UN APOLOGIZES TO SUDAN OVER REPORT LEAKING - NEWSPAPER
Saturday 5 May 2007.
May 4, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The United Nations apologized officially to Sudan for leaking the report published last month in the New York Times, which accused Khartoum of flying weapons into conflict-ridden Darfur in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, a news report said yesterday .
A plane in Darfur, painted like a United Nations craft, in a photo from a confidential report on Sudan’s involvement in the regional conflict.
Sudan’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem told Alray Alaam newspaper on Thursday May 3 that Sudan’s mission to the UN had received an official letter from the UN Security Council Sanctions committee in which it expressed its apology and regret for the leaking of the report .
He added that the committee has pledged not to repeat leaking confidential reports.
The committee said in its apology that it had submitted the whole issue to the committee of documents and procedures to avoid repetition of what happened, besides setting new principles to prevent leaking of information; hailing at the same time the existing cooperation with Sudan.
The Sudanese envoy told Alray Alaam that the apology represents a clear condemnation to those who leaked the report.
The report, compiled by a panel of experts charged with assisting the Security Council’s Sudan Sanctions Committee in monitoring compliance with resolutions on Darfur, was leaked to the media on April 17 by a diplomat on the committee.
The panel, which includes all 15 members of the Security Council, has decided not to make the report public after objections were raised by three member states.
The experts, in their report, accused the Sudanese government of transporting weapons, ammunition, and other military equipment into Darfur without prior authorization from the sanctions committee. The report also alleged that the Sudanese government has painted military aircraft white to disguise them as UN planes.
Sudan had rejected the panel’s allegations and described it as "fabrications" and "a cowardly attempt" to overshadow the government’s approval on Monday of the first significant U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur.
The Sudanese ambassador Abdalhaleem told the press that Sudan had requested an urgent investigation of the panel allegations.
(Sudan Tribune)
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Humanitarian Groups in Rebel Areas of Darfur
In the press statement shown below, the SLM/A rebel faction in Darfur demands that the movement be notified of the entrance of any humanitarian or journalist endeavors into the region. While this may be a relatively benign request, especially seeing as concern for the safety of international workers is cited, it is also a very dangerous request. Khartoum will likely jump at the opportunity to continue to deny entrance into (and force the exit from) Darfur to international humanitarian workers: the notification of the SLM/A of humanitarian movements will grant Khartoum a reason, however benign this particular circumstance may be, to claim (once again) that the international community is aiding the rebels and is only interested in violating Sudan's sovereignty with food and medical care.
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
Press Statement
Regarding entering in to Liberated Areas
May 3, 2007 — The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) is highly concerned about the safety and security of all the stakeholders, NGO’s and the individual members working in Darfur to provide humanitarian assistance and relief or those seeking to get information from reliable sources about the situation on the ground, accordingly, we would like to kindly bring into attention issue and regulations of interning our liberated areas as follows:-
1. Any organization or member individual seeking to enter our liberated areas must first notify the political leadership of the Movement about the nature of his/her mission, to enable the Movement to fully facilitate it, through its appropriate channels.
2. The Movement will not be responsible about the safety of the member individuals or organizations entering the liberated areas without it’s pre-knowledge.
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army appreciates the co-operation of the organizations and member individuals in adhering to the above regulation for the common good of all.
The office the Chairman of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army Contacts for any coordination: +8821655583149/+8821666601790
Email:kazansky95@gmail.com
Ahmed Ibrahim Yousif The Office Manager
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
Press Statement
Regarding entering in to Liberated Areas
May 3, 2007 — The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) is highly concerned about the safety and security of all the stakeholders, NGO’s and the individual members working in Darfur to provide humanitarian assistance and relief or those seeking to get information from reliable sources about the situation on the ground, accordingly, we would like to kindly bring into attention issue and regulations of interning our liberated areas as follows:-
1. Any organization or member individual seeking to enter our liberated areas must first notify the political leadership of the Movement about the nature of his/her mission, to enable the Movement to fully facilitate it, through its appropriate channels.
2. The Movement will not be responsible about the safety of the member individuals or organizations entering the liberated areas without it’s pre-knowledge.
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army appreciates the co-operation of the organizations and member individuals in adhering to the above regulation for the common good of all.
The office the Chairman of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army Contacts for any coordination: +8821655583149/+8821666601790
Email:kazansky95@gmail.com
Ahmed Ibrahim Yousif The Office Manager
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
ICC ISSUES ARREST WARRANTS FOR DARFUR SUSPECTS
Wednesday 2 May 2007.
