Sudan (Darfur)
Current Operations
UNAMID
African Union - United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UN-mandated)
Since: 01/08
More Information
UN chief concerned by use of child soldiers among Darfur rebels (16.07.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report that he was very worried that a Sudanese rebel group active in the country’s war-ravaged Darfur region appeared to be using child soldiers. In a bleak report on the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) released on Tuesday, Ban also said he was 'deeply disappointed' by the lack of progress that has been made towards ending the 5-year-old conflict in western Sudan.
UN pulls back staff from Darfur (14.07.2008)
(Quelle: BBC) The United Nations is pulling back some non-essential staff deployed in Sudan's restive Darfur region. It says the decision comes after recent violence and as a precaution after an international prosecutor accused Sudan's president of genocide.
Darfur rebels say willing to negotiate with Khartoum (12.07.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) One of the main holdouts from a Darfur Peace Agreement said Friday it wants to negotiate with Sudan’s government, but needs China, the United States and other powerful countries to pressure Khartoum to the table. The Justice and Equality Movement, one of the province’s most powerful rebel groups, said it is hoping for a 'political solution' to end nearly five years of fighting.
Khartoum might be behind deadly attack on Darfur peacekeepers – UN (12.07.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) UN peacekeeping department top official told the Security Council Friday that the deadly attack on Darfur peacekeepers was a 'well-prepared' operation conducted in a government-controlled area. Jean-Marie Guehenno, the outgoing head of UN peacekeeping operations, made the remarks during a closed-door briefing on Tuesday’s ambush that left seven peacekeepers of the joint UN-African Union force (UNAMID) dead and 19 others wounded.
UN in Darfur says one staffer confirmed dead in attack (09.07.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) One member of the joint United Nations/African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur has been confirmed killed in an attack and six are missing, a spokeswoman for the mission said on Wednesday.
Ban deplores ‘unacceptable’ attack on UN peacekeepers in North Darfur (09.07.2008)
(Quelle: UN News) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned a deadly attack on the joint United Nations-African Union force in Darfur that killed seven peacekeepers and wounded twenty-two, seven of them critically. The attack on the peacekeeping mission, known as UNAMID, occurred yesterday at approximately 2:45 pm local time, when a joint police and military patrol was ambushed by unidentified militia between Gusa Jamat and Wadah in North Darfur.
South Darfur authorities expel UN aid official – UN (07.07.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Sudanese regional authorities in south Darfur have expelled the chief U.N. humanitarian official, accusing him of unspecified rule violations, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Wael al-Haj-Ibrahim headed the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the town of Nyala, which was in charge of aid for up to 1 million displaced people in the war-ravaged state, officials said.
Rebels kill 157 Sudanese soldiers in North Darfur – statement (06.07.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) Rebels ambushed the Sudanese army in northern Darfur and killed 157 soldiers, said a press statement issued on Saturday evening. The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Unity Command said its troops ambushed a mechanical battalion from the Sudan Armed Forces in a route between Gasat Jamat and al-Towasha near Um Kadada in North Darfur.
Peacekeepers in Darfur hobbled by need (04.07.2008)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Nearly a year after its creation, a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission to Darfur is struggling, with fewer than half the soldiers promised, broken-down equipment, government obstacles, and what commanders say are the unrealistically high expectations of a world that has failed to support them.
US supports extension for controversial Rwandan UN commander in Darfur (02.07.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) The US voiced support to a decision by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to renew contract of a Rwandan general working in Darfur accused of war crimes. General Kerenzi Karake was named last year as the second-in-command for a joint United Nations-African Union force in Darfur despite allegations of power abuse in his homeland involving detained extremists of the country’s Hutu ethnic group.
New Darfur peace envoy is named (01.07.2008)
(Quelle: BBC) The United Nations and the African Union (AU) have appointed the Burkina Faso Foreign Minister, Djibril Bassole, as their new Darfur peace envoy. The UN said Mr Bassole will conduct efforts to mediate between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels from the region's city of Fasher. He replaces current UN and AU envoys Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim.
Darfur peacekeepers held hostage by SLA/Minni faction – later released (30.06.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Thirty eight UNAMID peacekeepers were held hostage at gun-point by armed SLA/Minni commanders in Zamzam IDP camp in North Darfur for over 5 hours. The UN police and military personnel detained had been on a patrol to protect ciivilians in North Darfur.
UN-African Union mission chief in Darfur warns of mission shortfalls (25.06.2008)
(Quelle: UN News) The United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has serious troop and equipment shortfalls, six months after coming into being, and local support for the operation is being stretched thin, the mission chief warned today.
Resolving Darfur conflict requests to fix Sudan-Chad proxy war (25.06.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) UN diplomats trying to solve the conflict in Darfur must better cooperate with international peacekeeping efforts in the region and better address the proxy war between Chad and Sudan, analysts say. 'They are so interrelated,' says General Balla Keita of UN-led peacekeeping forces in West Darfur that shares a long, porous border with Chad.
Chad working on uniting Darfur rebel factions – sources (24.06.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) Darfur rebel groups meet in Chad in a bid to finalize a unity agreement. The unity talks are sponsored by the Chadian president, Sudan Tribune has learned.
UN envoy doubtful parties are willing to enter serious negotiations (24.06.2008)
(Quelle: UN News) There is reason to seriously question whether the parties to the Darfur conflict are ready to negotiate and make the compromises necessary for a peace deal to end the brutal five-year conflict in western Sudan, a senior United Nations envoy told the Security Council today. Jan Eliasson, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Darfur, told a Council briefing that the environment in the region had deteriorated, despite the persistent efforts of the UN and the African Union to bring the Government and the many splintered rebel groups to the peace table.
