What is the international community missing in the Darfur crisis?

(c) By Ramadji Doumnande, Dec. 25, 2006, http://ramadji.com

These past weeks have been filled with events related to the Darfur crisis. The one event which was a great source of hope and optimism for many observers of the conflict was the recent meeting in Addis Ababa a few weeks ago. During that gathering, the Sudanese government agreed for the first time on the principle of allowing what is known as a ”hybrid” AU/UN force to be deployed in the Darfur. Many people saw this development as a major breakthrough and hoped for a quick solution to the crisis and a return to peace and security for the thousands of victims of daily atrocities. But then, just a few hours later, the Sudanese government came out denying any commitment to authorize the deployment of a joint force AU/UN in the Darfur. It appeared that we started to rejoice too soon. It also seemed at that point that the UN resolution 1706 was not going to be implemented any time soon. Things were almost back to square one. On December 9^th, Mr. Andrew Natsios, President Bush’s Special Envoy for Sudan, was in the area meeting with high ranking Sudanese officials. Several contacts followed at the AU and UN level. Thank God, Khartoum has finally agreed to the concept of the hybrid force after a lot of tergiversations on the details. Now that the Sudanese government seems to be on board, the rest of the world hopes that things will quickly move forward in the days ahead to halt the bloodshed in the region. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. In effect, the world has never integrated the Chadian factor in trying to solve the problem. It is the missing piece that has prevented any viable solutions to the Darfur conflict but nobody seems to care about it. I am afraid it will always come back to haunt us and the crisis will drag on with several other thousands of victims.

Three years of rhetoric and inaction

Last November 20^th, 2006, during a joint briefing at the Brookings Institution, Andrew Natsios and Jean-Marie Guéhenno, the UN Secretary General in charge of Peacekeeping Operations were very optimist and saw the date of January 1^st 2007 as a deadline for the world to do something major in saving Darfur and the entire central Africa region. They even talked about the implementation of a plan B which would mean use of force against Khartoum. In a recent editorial published by the Washington Post, US Should Act Without UN in Darfur, Anthony Lake, Dr. Susan Rice and Donald M. Payne, two former US officials and a current US Congressman, made the case for tougher measures against Khartoum in their recent interventions in terms of blockade of Port Sudan, bombings by NATO forces and different other castigatory measures against the Sudanese regime. That said, as I pointed out during the briefing at the Brookings Institution a few weeks ago, if after three years the world has failed to solved the problem of Darfur by putting pressure on Al-Bashir alone and only focusing its attention on the Sudanese regime, it’s time to not only come up with a plan B but more importantly review the strategy and change course. How much longer will the world tolerate this fruitless strategy?

Three years; three long and painful years that the killing fields in the Darfur area have continued unabated under our watch. Three years and the end is not even near. To the contrary, things are getting worse these days. And the international community is just talking, throwing out good rhetoric and nothing else. Everybody has recognized that there is a genocide going on. Everybody has said loudly that after the Holocaust nothing similar would happen under their watch. And shamefully, we let it happened in Rwanda in 1994 and now in Sudan. Three years have passed since the killing fields have been opened in Darfur and the world is merely watching and letting it happen again. Isn’t it a disgrace for Humanity? It is time for the world to stop being selfish, careless, and negligent. It is time to get tough on the various actors who are benefiting from the sufferings of the populations of the area. It is really time for the international community to pinpoint the root causes of the tragedy in order to start fixing the problem. So far, the approach used by the international community to save Darfur hasn’t worked. This fiasco must urge the international community to probe in other directions and identify the real causes of the problem. Why the heck is the world not looking into the genesis of the war in Darfur and the Chadian factor fueling of the crisis? It is the only way out of this messy and bloody situation.

It ain’t just Sudan and the Janjaweed!

I thought for a long time that those trying to resolve the Darfur problem would take a minute and look for the external factors implicated in this disaster, but three years have passed and nothing has been done past the long speeches and the numerous resolutions. In total at least thirteen resolutions on the Darfur crisis have been voted by the United Nations without any tangible result. 1706 is the latest of a long list of resolutions and I am afraid it is doomed to fall short like the rest because it also fails to address the true causes of the problem. In the case of the Darfur crisis, the world has solely focused its attention on the Sudanese regime, ignoring the other responsible party pulling ropes and benefiting from the conflict which has already brought death to 200,000 + people and displaced another 2 million + according to humanitarian sources. It’s Al-Bashir! It’s Sudan! It’s the Janjaweed! It’s the Arabs! Believe me, it’s not just Sudan.