May 2, 2007 (AMSTERDAM) — International Criminal Court judges issued their first arrest warrants for suspects accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region, the ICC said on Wednesday, but Sudan refused to hand over the men.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo
The warrants were issued for Ahmed Haroun, former state minister of interior, and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had found "reasonable grounds to believe" the two were responsible for murder, rape, and torture, as well as the forced displacement of villages, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, the court said in a statement.
"The government of the Sudan has a legal duty to arrest Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kushayb," the court said.
But Sudan’s Justice Minister Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi told Reuters on Wednesday Khartoum would not hand over the suspects.
"We do not recognise the International Criminal Court ... and we will not hand over any Sudanese even from the rebel groups who take up weapons against the government," he said.
Prosecutors named the men in February as the first suspects in their investigations into the conflict, in which 200,000 people have been killed since it began in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government.
Sudan countered the rebellion by arming militias, who have been accused of atrocities in the conflict. Khartoum denies arming so-called Janjaweed militia, calling them outlaws.
Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch welcomed the arrest warrants.
"These warrants put the burden on the Khartoum leadership to co-operate and any failure to do so will only increase their isolation on the international stage," he said.
WAR CRIMES
In a 94-page filing in February, ICC prosecutors accused Haroun and Kushayb of criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 2003 and 2004.
The warrant for Haroun lists 42 counts including murder, torture and persecution, while the warrant for Kushayb lists 50 counts including murder and intentionally attacking civilians.
Haroun is currently Sudan’s state humanitarian affairs minister, a post below the full ministerial level. Prosecutors said he conspired with Kushayb, allegedly a Janjaweed commander who led attacks on towns and villages where dozens were killed.
Sudan says the ICC has no jurisdiction to try its citizens for crimes in Darfur, and in February announced it would try Kushayb itself on unspecified charges related to Darfur. His case was delayed in March.
"Haroun and Kushayb will be in the dock — maybe in two months or in two years — but they will be there," Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters.
Earlier this year U.N. human rights commissioner Louise Arbour said she hoped the ICC’s action would be a "strong deterrent" against more bloodshed.
The Darfur special court was formed after a U.N. Security Council resolution referred Darfur’s conflict to the ICC in early 2005, the first such referral.
Sudan has signed but not ratified the treaty which formed the ICC. The ICC cannot indict nationals who have been given free and fair trials in their own countries.
The ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes court, started work in 2002 and is now supported by 104 nations, although still not by Russia, China and the United States.
It has one suspect in its custody, Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga, who is accused of recruiting child soldiers.
But a further five warrants issued in 2005 for leaders of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army have failed to yield arrests.
(Reuters)
May 2, 2007 (AMSTERDAM) — International Criminal Court judges issued their first arrest warrants for suspects accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region, the ICC said on Wednesday, but Sudan refused to hand over the men.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo
The warrants were issued for Ahmed Haroun, former state minister of interior, and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb.
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had found "reasonable grounds to believe" the two were responsible for murder, rape, and torture, as well as the forced displacement of villages, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, the court said in a statement.
"The government of the Sudan has a legal duty to arrest Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kushayb," the court said.
But Sudan’s Justice Minister Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi told Reuters on Wednesday Khartoum would not hand over the suspects.
"We do not recognise the International Criminal Court ... and we will not hand over any Sudanese even from the rebel groups who take up weapons against the government," he said.
Prosecutors named the men in February as the first suspects in their investigations into the conflict, in which 200,000 people have been killed since it began in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government.
Sudan countered the rebellion by arming militias, who have been accused of atrocities in the conflict. Khartoum denies arming so-called Janjaweed militia, calling them outlaws.
Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch welcomed the arrest warrants.
"These warrants put the burden on the Khartoum leadership to co-operate and any failure to do so will only increase their isolation on the international stage," he said.
WAR CRIMES
In a 94-page filing in February, ICC prosecutors accused Haroun and Kushayb of criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 2003 and 2004.
The warrant for Haroun lists 42 counts including murder, torture and persecution, while the warrant for Kushayb lists 50 counts including murder and intentionally attacking civilians.
Haroun is currently Sudan’s state humanitarian affairs minister, a post below the full ministerial level. Prosecutors said he conspired with Kushayb, allegedly a Janjaweed commander who led attacks on towns and villages where dozens were killed.
Sudan says the ICC has no jurisdiction to try its citizens for crimes in Darfur, and in February announced it would try Kushayb itself on unspecified charges related to Darfur. His case was delayed in March.
