escalates into a Rwanda-like massacre, Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire said yesterday.

Sunday Sep 19, 2004 ts
U.N. sends Arbour to probe Darfur crisis
Human rights boss going with genocide expert `Urgent to take action now,' Annan tells world

Sep 17, 2004 ts
End Sudan`s slaughter
By the time Prime Minister Paul Martin addresses the United Nations fall session next week, 1,000 more people will have perished in Sudan`s Darfur region, because the Security Council failed to save them.

DARFUR Sorious Samura Living With Refugees

Annan calls for action Sep 17th 2004

Saturday Sep 18, 2004 The UN Security Council approved a resolution Saturday threatening sanctions against Sudan unless it acts to rein in Arab militias accused of violence in Darfur that the United States has called genocide. The vote was 11-0 with four abstentions, by China, Russia, Pakistan and Algeria. Those countries opposed sanctions and several other provisions that they said could antagonize the Sudanese government and end its co-operation with international efforts to cope with the massive humanitarian crisis in Sudan's western region of Darfur. It's believed up to 50,000 people have died and more than a million have been forced from their homes during the crisis

Saturday Sep 18, 2004 cbc
SUDAN GOVERNMENT BLAMES U.S. FOR PEACE TALKS BREAKDOWN The government of Sudan claimed Friday that U.S. support for rebel groups has made it impossible to reach a compromise in peace talks.

Saturday Sep 18, 2004 cbc
U.N. RENEWS THREATS AGAINST SUDAN A resolution approved Saturday by the U.N. Security Council says Sudan could face sanctions unless the country acts quickly to stop the deadly violence in Darfur by Arab militias.

Saturday Sep 18, 2004 OTTAWA, ABUJA:CANADIAN PM WANTS WORLD'S HELP FOR AFRICA'S HOTSPOTS
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has called on the world community to help Africa set up a military force that would intervene in crises like that in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. Mr. Martin says he'll make that recommendation in his speech next week before the UN General Assembly. The African Union has sent 400 troops to the region. The world body's secretary general, Kofi Annan, has recommended that 3,000 more be deployed. Canada has urged the world community to help Africa finance such a deployment. Mr. Annan has dispatched a Canadian jurist who is the High Commissioner of the UN Human Rights Commission to report on the situation in Darfur. Louise Arbour was to arrive in Sudan on Saturday. Meanwhile, peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, between Darfur's two rebels groups and the Khartoum government have broken off without a result. The Sudanese government blames the U.S. for the failure by supposedly having encouraged the rebels by describing the situation in Darfur as a genocide.

Wednesday Sep 15, 2004 The peace talks between the Sudanese government and the two rebel groups based in the western Sudanese region of Darfur are in danger of breaking up. The talks in Abuja, Nigeria, are sponsored by the African Union. The leader of the Khartoum government delegation in Abuja says that unless the two rebel groups agree to several security issues, the talks could collapse. The official says he expects to ascertain the insurgents' attitude by Wednesday. The chairman of the AU and president of Nigeria, convoked the two sides to an emergency session on Tuesday to avoid the collapse of the negotiations. The two sides have reached a tentative protocol on humanitarian issues, by which they agree to allow international aid workers full access to Darfur and to create a joint human-rights monitoring body. But the rebels say they won't ratify it until the Sudanese government signs an agreement to disarm the Arab militias that are terrorizing the region. The official government position is that the "Janjawid" militias who are attacking black farmers in Darfur are mere outlaws, while the rebels consider them to be the Khartoum government's tool.

Sunday Sep 12, 2004 The president of Sudan, Omar el Bashir, declared on Saturday that the crisis in Darfur was improving, and life was returning to normal in most areas affected by the violence. Mr. El Bashir was commenting for the first time since the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, described the crisis in Darfur amounted to genocide. Mr. El Bashir rejected the term. The U.S. has accused Sudan's government of backing Arab militiamen in attacks against African villagers in Darfur. It's believed that 30,000 people have died and more than a million others have been forced from their homes. Canada does not recognize the events in Sudan as genocide, referring to them rather as crimes against humanity. On Friday, Canada announced that it will contribute $1 million to the United Nations Human Rights Commission to enable it to continue its investigation of abuses in Darfur.

Friday Sep 10, 2004 cbc
CANADA TO GIVE $20 MILLION FOR SUDAN: REPORT Canada is reportedly ready to provide $20 million for peacekeeping efforts in Sudan after facing criticism for its previously announced contribution of $250,000 in military equipment.

