Daily Darfur: "Spirit of Cooperation" not the same as Actual Cooperation

Citing White House officials, the LA Times reports that the Obama Administration is considering an approach to Sudan that would lift sanctions in exchange for progress towards peace, but toughen them if the Sudanese government acts "in bad faith." According to US Special Envoy Scott Gration, Khartoum has shown a "spirit of cooperation and an attitude of wanting to help."

Nothing wrong with that, at face value --- but my concern is exactly that: Khartoum's words can't be taken at face value, as the its leaders have shown themselves to be remarkably adept two-faced politicians, distracting international diplomatic circles by making all varieties of commitments, all the while violating them back home. I also find it remarkable that Gration would say that Khartoum has "shown a willingness to work toward stabilizing Darfur in order to allow aid to be delivered," when they are the ones who expelled a huge portion of the aid operation in Darfur and continue to hinder aid delivery with every obstacle imaginable, as they have throughout the life of the conflict.

So the question is, how does Gration and the Administration plan to hold Khartoum to account, to see that its "spirit of cooperation" actually translates to action?

Sad Day for Residents of Abu Shouk

From Mohamed Suleiman, by way of Radio Dabanga:

"Chief Omar Adam Ishag, known as AlSaroukh, and his wife Mura Abdelrahman Khamis Abdullah have been murdered in their house at Abu Shouk displaced people camp near El Fasher at 1:30 yesterday (Sunday). Unknown gunmen entered their house and shot the chief Omer Adam and his wife instantly.The killing was widely condemned by the displaced people within the camp, Chief Omer Adam of the Tunjur tribe was a known activist, gven the nick name Al Saroukh (The Rocket). The youth association at Al Fasher camps condemned the killing. For Radio Dabanga it accused the government of masterminding the assassination, although no evidence was provided."

Quickies

Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota arrives in Khartoum today for talks on the humanitarian situation in Darfur and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. (I can't help but wonder what all of these congressional delegations actually say or accomplish, given that the administration doesn't have a set policy yet. Are they contradicting each other, or is it just a matter of showing attention to the issue?)

A State Department nominee has come under fire for dealings with the government of Sudan. According to a letter sent to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations by the Genocide Intervention Network and Investors Against Genocide:

Goldman Sachs International Vice Chairman Robert Hormats, President Obama's pick to be Undersecretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs, played an "instrumental role...in reassuring the public and the financial markets about PetroChina in preparation for that company's initial public offering. PetroChina's IPO raised strong opposition due to the extensive dealings between its parent company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the Government of Sudan, which was under U.S. sanctions and was engaged in widespread crimes against humanity and human rights abuses in its war against Sudan's south."

More trouble in South Sudan: Clashes near an IDP camp killed 185, mostly women and children. Elsewhere in the South, Darfuri rebels and Sudanese troops clashed in the oil-rich South Kordofan state. Not quite sure what the rebels are doing there, but it's definitely not a good sign if they are expanding their insurgency.

Muslim leaders from Africa's Great Lakes regions announced the launch of an independent investigation into the killings in Darfur.

[Photo from AFP: A handout picture released by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in March 2009 shows internally displaced people of the Murele tribe carrying food rations from the World Food Programme at a distribution point in the Sudanese town of Pibor in Jonglei State. Fierce clashes between rival ethnic groups in south Sudan have killed more than 160 people, most of them women and children.]