"Haroun and Kushayb will be in the dock — maybe in two months or in two years — but they will be there," Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters.
Earlier this year U.N. human rights commissioner Louise Arbour said she hoped the ICC’s action would be a "strong deterrent" against more bloodshed.
The Darfur special court was formed after a U.N. Security Council resolution referred Darfur’s conflict to the ICC in early 2005, the first such referral.
Sudan has signed but not ratified the treaty which formed the ICC. The ICC cannot indict nationals who have been given free and fair trials in their own countries.
The ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes court, started work in 2002 and is now supported by 104 nations, although still not by Russia, China and the United States.
It has one suspect in its custody, Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga, who is accused of recruiting child soldiers.
But a further five warrants issued in 2005 for leaders of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army have failed to yield arrests.
(Reuters)
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
UN condemns detention of Darfur staff
News Article by AFP posted on May 01, 2007 at 21:24:18: EST (-5 GMT)
KHARTOUM, May 1, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations on Tuesday condemned the detention of six of its aid workers in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan and warned that such acts endangered its humanitarian operations.
UN humanitarian coordinator Manuel Aranda da Silva said he "strongly condemns the temporary abduction of six staff members" of the UNHCR relief agency and seizure of its vehicles on Monday in Um Shalaya area of West Darfur.
The unidentified gunmen who kidnapped the UN workers, whose nationalities were not given, abandoned them in the desert. They were located after a search operation led by African Union peacekeepers, the UN mission in Sudan said.
The staffers, who were on a routine mission to a refugee camp at the time of their kidnapping, were located unharmed in Saraf Omra, east of Geneina, near the border between West Darfur and North Darfur states.
Da Silva, in a statement, expressed "grave concern over the repeated attacks on humanitarian personnel and assets that put at risk the ongoing humanitarian efforts to assist millions of people in Darfur."
Attacks on aid workers are common in Darfur, a vast region of western Sudan where international organisations say at least 200,000 people have been killed and two million displaced by four years of civil war.
Khartoum disputes the figures as exaggerated.
KHARTOUM, May 1, 2007 (AFP) - The United Nations on Tuesday condemned the detention of six of its aid workers in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan and warned that such acts endangered its humanitarian operations.
UN humanitarian coordinator Manuel Aranda da Silva said he "strongly condemns the temporary abduction of six staff members" of the UNHCR relief agency and seizure of its vehicles on Monday in Um Shalaya area of West Darfur.
The unidentified gunmen who kidnapped the UN workers, whose nationalities were not given, abandoned them in the desert. They were located after a search operation led by African Union peacekeepers, the UN mission in Sudan said.
The staffers, who were on a routine mission to a refugee camp at the time of their kidnapping, were located unharmed in Saraf Omra, east of Geneina, near the border between West Darfur and North Darfur states.
Da Silva, in a statement, expressed "grave concern over the repeated attacks on humanitarian personnel and assets that put at risk the ongoing humanitarian efforts to assist millions of people in Darfur."
Attacks on aid workers are common in Darfur, a vast region of western Sudan where international organisations say at least 200,000 people have been killed and two million displaced by four years of civil war.
Khartoum disputes the figures as exaggerated.
S.Sudan government says Darfur talks unlikely before July
News Article by REUTERS posted on May 01, 2007 at 21:26:24: EST (-5 GMT)
JUBA, Sudan, May 1 (Reuters) - Efforts to bring Darfur rebel
groups to southern Sudan for peace talks with the Khartoum
government could take up to three months, an official in charge
of organising the possible negotiations said on Tuesday.
The semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan, which
emerged after a 2005 peace deal that ended 21 years of civil war
with the north, has set up a "task force" to contact the rebel
groups and bring them to talks in the south.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the BBC on Monday
the government hoped to meet the rebels in May in Juba, where
the southern government, headed by Salva Kiir, is based.
But the secretary of the "task force" Achier Deng Akol said
his commission has yet to contact any group, adding it may take
until July to bring them all together.
"The president (Kiir) expects us to implement our mission in
a space of two to three months, so in July if all goes well," he
told Reuters about the conference. He said funding was the
biggest challenge facing his committee.
Only one main rebel group, a faction of the Sudan Liberation
Movement, signed a 2006 peace deal with the government. The
agreement, however, has failed to stop the violence in Darfur.
The United Nations says some 200,000 people have died and
more than 2 million people displaced in Darfur since the
conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the
government, charging it with neglect.