General Idriss Deby Itno of Chad is part of problem not part of the solution

For three years, the world has been ignoring or refusing to confront some of the originators of the war in Darfur, namely General Idriss Deby Itno of Chad and part of his Zaghawa tribe. Everybody knows that he is behind the rebel groups fighting in Darfur. Everybody knows that he is funding them and providing all the material, military and logistical support to factions like the Justice and Equality Movement lead by Dr. Khalil Ibrahim or the Sudan Liberation Movement via his older brother Daoussa Deby Itno and General Mahamat Ali Abdallah Nassour. Why this silent complicity with the Chadian regime? Does it come down to oil again? It’s time for the world not only to confront General Al-Bashir but also get tough on General Deby who is a big chunk on the problem. General Idriss Deby Itno is ready to sacrifice everybody, including his own populations. According to various reliable sources, General Idriss Deby Itno has even gone as far as acquiring the services of the Janjaweed militias to export the killing fields inside Chad, all to draw the international community to rally to his side.

In a recent interview with Afrik.com, Ahmat Yacoub, the Director of Alwihda, a well known Chadian news site, said bluntly that the recent massacres in the Southeast of Chad are caused mainly by the regime of President Idriss Deby. ”They are to be blamed in big part on the regime of Idriss Deby which has handed weapons to civilians” he said. ”He [Idriss Deby] wants to use them [civilians] to protect himself (…) officially from the Chadian rebellion” added Ahmat Yacoub. That way, the world will realize that the conflict is spilling into Chad and CAR and act fast to deploy international force. According to information relayed by other Chadian websites General Idriss Deby Itno paid millions of CFA to the chief of the Janjaweed, Musa Hilal and his men to commit the same crimes they have been committing in Darfur on Chadian populations. The recent massacres around Goz Beida in the Southeast of Chad where more than 200 civilians were killed by ”unknown” assailants confirms Idriss Deby Itno implications and may be just the tip of the iceberg. Moreover, according to the words of the French researcher Roland Marchal of the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (National Center for Scientific Research, Paris) in a recent interview with the French Daily Le Monde relayed by the Chadian website Alwihda, ”General Idriss Deby Itno is arming some populations in Eastern Chad”. According to numerous viable sources close to the Chadian Army, last month, more than 3,000 AK47 have been dispatched to certain people close to the regime in Ndjamena and to some tribes, the Noarma, in the Eastern part of the country. The world will wake up later to find out what we all fear, another Rwanda. Already, more than 200,000 people have been murdered in the Darfur and the gruesome arithmetic keeps dragging on without any glimpse of a rapid solution.

As long as General Idriss Deby Itno of Chad will remain in power, there will be no peace neither in the Darfur nor in Chad.

As Minni Minnawi Arkou, one of the leaders of the Darfur rebellion who signed the Abuja agreement, now advisor to President Al-Bashir said during a meeting with President Bush a few months ago, ”as long as General Idriss Deby Itno of Chad will remain in power, there will be no peace neither in the Darfur nor in Chad.” This is exactly what is happening today. General Idriss Deby Itno is now arming and paying Arab tribes on the border with Sudan to go on a rampage killing Chadian civilians from other ethnic groups in order to blame the Sudanese government and its Janjaweed militias. He is recruiting children to use them in the fights as reported by the weekly Notre Temps No.275 and N’DJAMENA BI-HEBDO No.988. Deby’s continued presence as President of Chad will not only perpetuate the conflict in Darfur and in Chad but in the entire Central Africa region.

In the spring 2004, just one year after the first fighting broke out between the Sudanese rebels and the Sudanese forces in the Darfur, former Under Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Herman J. Cohen pointed out the destructive role the Chadian regime has been playing in the conflict in the Darfur in an interview with Radio France International. He was very harsh on the Chadian regime, accusing General Idriss Deby Itno to be at the origins of the deadly conflict. Even last summer, in a column titled ‘Deby Must Go For the Sake of Chad…and Sudan’ published by the International Peace Operations Association website, he warned the world on the danger Idriss Deby Itno incarnates: ”As long as President Déby remains in power with the support of his tiny minority ethnic group, which is starting to split apart, Chad will continue to suffer from instability and bouts of violence. The majority southerners of Chad are essentially observers as they watch the northern groups tear themselves apart and steal all of the oil money”. Last November, in an interview with the Voice of America, Ambassador Cohen maintained his charges against the regime of General Idriss Deby Itno in the following words ”Chad and Eritrea have also played a destabilizing role in the region”. Unfortunately, nobody wants to listen to Ambassador Cohen and life went on with more killings, rapes and village burnings in the Darfur. There is no need to mention that Ambassador Cohen spent several years working as a diplomat in Africa and knows what he is talking about.