Friday Sep 10, 2004 cbc
ATROCITIES IN SUDAN 'GENOCIDE': POWELL Widespread atrocities taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan qualify as a genocide, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday.

Friday Sep 3, 2004 U.S.-based international aid groups says the world community must act quickly to help residents of western Sudan survive in coming months. The Save the Children group, based in Washington, says residents of Darfur are in urgent need of food, water and medicine to avoid a horrible fate in October, November and December. That group and others, including CARE and the International Rescue Committee, say more African peacekeepers and monitors are needed as well in Darfur. The issue of African peacekeepers also arose at the United National on Thursday. The U.S. UN ambassador, John Danforth, accused the world body of failing to recognize the responsibility of the Khartoum government in the rampages by Arab militias against the black farmers of Darfur. Mr. Danforth called for thousands of African of monitors and peacekeeping soldiers in the region. The African Union now has 80 monitors and 300 soldiers in Darfur.

Thursday Sep 2, 2004 ts Dallaire `disgusted` by Sudan policy
OTTAWA—The Canadian general who watched helplessly while genocide raged in Rwanda has launched a tirade against Western countries for their "lame and obtuse" response to unnervingly similar horrors unfolding in Sudan.

Wednesday Sep 1, 2004 Representatives of the Sudanese government and the two rebel groups in the western Sudanese of Darfur held an eighth day of peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, on Tuesday. They're trying to agreement on a draft accord drawn up by the African Union aimed at ensuring the safety of Darfur's 1.2 million refugees. The document would ensure access to the region by international aid groups and increase monitoring of human rights abuses. Several tens of thousands of Darfuri have been killed since Arab militias began terrorizing the area in February 2002. On Thursday, the UN Security Council will start debate on whether the government in Khartoum has respected a Council resolution requiring that it disarm the "janjawid" militia.

Saturday Aug 28, 2004 Thursday was the fourth day of peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, between the Sudanese government and representatives of the two rebel groups in Sudan's western province of Darfur. For the second straight day, the insurgent groups refused to disarm or to confine their fighters to their bases until a political accord occurs. The Justice and Equality Movement says that disarmament not only cannot happen after an agreement but only after peace becomes a reality, even if this takes a year or longer. The Sudan Liberation Movement says that it too opposes garrisoning of its fighters. The government in Khartoum, meanwhile, as said it would agree to a larger military mission by the African Union but only if the African contingent's mission was to confine the rebels to their bases. Sudan has agreed to allow 300 AU troops in Darfur. Their mission is to protect 100 AU observers of a ceasefire in Darfur that was agreed in April but has been repeatedly violated. The revolt in Darfur began in February 2003 by Darfuris rebelling against alleged neglect by the Sudanese government. More than one million of them have become refugees after fleeing the depredations of Arab militias who are assumed to have been mobilized by the government, although it it denies it. A Regional Solution for Darfur  (7/20/2004)

A humanitarian tragedy has unfolded in the Darfur region of Sudan, Africa, writes Christopher Preble of the CATO Institute. With Secretary of State Powell's recent visit to Sudan and the Pentagon moving troops into neighboring Chad to assess the situation, some form of intervention appears likely. Neighboring states such as Egypt, Chad, and Kenya recognize that stabilizing Darfur is in their interest, and the U.S. should encourage those states to clean up their own backyard, which they can and should do.

Another push for peace Aug 26th 2004

Sunday Aug 22, 2004 ts
U.N. unlikely to slap heavy sanctions on Sudan, Britain says
LONDON—Most United Nations Security Council members oppose immediate heavy sanctions on Sudan if it fails to quell ethnic violence in the Darfur region by the end of the month, Britain`s Foreign Office said yesterday.

Tuesday Aug 17, 2004 The first foreign troops have arrived in Sudan. The main duty of the Rwandan and Nigerian soldiers who arrived this weekend is to protect foreign observers monitoring a ceasefire between the Sudanese government and rebels in Darfur. Rwanda's president, Paul Kigamé, says the soldiers will also intervene to protect civilians in danger. However, a comment by the head of the African Union ceasefire commission has brought the role of the troops into question. Festus Okonkwo said that their assignment is to protect the ceasefire monitors. He added that any other assignment is on humanitarian grounds and not in their mandate. The African Union says it hopes to increase the number of troops to 2,000 from the current 308. The Sudanese government has about two weeks to prove to the United Nations Security Council that it is serious about improving security for civilians in Darfur, or face unspecified sanctions

Monday Aug 9, 2004 cbc
UN REPORT BLAMES GOV'T FOR DARFUR CRISIS The Sudanese government is complicit in the killing of citizens in the Darfur region and is putting millions at risk, a United Nations human rights investigator said Friday.