Analysts say the fragmentations and divisions among the many
Darfur rebel groups, along with the attacks of government forces
have hindered the prospects of peace talks despite multiple
initiatives by several parties, including neighbouring Eritrea.
The Sudanese armed forces vowed on Monday to "crush" an
alliance of Darfur rebels for killing a pilot whose helicopter
gunship, according to the army, had landed in north Darfur after
a technical failure.
The rebels say they brought down the government aircraft
while it was attacking their site during unity talks. The rebels
said they have also captured another officer.
A delegation from one rebel group, a faction of the Sudan
Liberation Movement, arrived in Juba without an invitation and
discussed the new initiative with the southern government.
The SLM delegation said on Tuesday the initiative was
positive but did not confirm the group would attend the talks.
The United States and Britain have threatened to bring
unspecified United Nations sanctions against the central
Sudanese government for rejecting the deployment of a large U.N.
force to stop the violence in Sudan's remote western region.
But southern Sudanese government, dominated by the former
rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), said on
Tuesday mechanisms should be found to exempt the south and its
booming oil industry from any possible sanctions.
"We only hope that the Government of Southern Sudan be
exempted from sanctions ... we are not directly involved in what
is happening (in Darfur)," said Martin Yak, the director of the
office of the president of southern Sudan.
The economy of southern Sudan is dependent on oil revenues
administered by the Khartoum-based government of national unity.
The oil is exported through Port Sudan in the north.
"If it is blocked it affects the Government of Southern
Sudan, so there must be a mechanism by which these sanctions are
formed," Yak added.
JUBA, Sudan, May 1 (Reuters) - Efforts to bring Darfur rebel
groups to southern Sudan for peace talks with the Khartoum
government could take up to three months, an official in charge
of organising the possible negotiations said on Tuesday.
The semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan, which
emerged after a 2005 peace deal that ended 21 years of civil war
with the north, has set up a "task force" to contact the rebel
groups and bring them to talks in the south.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the BBC on Monday
the government hoped to meet the rebels in May in Juba, where
the southern government, headed by Salva Kiir, is based.
But the secretary of the "task force" Achier Deng Akol said
his commission has yet to contact any group, adding it may take
until July to bring them all together.
"The president (Kiir) expects us to implement our mission in
a space of two to three months, so in July if all goes well," he
told Reuters about the conference. He said funding was the
biggest challenge facing his committee.
Only one main rebel group, a faction of the Sudan Liberation
Movement, signed a 2006 peace deal with the government. The
agreement, however, has failed to stop the violence in Darfur.
The United Nations says some 200,000 people have died and
more than 2 million people displaced in Darfur since the
conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the
government, charging it with neglect.
Analysts say the fragmentations and divisions among the many
Darfur rebel groups, along with the attacks of government forces
have hindered the prospects of peace talks despite multiple
initiatives by several parties, including neighbouring Eritrea.
The Sudanese armed forces vowed on Monday to "crush" an
alliance of Darfur rebels for killing a pilot whose helicopter
gunship, according to the army, had landed in north Darfur after
a technical failure.
The rebels say they brought down the government aircraft
while it was attacking their site during unity talks. The rebels
said they have also captured another officer.
A delegation from one rebel group, a faction of the Sudan
Liberation Movement, arrived in Juba without an invitation and
discussed the new initiative with the southern government.
The SLM delegation said on Tuesday the initiative was
positive but did not confirm the group would attend the talks.
The United States and Britain have threatened to bring
unspecified United Nations sanctions against the central
Sudanese government for rejecting the deployment of a large U.N.
force to stop the violence in Sudan's remote western region.
But southern Sudanese government, dominated by the former
rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), said on
Tuesday mechanisms should be found to exempt the south and its
booming oil industry from any possible sanctions.
"We only hope that the Government of Southern Sudan be
exempted from sanctions ... we are not directly involved in what
is happening (in Darfur)," said Martin Yak, the director of the
office of the president of southern Sudan.
The economy of southern Sudan is dependent on oil revenues
administered by the Khartoum-based government of national unity.
The oil is exported through Port Sudan in the north.
"If it is blocked it affects the Government of Southern
Sudan, so there must be a mechanism by which these sanctions are
formed," Yak added.
Media blitz to force Sudan divestment launched in USA
News Article by AFP posted on May 01, 2007 at 21:27:42: EST (-5 GMT)
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2007 (AFP) - Activists including US actress Mia Farrow launched on Tuesday a campaign to force Fidelity and Berkshire Hathaway to withdraw investments from Sudan over a humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Farrow said she urged Fidelity Investments to divest, but the company took no responsibility for the mass killings in Darfur.
