Bold Words, from Sudan to Zim to the DRC

Dictator Delusion Disorder

Congolese President Joseph Kabila boasted that his army is winning its battle to uproot extremist Hutu militias in the east, just as the UN withdrew its support for the Congolese army and human rights groups issued warnings about egregious violence committed by the troops against civilians.

A typical day at the office?

Says my favorite old curmudgeon Bobby Mugabe of his Prime Minister: "Even if some person is not mentally stable he is still your partner . . . . We bound ourselves to work together even though we had disparate position." So is he on or off the Christmas card list?

Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

Such is the gist of statements by Sudanese presidential adviser Ghazi Salahuddin on Obama's recently-released Sudan policy: "We believe that the U.S strategy toward Sudan is tactics more than anything else, and therefore we need the U.S. to come out with a true strategy dealing with the overall relations."

Who else would have the moxie to tell the Leader of the Free World, "You did it wrong. Go back and try again?"

Foot, meet Mouth

"Incriminating the president is out of question and fundamentally unacceptable" -- so said (reportedly) former Egyptian foreign minister and member of the African Union's high level panel on Darfur Ahmed Maher, speaking of Sudanese President and indicted war criminal Omar al-Bashir. The AU Panel, led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, submitted its proposal for a Darfur peace process last week.

From what I've read (still digging through it), Maher's comments don't actually jive with the report -- or at least, would involve a very serious case of reading-between-the-lines -- which presents a complex and nuanced assessment of the Darfur crisis and its possible resolution. So were Maher's statements a.) taken out of context or an error of translation, b.) playing to the home audience of an Egyptian newspaper, or c.) actually serious?

Them's fightin' words.

Sadly, an apt subtitle: For the first time, President of South Sudan Salva Kiir called on Southerners to vote for independence, telling a congregation at St. Teresa's Cathedral in Juba, "You want to vote for unity so that you will become a second class in your own country, that is your choice." As I wrote yesterday, the 2011 referendum for Southern independence is an increasingly contentious issue, with many wondering if the North will actually allow the South to secede without a fight. Kiir's comments are an interesting, if not unsurprising, escalation in rhetoric.

[UN Photo/Marie Frechon: MONUC Peacekeeping Officer Patrol Temporary Operating Base - A member of the Indian battalion of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) patrols the newly installed operating base during a visit by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in the country. 23 April 2009.]