Abuja (Reuters)
Mata Musing
The UN should have gotten it's first clue that "agreements" between the Arab Muslims and Black Muslims in Sudan isn't worth the paper it's printed on after the failure of the first humanitarian ceasefire agreement back in April of 2004.
Now it's plain the second, highly touted, "agreement to make an agreement", witnessed by the entire UN Security Council on a day trip from NYC, is spiraling down the toilet as well. So much ammo and weaponry is pouring into the reason that human rights groups are racing for the exit signs.
ABUJA (Reuters) - Astronomical quantities of arms and ammunition have poured into Darfur in the last two weeks and the government appears to be preparing for a major military offensive, the African Union (AU) said on Friday.
"The quantity of arms and ammunition brought into Darfur to meet the present build-up of troops in the region is (so) astronomical that the issue is no longer whether there will be fighting or not, but when fighting will start," Nigerian Major-General Festus Okonkwo said in a briefing to African Union-sponsored peace talks in Nigeria.
Okonkwo, who heads the AU cease-fire monitors in Darfur, said his efforts to mediate had yielded minimal results and the region was now a "time bomb that could explode at any moment."
Okonkwo detailed one coordinated attack on the village of Ishma on Dec. 11 by government forces working in concert with Janjaweed militia, who burned and looted eight villages in advance of government troops.
In case you are unclear on the players in Darfur, The Janjaweed are a very well armed militia of Muslims Arabs, supported by the Sudanese government.
Together, despite Sudanese officials denials, the Arab militias have a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing directed against the black Sudanese Muslim population.
While both sides have committed atrocities, the upper hand is enjoyed by the Sudaneses/Janjaweed forces with their superior weaponry and communications ability.
The foundation of the conflict between the Arab tribes(mostly herdsmen), and the non-Arab black Muslims (farmers), spans more than a half a century, and includes two civil wars. At issue was land and water resources and, more recently, the State's oil proceeds.
Sudan has been a Arab dominated military dictatorship since the 50s.
In July of this year, the UN Security Council passed one of their infamous resolutions, #1556, that gave the Sudanese gov't 30 days to bring the Janjaweed to justice and see they were disarmed or sanctions would be "considered". Now there's some strong language....
In response, the Sudanese President, al-Bashir, complained the int'l scrutiny was an attack on the Sudanese "Islamic state", and warned the evil Western powers of the US and Britain to stay out of their "skirmish".
Despite the lack of compliance with the UN resolutions, there have been no sanctions... just increased int'l presence in the country to "monitor" the genocide.
The latest accords, signed in early Nov, created a no-fly zone over the "rebel" (that would be the black Muslims) territory to stop the Sudanese bombing, as well as granting access to the now fleeing humanitarian groups to restricted areas in Darfur.
The truce lasted less than one day before the violence was resumed in full view of UN and AU observers.
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