A wide-open battle for power in Darfur (20.06.2008)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Five years after the Darfur conflict began, the nature of violence across this vast desert region has changed dramatically, from a mostly one-sided government campaign against civilians to a complex free-for-all that is jeopardizing an effective relief mission to more than 2.5 million displaced and vulnerable people. While the government and militia attacks on straw-hut villages that defined the earlier years of the conflict continue, Darfur is now home to semi-organized crime and warlordism, with marijuana-smoking rebels, disaffected government militias and anyone else with an AK-47 taking part, according to U.N. officials.
Sudan to press terrorism charges against the ICC prosecutor (19.06.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) The Sudanese justice ministry filed terrorism charges against the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo. … Earlier this month the ICC prosecutor told Sudan Tribune that the a plane carrying Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, was going to be diverted on his way to Saudi Arabia in December to perform the annual Islamic pilgrimage. The disclosure of the arrest attempt angered the Sudanese government which described Ocampo as a “terrorist” and demanded that he be removed from office.
Sudan asks for more Egyptian troops for Darfur (15.06.2008)
(Quelle: Washington Post) An Egyptian battalion is due in Darfur by the end of June to boost the beleaguered AU-U.N. hybrid peacekeeping force that is struggling to protect civilians in the violent region. 'Sudan wants large Egyptian participation in these troops,' said Minister Abdul Rahim Hussein, adding that he was also asking for police. He spoke to reporters in Cairo after meetings with Egypt's president, foreign minister and intelligence chief.
Mediators urge Security Council to get tougher in Darfur (13.06.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) The UN Security Council should get tougher in its efforts to resolve the Darfur conflict, mediators said Thursday, warning of a worsening humanitarian and security situation on the ground. 'We can’t deal with the problem alone,' said Jan Eliasson, UN special envoy to the region. 'We can’t reach full force without the weight of the Security Council (members). They have to exercise more willingness to get involved. The Security Council should take seriously that the resolution is not being implemented,' he told AFP in an interview in Addis Ababa.
Darfur rebel chief says will surrender to ICC if charged (13.06.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) A Darfur rebel leader living in France hailed the recent report by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo submitted last week. “This is a very giant step. The horrific crimes committed against the people of Darfur cannot go unpunished” Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur, leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) told Sudan Tribune today.
China presses Sudan over Darfur (12.06.2008)
(Quelle: New York Times) President Hu Jintao has called on Sudan’s government to take steps toward peace in its Darfur region, state media said Thursday. His comments Wednesday to Sudan’s visiting vice president, Ali Osman Taha, were unusually strong given China’s close ties to Sudan, where it is a major investor in the oil industry and to whom it sells arms.
U.N. reducing aid flights in Darfur for lack of funds (11.06.2008)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Humanitarian flights that deliver doctors, aid workers and supplies to remote areas of Sudan's western Darfur region are being cut back because of lack of funding, the U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday. With banditry on Darfur's roads on the rise in the past year, aid groups have increasingly relied on helicopters and other flights to gain access to the region, where an estimated 2.5 million people are displaced because of conflict.
Sudanese soldiers and rebels clash in Darfur (11.06.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Sudanese soldiers and rebels said on Tuesday they had clashed in a remote territory of Darfur over the weekend. The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement's Unity (SLM-Unity) faction said it killed 157 Sudanese soldiers after ambushing an army brigade near Um Keddada in North Darfur on Sunday.
US, EU leaders threaten sanctions against Sudan and Darfur rebels (11.06.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) The leaders of the US and European Union (EU) issued a joint statement after a summit in Slovenia on Tuesday saying that they will work together towards bringing peace to Darfur. The statement declared that both sides will “commit to work together to increase pressure on Darfur rebels and the Government of Sudan, including through the implementation of sanctions”.
Five Darfur factions form alliance (10.06.2008)
(Quelle: Asharq Al-Awsat) Five factions that support the Abuja peace agreement with the Government have signed a pact of alliance among them. They are: The Sudan Liberation Movement [SLM] - Peace Wing headed by Ibrahim Madibu; SLM - Free Will headed by Abdul Rahman Musa; SLM mother movement headed by Abdul Qasim Imam; Justice and Equality Movement - Peace Wing headed by Abdul Rahim Abu Rishah, and the Popular Force for Democratic Rights headed by Hisham Nurin.
Plot to arrest Sudan minister fails (07.06.2008)
(Quelle: Al Jazeera) A plan by the International Criminal Court to arrest a Sudanese official indicted for crimes committed in Darfur failed when he heard about the scheme, according to a spokeswoman. The Hague-based ICC planned to change the course of an aircraft carrying Ahmad Harun, Sudan's minister for humanitarian affairs, from the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca.
Sudan says ready for talks with Darfur rebels (07.06.2008)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) Sudan is poised to sign a ceasefire deal with rebel groups before to engage in peace negotiations in order to settle the five years conflict in war torn region of Darfur. Since the May 10 attack by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement on the Sudanese capital, the Sudanese president says there will be no cessation of hostility with the group. He also rejects to hold peace talks with this rebel group and describes it as 'terrorist movement.'
Security Council members push to condemn Sudan (06.06.2008)
(Quelle: New York Times) The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court presented a grim portrait of conditions in the Darfur region of Sudan to the Security Council on Thursday, as a majority of Council members pushed for what would be the first statement in three years condemning the Sudanese government.
Philippines to deploy more 100 peacekeepers in Darfur (06.06.2008)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) The Philippines will send more 100 peacekeepers to the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur raising the number of its contingent to 142 officers.