Daily Darfur: Trouble to the West and the South

by Michelle . · 2009-07-17 03:27:00 UTC
Topics:

To the West:

The Chadian air force reportedly crossed the border into Sudan and launched a bomb raid on suspected rebel bases in West Darfur yesterday --- the fourth such raid since May, when Chad accuses Sudan of supporting yet another rebel attack:

The Sudan Media Center website, which is considered close to the intelligence services, reported that two Chadian planes had raided the Umm Dukhun area of Western Darfur on Thursday.

The website, quoting senior military officials, said there were no causalities but that the Sudanese army was on "standby" and waiting for "the green light for retaliation".

Tensions between the two countries continue to escalate over accusations of a proxy war: Each government supports rebels attempting to overthrow the other. Interestingly, though, not much was made of reports that the Sudanese air force conducted a cross-border bomb raid of its own against Darfuri rebels based in Chad. The bombing raid occurred at the end of May, a mere 2 km from the Oure Cassoni refugee camp.

To the South:

The regional brew-ha-ha over Uganda's position on the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir continues:

Bashir will reportedly not accept an invitation to attend a conference in Kampala later this month, after a foreign ministry official publicly commented (and then later retracted) that the Ugandan government would comply with treaty obligations to arrest the indicted war criminal.

A professor at Uganda's Makerere University accused the government of double standards, given that the country initiated an ICC investigation into rebel leader Joseph Kony, and urged Ugandan officials to follow Botswana's lead in taking a clear and decisive stance in support of the ICC.

An editorial in Uganda's New Vision newspaper, however, urges Bashir to stay away from Uganda, so as not to put the country in the "embarrassing" situation of having to chose between its now-competing obligations as a member of the ICC and those as a member of the African Union regional block.

Quickies

As if Sudan doesn't have enough problems already --- the country now has reported its first cases of swine flu.

Thirteen women were arrested and ten were flogged in Khartoum...for wearing pants.

[Photo from NYT, 2008: Chadian rebels along the Chad-Sudan border seek to oust Chad’s president.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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