In 2003, we were among those who saw General Idriss Deby Itno’s shadow in the beginning of the crisis in the Darfur and we wrote about it on ramadji.com.

A few weeks ago, Dr. Albissaty S. Allazam, one of the leaders of the Chadian resistance pointed out the implications of Chad in the degradation of the situation in the Darfur in a press conference given in Dakar, Senegal. Ngarlejy Yorongar, a prominent leader of the Chadian opposition in Chad, and Ahmat H. Soubiane, the former Chadian Ambassador to the United States and close former friend of the Chadian dictator until 2003 have both tried to get the same message across pointing out the collaboration between the Chadian regime and the Darfur rebels and all the material, financial, military and political support they have been receiving from Deby. Unfortunately for some unknown reasons nobody has listened to all those people. A few weeks ago, Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the J.E.M, publicly admitted on Radio France International that he is being backed by General Deby Itno and that in return; they [the Darfur rebels opposed to the Abuja agreement] will not let Deby down. He promised to fight for Deby and is actually doing it right now. Despite all the red flags raised by several observers who know the INs and OUTs of what’s happening in Darfur, nobody in the international community has bothered to pay attention so far. The consequence of the ”free pass” given to Deby to do whatever he wants in the area has put the lives of millions on the line. When is the world going to wake up?

Golden opportunity to declare a state of emergency and tighten the grip on the Chadian people

This apocalyptic situation on the borders with Sudan is exactly what General Idriss Deby Itno was looking for to tighten his grip on Chad and reduce people to silence. After the recent massacres in the Southeast of Chad, Deby and his government have declared a broad state of emergency in most of the country. This November 23, the Chadian parliament voted to extend the duration of the state of emergency for six more months. This is not aimed at protecting civilians. It is a cover to allow him to crack down on what is left of the Independent press and his opposition. That’s the bottom line. ‘(…) to control news and information is not an appropriate response to the problems Chad faces. On the contrary, it will exacerbate tension and foster polarization, and will not stop information getting out,’ said Reporters Without Borders, the independent press freedom organization. According to Reporters Without Borders, ‘using scissors will not help the government restore peace. It will just radicalize the opposition and give it additional arguments for resisting. We urge President Idriss Deby Itno to order his government to seek negotiated solutions rather than continue with these absurd and depressing measures.’

The Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) headquartered in New York City wrote a letter to General Idriss Deby and said that ‘Blanket restrictions on the private media deny the public of its fundamental right to information and undermine basic democratic principles enshrined in international law and declarations, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. We call on Your Excellency to ensure that the censorship measures are lifted immediately.’

This state of emergency also gives Idriss Deby Itno the opportunity to mobilize the 1,200 colonial French soldiers stationed in Chad to back him up as they did last April during the spectacular attack on N’Djamena by the troops of the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC).

Deby faces internal pressure

General Idriss Deby is using the crisis he helped start to tighten his dictatorship and divert attention from the real issues plaguing his government like bad governance, corruption, looting of our national resources, waste of those resources, injustice, impunity, dictatorship, poverty and insecurity,… Chadians have been enduring one of the toughest dictatorships on the continent for the last sixteen years. Idriss Deby Itno has started the fire in Darfur hoping that it will remain over there but now it’s backfiring on him and he is trying to play the victim/firefighter. His calling for the deployment of an international force is another farce which is not meant to protect the Darfurians. It is in reality aimed at creating a buffer that will protect him from being toppled by the Chadian resistance which has recently been very active. He faces too many hot fronts right now. The ‘reconciliation’ between Captain Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, the former leader of the United Front for Change (FUC) and his enemy General Idriss Deby Itno and the return of Mahamat Nour to Ndjamena this December 25^th, 2006 doesn’t solve the Chadian imbroglio. In effect, the forces of the coalition Rally of Democratic Forces / National Convention of Chad (RaFD/CNT) of the Erdimi twins and Colonel Hassan Aldjinedi are still very active in the Hadjar Marfaine area. In the same area, the forces of the Union of Democratic Forces for Development (UFDD) of General Nouri are also very active. They attacked and seized Chad’s major Eastern city, Abeche, before withdrawing from it on November 26^th. On December 9^th, they got into a fierce battle with Deby’s forces in and around Biltine. They inflicted serious damages to Deby’s forces, worse than what took place during the battle of Hadjer Meram said General Mahamat Nouri, the leader of the UFDD and many observers.

