Weekly News Brief: August 18-August 25, 2008

Darfur

The Sudanese Army sent 100 trucks to Kalma camp, the largest camp for displaced Darfuris, killing 27 unarmed Darfuris and leaving scores wounded. An unconfirmed report puts the number of dead at 40.UNAMID has reportedly been deployed to help evacuate the casualties.

There was more violence in South Darfur, where more than 50 Arab tribes people were killed in clashes over water and gravin land. Efforts are underway to reconcile the two tribes.

The new UN top mediator for Darfur, DJibril Bassole, deploys today from London, where he met with the rebel group SLM-Unity.

President Omar al-Bashir said he would go to war and demand Darfur peacekeepers leave if he was indicted by the ICC over war crimes in Darfur. Great Britain and France have decided to back a motion by others in the UN Security Council to suspend the indictment for 1 year; the US is currently the only country opposing this motion.

All-Sudan:

Kenya is going to start buying vast amounts of Sudanese oil, and has made statements against the ICC indictment.

Ugandan rebels accused Southern Sudanese troops of attacking them, while Southern Sudanese forces accused Ugandan forces of attacking civilians.

Tensions are brewing in Eastern Sudan, where the Beja people have long been subject to neglect and abuse.

Burma:

The last UN World Food Program flight left from Thailand left on Aug, 22 ending with a total of 232 flights to Burma for relief efforts to the Irrawaddy Delta of Burma which is still recovering from the devastating effects of cyclone Nargis. 

 UN Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, failed to meet with military ruler Then Shwe on his recent trip to Burma.  He also failed to meet with the National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her house in Rangoon where she is detained on house arrest.  Apparently it was Suu Kyi who refused to meet with the envoy, leaving some to speculate that she is protesting Gambari’s soft tone on the military junta.  The consensus on this visit is that it was a failure.  

Congo:

A recent joint report from the International Center for Transitional Justice, University of California, Berkeley, and Tulane University highlights the challenges faced by civilians in the eastern DRC. The report, named Living in Fear, states that nearly half of the population has faced death threats and a third has been abducted for at least one week.

More UN peacekeepers have been deployed to the eastern provinces of Ituri and Orientale to counter recent attacks by Ugandan LRA rebels. MONUC, the UN mission in DRC, also reported increased violence and recruiting by Mai-Mai militia in North Kivu.