"I take responsibility as to what happens to my money," she said in a telephone conference call and added that she, like many people, had a retirement fund with Fidelity.
"I would beg everybody to do as I did: move your money out of Fidelity."
The campaign was launched by the Save Darfur Coalition, the Sudan Divestment Task force, by Fidelity out of Sudan and by the NAACP, the oldest and largest African-American civil rights group.
They plan a media blitz to sway shareholders as they gather for their annual meetings in Boston, Massachusetts, where Fidelity is located, and Omaha, Nebraska, home of Berkshire Hathaway.
The divestment coalition released what it said was part of Fidelity Investment's response to the groups' request to divest.
"Fidelity portfolio managers make their investment decisions based on business and financial considerations," the statement said.
Farrow, a UN goodwill ambassador, and several hundred others on Monday picketed outside the White House as part of a global day of action in 35 world capitals for the troubled Sudanese region on the fourth anniversary of the civil war there.
The conflict has cost 200,000 lives and forced two million people from their homes, according to the United Nations, though Khartoum contests those estimates, saying 9,000 people have died.
The coalition said it got a better reception from Berkshire Hathaway, whose chief officer, Warren Buffet, is a philanthropist. He sent tickets to members of the coalitions to attend the upcoming annual stockholders' meeting and discuss the issue there.
David Rubenstein, of the Save Darfur Coalition, said that Sudan has in the past been susceptible to foreign investment pressures.
He said the success of the divestment "really depends on what Fidelity and Berkshire Hathaway choose to do."
The campaign's pressure point is a Chinese oil company, PetroChina, because 70 to 80 percent of Sudan government oil receipts go to arming the Janjaweed militias, said the groups.
The militias are responsible for the mass killings, according to foreign governments and the United Nations.
Fidelity is the largest single investor in PetroChina, when counting only its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, the coalition said.
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2007 (AFP) - Activists including US actress Mia Farrow launched on Tuesday a campaign to force Fidelity and Berkshire Hathaway to withdraw investments from Sudan over a humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Farrow said she urged Fidelity Investments to divest, but the company took no responsibility for the mass killings in Darfur.
"I take responsibility as to what happens to my money," she said in a telephone conference call and added that she, like many people, had a retirement fund with Fidelity.
"I would beg everybody to do as I did: move your money out of Fidelity."
The campaign was launched by the Save Darfur Coalition, the Sudan Divestment Task force, by Fidelity out of Sudan and by the NAACP, the oldest and largest African-American civil rights group.
They plan a media blitz to sway shareholders as they gather for their annual meetings in Boston, Massachusetts, where Fidelity is located, and Omaha, Nebraska, home of Berkshire Hathaway.
The divestment coalition released what it said was part of Fidelity Investment's response to the groups' request to divest.
"Fidelity portfolio managers make their investment decisions based on business and financial considerations," the statement said.
Farrow, a UN goodwill ambassador, and several hundred others on Monday picketed outside the White House as part of a global day of action in 35 world capitals for the troubled Sudanese region on the fourth anniversary of the civil war there.
The conflict has cost 200,000 lives and forced two million people from their homes, according to the United Nations, though Khartoum contests those estimates, saying 9,000 people have died.
The coalition said it got a better reception from Berkshire Hathaway, whose chief officer, Warren Buffet, is a philanthropist. He sent tickets to members of the coalitions to attend the upcoming annual stockholders' meeting and discuss the issue there.
David Rubenstein, of the Save Darfur Coalition, said that Sudan has in the past been susceptible to foreign investment pressures.
He said the success of the divestment "really depends on what Fidelity and Berkshire Hathaway choose to do."
The campaign's pressure point is a Chinese oil company, PetroChina, because 70 to 80 percent of Sudan government oil receipts go to arming the Janjaweed militias, said the groups.
The militias are responsible for the mass killings, according to foreign governments and the United Nations.
Fidelity is the largest single investor in PetroChina, when counting only its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, the coalition said.
Ford halts Land Rover sales in Sudan after SEC probes reports of use by military organizations
News Article by AP posted on May 01, 2007 at 21:28:42: EST (-5 GMT)
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- Ford Motor Co.'s Land Rover vehicles are
no longer being sold in Sudan after the Securities and Exchange
Commission asked the company about reports that some Land Rovers
may have been used by military or paramilitary organizations the
African nation.