Tues. Aug 3, 2004 ts
UN call to disarm Janjaweed seen by Sudanese army as 'declaration of war'
Khartoum: The Sudanese army has said it views last week's UN Security Council resolution as a "declaration of war" and that it will fight any foreign troops sent into Darfur, news reports said yesterday.

Monday Aug 2, 2004 ts
The Carter Center

Monday Aug 2, 2004 ts
SUDAN WARMS TO UN RESOLUTION ON DARFUR Sudan has "no other option" than to comply with a UN resolution on the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region, the Sudanese ambassador to the African Union told reporters Saturday.

Monday Aug 2, 2004 ts
Will try to disarm marauders, Sudan says KHARTOUM—Sudan says it will try to disarm Darfur militias as required by a United Nations resolution threatening sanctions, but the justice minister cautioned yesterday that meeting the deadline will be "extremely difficult."

Sunday Aug 1, 2004 cbc
U.S. SOFTENS SUDAN RESOLUTION The United States dropped the word "sanctions" from its draft resolution regarding Sudan at the UN Security Council on Thursday, but insisted on maintaining the threat of economic action if it doesn't disarm militias in the Darfur.

Saturday Jul 31, 2004 Canada has greeted the Security Council resolution concerning Sudan. The foreign affairs department says it's glad that its wording obliges that country's government to disarm the Arab militias in Darfur and to create conditions that will make the region safe for its residents. The department also takes satisfaction from the fact that the resolution threatens the government in Khartoum with unpleasant consequences in the event it fails to comply with the resolution's terms. Meanwhile, the Canadian Wheat Board says it will start dispatching grain shipments to Darfur next week. The grain has been purchased by the UN World Food Program. The Board says it has the capacity to ship as much as 370,000 tonnes of grain if necessary.

Stepping up the pressure on Sudan Jul 30th 2004

Wednesday Jul 28, 2004 The U.S. has excluded the possibility of international military intervention in Sudan's western region of Darfur. The state department says it's the responsibility of the government in Khartoum to stop violence against black farmers by Arab militias. The department says it expects that government to respect the commitments it has made to do so to U.S. Secretary of State Colin and the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan. During the weekend, Britain and Australia said they might be willing to contribute peacekeeping troops for Darfur. The European Union on Monday urged the United Nations Security Council to approve a resolution imposing sanctions on Sudan if its government doesn't act immediately to end the fighting there. The 15-month-old conflict has caused an unknown number of deaths in the thousands and created more than one million refugees.

Threats and excuses Jul 26th 2004

Friday Jul 23, 2004 : CANADIAN AID GROUP HAS ANOTHER WARNING ABOUT SUDAN TRAGEDY World Vision Canada has added its voice to the chorus of warnings about the dire situation in the region of Darfur in western Sudan. The warning comes from its vice-president of Canadian and international programs, Dirk Booy. He says he has worked in Africa for 20 years and the Darfur situation is one of the worst he has witnessed. Mr. Booy compares the devastation to the genocide in Rwanda a decade ago, and the famine in Ethiopia a decade before that. Earlier this week, World Vision Canada delivered 42 tonnes of plastic sheeting, blankets, water jugs and jerrycans to Sudan. Mr. Booy says the onset of the rainy season has turned areas of Darfur into breeding grounds for the mosquitoes that spread malaria and also causes medical concern about water-borne diseases like cholera. Meanwhile, the U.S. has circulated a draft resolution at the UN Security Council that threatens Sudan with sanctions within one month if Khartoum doesn't dismantle the Arab militias that have been terrorizing Darfur. The world body's secretary general, Kofi Annan, says there's a likely chance the resolution will be approved.

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INDEPTH: SUDAN

CBC News Online | July 19, 2004 Crisis Zone: Darfur, SudanThe dire situation in Darfur dates back to March 2003 when the predominantly Muslim militants of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) started attacking government forces and installations in the western region of Sudan

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