On the southern front, the MPRD of Colonel Djibrine Dassert and the MOSANAT have just joined forces to create a unified front called Union of the Movements for the National Harmony (UMCN). Telssi National Rebirth (TRN) of Colonel Michel Mbailemal is also waiting to join in anytime. On the northern front, the MDJT is occupying the ground in the mountains of the Tibesti and apparently trying to bring back former President Goukouni Weddei to lead the forces. Other rebel groups like the Armed Forces for Republican Action of Gourbal Djiddi Nokour and the MDD operate in the Lake Chad area. General Idriss Deby is facing a very volatile situation and he has become extremely paranoid. It is easy for him to blame everything on Sudan or use the fear of terrorism to convince the International community to back him up and save his regime. I hope the world is smart enough to not be fooled. The Chadian complex equation remains intact and must be solved as part of a global solution to the Chad/CAR/Sudan problem. Any partial band aid solution to the Darfur tragedy, excluding a solution to the Chadian and CAR internal crisis would not work because the long term perspective will still look gloomy as long as the three countries will be ruled by the same dictators who hate each other and refuse to engage in any serious dialogue with their opposition. Chadians of all horizons are fed up with General Idriss Deby Itno’s dictatorship and are determined to kick him out no matter how long and how costly the price will be. It is not for instance the return of Captain Mahamat Nour on the sides of General Idriss Deby Itno that will change the determination of many Chadians who want Deby out. The majority of Chadians have rejected Idriss Deby Itno and his corrupt system. He is only hanging to power because France is backing him and the rest of the free world does not care.

Darfur revisited

In the Darfur conflict, some clarification is necessary to avoid confusing people who are being misled by some inaccurate reports in some media. The conflict is not similar to the one that took place in Southern Sudan between the Arabs and Muslims of the North and the Christians/Animists of the South starting in the 1980s when late Dr. John Garang launched an insurrection until the signature of the peace agreement. The current crisis in Darfur is a conflict between the central government which is mainly Arab and Muslim and the Zaghawas who are also believers of Islam. Darfur is not a religious war. I have heard many people in the West talk about ”Arabs killing Black Africans” which is ridiculous and misleading to read. I do not think Al-Bashir and the Janjaweeds are white or yellow. They’re all as black as I am. On March 26, 2006, in ‘Ann Curry’s informative report – only part of the story,’ a response to NBC’s Ann Curry’s reports, Dr. Djime Adoum from tchadnews.info put it this way: ‘‘The Sudanese Zaghawa played an important role in bringing President Deby Itno to power in 1990.” Dr. Djime Adoum went further explaining that ”Given that one of their own is in power in Chad, they [the Sudanese Zaghawas] found it appealing to put pressure on the Sudanese Government and made demands about a more equitable share of Sudan’s resources. (…) The Zaghawa clans in the west, Darfur, felt that this would be an opportune moment to place their case in front of the worldview as well, since the spotlight focused on Sudan with intensity during the peace process with southern Sudan.” That is the hard truth. ”These rebels in turn began to fight the Sudanese Government and in the process of doing so made life unbearable for the rest of the communities in that region,” wrote Dr. Djime Adoum who is a well-known figure in the Chadian Diaspora. Dr. Adoum went on mentioning this crucial part: ”As a matter of public knowledge, any time a rebellion starts, the first people to suffer are those who live in the same area. The non-Zaghawa began to experience the ill effects of that rebellion (thefts, fights etc) found it necessary to secure arms so they can fend off occasional rebel incursion. Naturally the Sudanese government found it easier to arm the rest of the tribes for self defense. (…) (N.B. ‘Janjaweed’ is merely a term indicating anyone who mounts a horse and fights)”.

General Idriss Deby Itno is equally guilty for what’s happening.