The SEC on Tuesday released a letter dated Jan. 5 from Don
Leclair, Ford's chief financial officer, who was responding to a
Dec. 15 letter of inquiry from Cecilia D. Blye, chief of the SEC's
Office of Global Security Risk.
An SEC spokesman said such correspondences are not released to
the public for at least 45 days, following the completion of their
review by the agency.
Leclair's letter says the company's Land Rover subsidiary had
reached an agreement "in recent months" with its United
Kingdom-based distributor that handles all sales to Sudan "that no
further sales of Land Rover vehicles will be made into Sudan for
any purpose."
"Any such sales were lawful," he wrote, and the distributor
advised Ford "that the bulk of the small sales volume in Sudan had
been directed to the Ministry of the Interior for humanitarian
purposes and that other governmental sales had been largely for
agricultural development purposes."
Leclair's letter was in response to the letter from Blye that
says, in part, the SEC is "aware of published reports alleging
links between Sudan's Ministry of Interior and activities of the
Janjaweed militia in Darfur. We also are aware of published reports
that the Janjaweed and Sudanese military forces use machine
gun-mounted Land Rovers" during incursions against civilians in
Darfur, a region in western Sudan.
Blye asked Leclair to address the potential affect that such
reports could have on Ford's reputation and share value.
"These reports have not had a material impact on our reputation
or share value," he replied, noting that despite news reports and
public SEC filings on the matter, "we did not receive any
significant inquiries from our investors or the general public."
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- Ford Motor Co.'s Land Rover vehicles are
no longer being sold in Sudan after the Securities and Exchange
Commission asked the company about reports that some Land Rovers
may have been used by military or paramilitary organizations the
African nation.
The SEC on Tuesday released a letter dated Jan. 5 from Don
Leclair, Ford's chief financial officer, who was responding to a
Dec. 15 letter of inquiry from Cecilia D. Blye, chief of the SEC's
Office of Global Security Risk.
An SEC spokesman said such correspondences are not released to
the public for at least 45 days, following the completion of their
review by the agency.
Leclair's letter says the company's Land Rover subsidiary had
reached an agreement "in recent months" with its United
Kingdom-based distributor that handles all sales to Sudan "that no
further sales of Land Rover vehicles will be made into Sudan for
any purpose."
"Any such sales were lawful," he wrote, and the distributor
advised Ford "that the bulk of the small sales volume in Sudan had
been directed to the Ministry of the Interior for humanitarian
purposes and that other governmental sales had been largely for
agricultural development purposes."
Leclair's letter was in response to the letter from Blye that
says, in part, the SEC is "aware of published reports alleging
links between Sudan's Ministry of Interior and activities of the
Janjaweed militia in Darfur. We also are aware of published reports
that the Janjaweed and Sudanese military forces use machine
gun-mounted Land Rovers" during incursions against civilians in
Darfur, a region in western Sudan.
Blye asked Leclair to address the potential affect that such
reports could have on Ford's reputation and share value.
"These reports have not had a material impact on our reputation
or share value," he replied, noting that despite news reports and
public SEC filings on the matter, "we did not receive any
significant inquiries from our investors or the general public."
"If a man in Darfur is killed, he is just as dead as an Englishman who is murdered"
Thousands call for end to Darfur bloodshed
VICKY SHAW - The Scotsman
ABOUT 3,500 campaigners gathered around a huge "blood-filled" hourglass opposite Downing Street yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Darfur conflict.
Politicians and celebrities also backed calls for civilian protection, in what organisers of the London protest said was their largest and most successful Global Day for Darfur.
A letter to Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, pleading for action was handed in to Gareth Thomas, the international development minister, as part of the day of action.
More than 200,000 people are estimated to have died in the bloodshed. Campaigners held aloft red egg-timers during a minute's silence and chanted, cheered and clapped during speeches.
The letter read: "Time is running out for the people of Darfur, and we urge you to keep the pressure on the government of Sudan until there is an effective peace-keeping force on the ground protecting civilians."
Celebrity pleas to governments to take action came from Hugh Grant, George Clooney, Sir Elton John and Mick Jagger, Sir Bob Geldof,
Mark Knopfler, the actresses Thandie Newton and Mia Farrow, the broadcaster Mariella Frostrup and Blur star Alex James.
Ismael Jarbo, a Darfur survivor, told the gathering: "Genocide is going on today, so we need to do something now." He called for the international community to act, possibly with military intervention.
Campaigners had placards bearing phrases such as "No more excuses" and "Protect the people of Darfur". Martin Stern, 68, a survivor of the Holocaust, took part in a march from the Cambridge area to London, to speak at yesterday's event. He walked the first and last legs of the journey, which began last Thursday, with Darfur survivors and students.
