No help, please 2. United nations/African Union Peacekeepers were asked to leave town after receiving warnings of an attack on Muhajiriya in southern Darfur. Apparently, soldiers were seen moving in on the town from all directions the previous day. Rebel forces have already taken the town over. Citing the needs of the people after the attack happens, the peacekeepers are asking to stay put.

Pres. Obama may be leaning the correct way on Darfur

The US president has out together an impressive national security team. Jerry Fowler discusses the probabilty that this country will be more engaged in ending the war in Darfur. Read it here.

Rallying the allies. Sudan is not only denying and ignoring recent allegations of war crimes, but President Omar al-Bashir is now asking the African Union leaders for support to avoid a war crimes trial. However, if there must be a trial, al-Bashir prefers it be a court of his peers instead of the International Criminal Court.

New President, New Policy?

Hope for Darfur? During the recent Presidential campaign, President-elect Obama pledged to pursue an ending the genocide in Darfur. I'm not suggesting that he single handedly can reach this goal, but he is the one who can affect what role this country plays. We the people must make sure resolving the genocide remains a pritority, and the good folks at Save Darfur have made it easy to do so. Please, click this link send a postcard urging the next president to take decisive action to end the suffering. Lives depend on it.

"It's not genocide" Carter says

Proposterous! After going to Sudan and checking out the scene, Jimmy Carter said that what is going on in Darfur is not genocide. He says it doesn't fit the legal definition of genocide and to call it such is "misleading." The only other thing that could be as misleading is the former US president saying such a thing to begin with. This article is from October 2009, but I'm posting it because i'm not sure how many people have heard aboout this. Carter also got into a shouting match with a Sudanese guard of some kind who blocked his brigade from going further into Darfur.

Lighting of the Palace in Karthoum

Paradise. Karthoum is the Sudanese capitol. It's most powerful inhabitants have waged a war against the people, killing, raping and torturing daily. More than 250,000 have been killed or displaced from their homes. Another 1,000 suffered this week

While we imagine the horror going on there, the lighting of the Palace seems a tad decadent if not simply inapprpriate.

January Roundup

Warcrimes. Now that President Bashir has been charged with three warcrimes, he says he is ignoring the charges, saying the International CriminalCourt has no authority over Sudan. The charges are genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed in Darfur.

Hope from the US. The US State Department condemned the violence in Dafur last month, as blogged about by Save Darfur.

Please, don't help. A US aid group was kicked out of Sudan for possessing Arabic-language bibles. The group, Thirst No More, worked to provide clean water to Darfurians beginning in 2007, but apparently began performing missionary services along the way. A definite no-no for these parts even though freedom of religion was added to the country's consitution in 2005.