As the International Criminal Court is gearing up to made public a list of indictments for the numerous crimes in the Darfur, I do hope that General Idriss Deby Itno and all his henchmen who have helped start the bloodshed will not be left behind. In fact, portraying General Idriss Deby Itno as innocent is doing a disservice to the victims of the conflict who would certainly want to see all the criminals exposed and face justice one day for their different acts. Nobody can trust the promises of Deby and Al Bashir to end the sufferings of their populations. Their words are empty rhetoric. They have signed a number of agreements, joint press releases, expressing their commitment to work together to end the conflict without any concrete results. As soon as they are done signing the agreements, they start accusing one another. It’s just a nasty and shameful game.

Let truth be told; Idriss Deby Itno is the one who created the mess, who started everything. And as Minni Minnawi Arkou said, as long as Idriss Deby Itno will rule over Chad, forget it; there will be no peace in the region. ‘‘We’re seeing a regional war against civilians, with armed groups on both sides of the border actively supported or tolerated by the Sudanese and Chadian governments,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director of Human Rights Watch. Well said.

General Idriss Deby Itno is using the oil revenues to fuel the conflict yet few big medias players have shown a willingness to address this issue. So far, despite the work done by big names like Nicholas D. Kirkof from New York Times and Ann Curry of NBC to cover and expose the Darfur tragedy, I haven’t heard him or another big name in the media talk about the Chadian factor in the continuation of the genocide in their reporting. All you read or hear in the main stream media is about Sudan’s role and the Janjaweeds. When will someone objective like Ambassador Cohen stand up and nail Idriss Deby Itno? If the world has several voices like his, progress would have been made in the Darfur and there will be a serious dialogue and a political process going on to address the internal turmoil in Chad. By extension, CAR will not be sinking deep into chaos as it is today.

Closing arguments: it boils down to the issue of bad leadership, greed and dictatorship in Africa.

As I stated during a briefing organized by the Brookings Institution on the next steps for Darfur, this mess created by General Idriss Deby Itno and General Omar Hassan Al-Bashir is another illustration of the poor leadership that is ruining Africa and preventing it from taking off politically, economically and socially. We have got everything to be happy. Yet why are we going through these horrible tragedies? Believe it or not, it boils down to bad leadership; greedy and reckless tyrants who refuse to leave power and engage in proxy wars to maintain their stronghold on their land. In the Darfur mess, there are two greedy and evil dictators who deeply hate one another and are fighting one another in a proxy war. Everybody knows that Deby has created and is backing the Darfur rebels to destabilize Khartoum. Even Mr. Andrews Natsios and Mr. Jean-Marie Guehenno recognized that in their remarks during the recent briefing held at the Brooking Institution. When General Omar Hassan Al-Bashir realized that he had been duped by the same Idriss Deby he helped put in power in 1990, he decided to close its eyes on the activities of the Chadian resistance who are currently fighting the Deby regime on the borders with Sudan. The sad reality in this ordeal is that the ones who are really suffering are the poor civilians. There is a proverb that says ‘‘When two elephants are fighting, it’s the grass that suffers”.

As long as Africa will be filled with filthy, careless, evil, corrupt and greedy gangsters like General Idriss Deby Itno of Chad and General Omar Hassan Al-Bashir of Sudan, we will always have other Darfurs to deal with. Instead of solving the real development problems, the extreme poverty, the HIV/AIDs pandemic, the drought, the famine… populations are faced with, those foolish Generals would rather play war and wait for the rest of the world to come and clean up after them. It is nasty and shameful for Africa. While those so called leaders set up fires all over the African continent, those who suffer the most are the defenseless poor civilians caught up in the cross fires as the world saw in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Eastern Congo, Uganda, Chad, and now Darfur. Both Deby and Al-Bashir are dictators. Both are accused of numerous war crimes. Both are corrupt, have been in power for decades against the will of their people, have seized power by military coups, are not willing to step aside and let their people freely elect their leaders. Both claim to be warriors, are evil and are destroying life, resources and hope in Africa. The international community must pressure both of them in order to stop the genocide in Darfur and save the entire region from descending to hell. Why is the Bush Administration, despite his beautiful inaugural speech in January 2005, hesitant to help the real democrats in those countries plagued by dictatorships? Freedom is universal and we’re waiting to see the translation of those encouraging words into real actions in Africa.