Mr Stern, of Leicester, told the gathering: "If a man in Darfur is killed, he is just as dead as an Englishman who is murdered; his family is just as bereaved."
The Darfur conflict has led to 16 unenforced United Nations resolutions, and provoked 60 statements of concern from the European Union but, according to campaigners, "zero action".
Kate Allen, the Amnesty International UK director, said: "It's vital that the UK government takes a much stronger lead in securing an effective peacekeeping force."
VICKY SHAW - The Scotsman
ABOUT 3,500 campaigners gathered around a huge "blood-filled" hourglass opposite Downing Street yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Darfur conflict.
Politicians and celebrities also backed calls for civilian protection, in what organisers of the London protest said was their largest and most successful Global Day for Darfur.
A letter to Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, pleading for action was handed in to Gareth Thomas, the international development minister, as part of the day of action.
More than 200,000 people are estimated to have died in the bloodshed. Campaigners held aloft red egg-timers during a minute's silence and chanted, cheered and clapped during speeches.
The letter read: "Time is running out for the people of Darfur, and we urge you to keep the pressure on the government of Sudan until there is an effective peace-keeping force on the ground protecting civilians."
Celebrity pleas to governments to take action came from Hugh Grant, George Clooney, Sir Elton John and Mick Jagger, Sir Bob Geldof,
Mark Knopfler, the actresses Thandie Newton and Mia Farrow, the broadcaster Mariella Frostrup and Blur star Alex James.
Ismael Jarbo, a Darfur survivor, told the gathering: "Genocide is going on today, so we need to do something now." He called for the international community to act, possibly with military intervention.
Campaigners had placards bearing phrases such as "No more excuses" and "Protect the people of Darfur". Martin Stern, 68, a survivor of the Holocaust, took part in a march from the Cambridge area to London, to speak at yesterday's event. He walked the first and last legs of the journey, which began last Thursday, with Darfur survivors and students.
Mr Stern, of Leicester, told the gathering: "If a man in Darfur is killed, he is just as dead as an Englishman who is murdered; his family is just as bereaved."
The Darfur conflict has led to 16 unenforced United Nations resolutions, and provoked 60 statements of concern from the European Union but, according to campaigners, "zero action".
Kate Allen, the Amnesty International UK director, said: "It's vital that the UK government takes a much stronger lead in securing an effective peacekeeping force."
Monday, April 30, 2007
Peace With People You've Vowed to "Crush"
SUDAN READY FOR TALKS WITH DARFUR REBELS - OFFICIAL
Tuesday 1 May 2007.
April 30, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan is ready to negotiate with Darfur rebels once they unite their leadership but should not be expected to sit idly by if government forces in the region are attacked, the junior foreign minister said on Monday.
Rebels and the African Union have accused Sudanese forces of bombing territories in northern Darfur in April while leaders of several rebel factions were preparing for unity talks.
Al-Samani Al-Wasyla blamed the fragmentations and divisions among the many rebels in Darfur, along with "negative messages" sent by western powers, notably the United States, for hindering the prospects of peace negotiations.
"Sudan has not closed the door in the face of any party that could convince the rebel groups (to join peace negotiations) ... because these groups are Sudanese. Peace cannot be achieved without them," he told Reuters in an interview.
"(But) there are countries ... like the United States that have been sending negative messages, thinking that pressure and threats of sanctions will make the Sudanese government accept anything," he said.
The prospect that Sudan will yield to western demands and allow a large United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur prompted some rebel groups to delay joining peace talks, hoping for more government compromises, Wasyla added.
Only one main rebel faction signed a May 2006 peace deal with the government. The agreement has failed to stop the violence in Darfur, where the United Nations says around 200,000 people have died and more than 2 million have fled their homes since the conflict flared in 2003.
Earlier on Sunday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the BBC the government was hoping to meet Darfur rebels for talks organised by the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan in the coming weeks.
He was not immediately available for comment.
AIR RAIDS
The African Union, which has a force of some 5,000 troops in the volatile region, last week said government aircraft had bombed rebel territories in Amaray in north Darfur on April 19 and April 21 while several leaders were preparing for talks.
And the leader of one rebel faction said his forces brought down a government helicopter that attacked a site in northern Darfur ahead of similar unity talks early on Sunday.
The armed forces denied the attacks but said it had lost contact with a helicopter that was sent on a reconnaissance mission on Sunday after its pilot reported a technical failure.
Wasyla said he could not confirm or deny those raids, but added: "The government respects all ceasefire deals ... But is the government required to take attacks from groups that have not signed any agreement and not respond?"
The rebels say the attacks in April were unprovoked.
Sudan has so far rejected the deployment of a 20,000 U.N. force in Darfur but said it would accept as many African Union peacekeepers as required to stop the violence and called on the world body to fund these troops.
"Transforming the (African) force into a United Nations one rather has become the (west’s) goal, rather than reaching a solution," Wasyla said, adding that Sudan will not bow to pressure to accept such a force.
"There are limits that could not be exceeded," he said.
(Reuters)
ALONGSIDE THIS:
SUDAN VOWS TO CRUSH DARFUR REBELS AFTER KILLING
Mon Apr 30, 4:26 PM ET
The Sudanese armed forces vowed on Monday to "crush" a coalition of rebel groups in Darfur for killing an officer whose helicopter had landed in north Darfur after a technical failure.
"The armed forces, while condemning this brutal and treacherous act, vow that they will strike back twice as hard ... and will crush those rebels," the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) quoted an armed forces statement as saying.
The statement blamed the incident on the National Redemption Front, an alliance of several rebel groups. The rebels said on Sunday they had shot down a government helicopter that attacked their position while they were preparing for unity talks.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
Tuesday 1 May 2007.
April 30, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan is ready to negotiate with Darfur rebels once they unite their leadership but should not be expected to sit idly by if government forces in the region are attacked, the junior foreign minister said on Monday.
Rebels and the African Union have accused Sudanese forces of bombing territories in northern Darfur in April while leaders of several rebel factions were preparing for unity talks.
Al-Samani Al-Wasyla blamed the fragmentations and divisions among the many rebels in Darfur, along with "negative messages" sent by western powers, notably the United States, for hindering the prospects of peace negotiations.
"Sudan has not closed the door in the face of any party that could convince the rebel groups (to join peace negotiations) ... because these groups are Sudanese. Peace cannot be achieved without them," he told Reuters in an interview.
"(But) there are countries ... like the United States that have been sending negative messages, thinking that pressure and threats of sanctions will make the Sudanese government accept anything," he said.
The prospect that Sudan will yield to western demands and allow a large United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur prompted some rebel groups to delay joining peace talks, hoping for more government compromises, Wasyla added.
Only one main rebel faction signed a May 2006 peace deal with the government. The agreement has failed to stop the violence in Darfur, where the United Nations says around 200,000 people have died and more than 2 million have fled their homes since the conflict flared in 2003.
Earlier on Sunday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the BBC the government was hoping to meet Darfur rebels for talks organised by the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan in the coming weeks.
He was not immediately available for comment.
AIR RAIDS
The African Union, which has a force of some 5,000 troops in the volatile region, last week said government aircraft had bombed rebel territories in Amaray in north Darfur on April 19 and April 21 while several leaders were preparing for talks.
And the leader of one rebel faction said his forces brought down a government helicopter that attacked a site in northern Darfur ahead of similar unity talks early on Sunday.
The armed forces denied the attacks but said it had lost contact with a helicopter that was sent on a reconnaissance mission on Sunday after its pilot reported a technical failure.
Wasyla said he could not confirm or deny those raids, but added: "The government respects all ceasefire deals ... But is the government required to take attacks from groups that have not signed any agreement and not respond?"
The rebels say the attacks in April were unprovoked.
Sudan has so far rejected the deployment of a 20,000 U.N. force in Darfur but said it would accept as many African Union peacekeepers as required to stop the violence and called on the world body to fund these troops.
"Transforming the (African) force into a United Nations one rather has become the (west’s) goal, rather than reaching a solution," Wasyla said, adding that Sudan will not bow to pressure to accept such a force.
"There are limits that could not be exceeded," he said.
(Reuters)
ALONGSIDE THIS:
SUDAN VOWS TO CRUSH DARFUR REBELS AFTER KILLING
Mon Apr 30, 4:26 PM ET
The Sudanese armed forces vowed on Monday to "crush" a coalition of rebel groups in Darfur for killing an officer whose helicopter had landed in north Darfur after a technical failure.
"The armed forces, while condemning this brutal and treacherous act, vow that they will strike back twice as hard ... and will crush those rebels," the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) quoted an armed forces statement as saying.
The statement blamed the incident on the National Redemption Front, an alliance of several rebel groups. The rebels said on Sunday they had shot down a government helicopter that attacked their position while they were preparing for unity talks.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters
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