A few days ago, I read one of Nicholas Kristof’s columns on the New York Times’ website and he brought up the idea of President Bush going to Chad and Central African Republic ‘‘to support the two leaders in those countries that are being attacked by Sudan”. I hope that Nicholas D. Kristof was just kidding. With all due respect to the Pulitzer Prize winner, it would be an unwise move and a clear support to the same evil and destruction the Bush Administration is fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush visiting General Idriss Deby Itno now will be no different than asking a US President to visit Saddam during the repression against the Kurds and the Shias in the 1980s. I am sorry but I do think that Nicholas D. Kristof’s idea lacks the understanding of the root causes of the Darfur conflict. President Bush going down there or sending Condi will do nothing to save lives. In the contrary, it will encourage General Idriss Deby Itno and his puppet installed in Bangui, General Bozize, to engage in more evil campaigns against Khartoum. It’s bad enough that the French are supporting these two dictators with additional troops and military equipment, preserving their ”colonial empire” claiming that they want to ‘’stop the Sudanese aggression” and look after the stability in the area. What stability are the French talking about? I have no clue. The French attitude in this crisis is doing nothing good to the populations. Al-Bashir will not sit back and let them arm Deby and Bozize to mess with him. He will react and will react viciously. Those who will perish will once again be civilians.

Instead of calling on President Bush to visit those dictators, President Bush and his administration could offer America an honest look at what is happening and deal with those two rogues in a tough manner helping to free Africa from oppression and desperation. The Bush administration can support the real democrats and those who strive for peace, freedom, mutual understanding, justice, and development. Only real democrats can remodel the African landscape and turn it into a democratic society where freedom, justice, equality, accountability and peace will prevail. If countries like Mali, Benin, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Botswana…are doing well and making progress, it is for a reason. Real democracy, good governance, transparency in the management of resources, accountability, justice, freedom have taken root in those countries, bringing back hope and putting masses at work. Others like Chad, Sudan, CAR, Togo, Gabon…are doing poorly because of the obvious reasons of bad governance, endemic corruption, looting of meager resources, the use of ethnic antagonisms to remain in power, you name it.

Injustice and dictatorship have brought Darfurians, with the backing, master-minding, funding and support of General Idriss Deby Itno, to start their insurrection three years ago. To counter the rebellion, Al-Bashir has used the Janjaweed to fight back. The same thing is happening in Chad. Injustice, frustration, lack of freedom, lack of democracy, poverty, corruption, to just list a few, have piled up during the sixteen years of dictatorship of General Deby who categorically refuses a true and open dialogue with the different components of the Chadian society. Today, running out of other peaceful options to solve the thousands of problems plaguing Chad, many Chadians are opting for the language of armed resistance. To make Deby pay back for his ingratitude towards Al-Bashir who made him who he is, Sudan is also closing his eyes on the activities of Chadian rebels groups in the East of Chad. What goes around comes around, doesn’t it?

To avoid seeing Darfurians die as it has been the case for the last three years, to avoid having another Darfur inside Chad, and in CAR, the same causes producing the same effects, the free world must wake up and walk out of its lethargy and inaction to act fast and save lives in the area. Getting tough on Al-Bashir and Idriss Deby to force them to stop or face consequences is the only option left to the world to save Darfur. Urging Deby, Bozize, Al-Bashir to open up inclusive dialogues with the different components of their oppositions is the only way out of the mess. We cannot afford to sit back and watch. It’s morally disgusting and reprehensible. Additionally, the area is on the brink of a general explosion and collapse. If it explodes, it will be detrimental and counter productive for global peace and security because fragile states are fertile ground for extremists and lunatics of all sorts who can easily engage in recruiting their future militants. Having truly democratically elected leaders who care for their populations is the wish of millions of Africans. The international community should seriously help us end dictatorships which are the causes of our tragedies. That’s what the next steps should be. It’s time for real and decisive actions!

Ramadji Doumnande is a former Fulbright scholar from Chad. He is the founder and editor of ramadji.com and lale-online.com. He can be reached at ramadji@ramadji.com .

GUINEA: Aboubacar Diallo, “I buried my 7-year-old niece this morning”

CONAKRY, 16 February (IRIN) – Aboubacar Diallo says his seven-year-old niece, Aicha, was shot and killed by uniformed soldiers shooting randomly in the Taouyah suburb of Conakry on Wednesday night. The girl made it to hospital, but died because blood and medicines were not available. She was buried without a ceremony on Thursday morning.

Conakry and other towns have been under martial law since President Lansana Conte called in the army on Monday to end days of rioting and looting by youths demanding his resignation. Residents say the army is spreading terror by robbing and raping residents in the suburbs, and shooting in the air and at people.

“Last night after the start of the curfew at 8pm soldiers came into the district and started shooting into the air to warn people not to come out. They are doing that in all the areas where there was rioting before, shooting into the air to announce the start of the curfew.”

“One of the bullets came through the wall and hit Aicha, who was lying in her bed. The bullet hit her in the head.”

“She was unconscious and haemorrhaging blood and we knew she had to go to hospital.”

“When the shooting stopped, her father took her in his arms and went out into the street. It was deserted. He walked about half a kilometre to the main road and waited a long time until a private car with two soldiers passed and took them to the Donka hospital.”

“By the time they got to the hospital she was almost dead. The doctors there tried to help but they had no blood and no medicines. The bleeding could not be stopped and she passed away not long after they got there.”

“Today her father is so devastated he can’t speak. We can’t stop her mother crying. She is crying and crying.”

“God gave us Aicha and it’s him who took her back.”

“She was buried this morning at 11 am in the cemetery close to her home. Hardly anyone came because of the curfew. It was done very fast, without any honour.”

mc/ail/nr/cs

IRIN news

Oxfam urges action as Security Council meets on Chad

N’DJAMENA, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Aid agency Oxfam urged the international community to tackle rising violence in eastern Chad before it becomes “another Darfur”, ahead of a Security Council meeting on Thursday to decide on a peacekeeping force.

Ethnic conflict and a simmering rebellion in Chad’s east have displaced tens of thousands of people and hampered efforts to aid a flood of refugees from Sudan’s western Darfur region, where a four-year conflict has killed more than 200,000 people.

The Security Council was due to meet on Thursday to discuss a proposal to deploy a mission to protect civilians and respond to humanitarian challenges in eastern Chad.

Oxfam called on U.N. member states to make financial and logistical preparations to deploy peacekeepers this month, should the Security Council give its approval on Thursday.

“The situation is spiralling out of control,” Roland Van Hauwermeiren, head of Oxfam in Chad, said in a statement.

“We are facing an extraordinary situation as more than 230,000 refugees who fled attacks in Darfur in 2003 and 2004 are joined by thousands of Chadians fleeing a new wave of fighting at home,” he added.

With violence blocking efforts to establish decent camps and provide clean drinking water, Oxfam said diarrhea, cholera and hepatitis could spread among thousands of displaced people.

“In some of the areas where we work, you’ve got 12,000 or 15,000 people and not a single latrine,” said Van Hauwermeiren. In the northeastern province of Dar Tama, traditional rivalries are turning into a major conflict, as groups become better armed and more numerous.

In the southeastern region of Dar Sila, cross-border raids are being carried out by Darfur’s Janjaweed ethnic militia.

A variety of rebel groups are engaged with a cat-and-mouse war with President Idriss Deby’s forces all across eastern Chad.

A senior U.N. official in the region said this week the United Nations was already preparing an advance mission to the Chad-Sudan border area to lay the groundwork for a possible international force.

An initial U.N. assessment mission sent to Chad in November concluded it was too dangerous to send in peacekeepers until all sides agreed to a political truce.

However, diplomats said the Security Council ordered a reassessment after its members complained at a closed-door session that too little was being done to protect suffering civilians.

Guinea forces abusing population – rights group

By Saliou Samb

CONAKRY, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Guinea’s security forces are shooting, beating and robbing civilians under martial law, a rights group said on Friday, as international pressure grew for President Lansana Conte to strike a deal with opponents.

The capital Conakry and upcountry towns were calm and under tight military control four days after Conte declared a state of siege to quell a popular rebellion, triggered by a general strike, against his rule over the West African state.

Guinean authorities on Friday lifted martial law at the country’s main bauxite mine, Sangaredi, to allow a restart of halted exports of bauxite, the economic lifeblood of the country. Guinea is the world’s leading shipper of the bauxite ore from which aluminium is extracted.

While martial law appeared to have largely restored order, the killings since early January of more than 120 people, mostly unarmed civilians, in clashes with soldiers and police have drawn sharp condemnation of Conte’s government.

“Guinean security forces are using martial law as an excuse to terrorize ordinary Guineans,” Human Rights Watch’s Africa director, Peter Takirambudde, said in a statement.

“Under the guise of reestablishing law and order, they’re acting like common criminals, beating, robbing and brutalizing the population they’re supposed to protect,” he added.

Former colonial power France, hosting a summit of African leaders in Cannes, led calls for Conte’s government to seek a peaceful political deal acceptable to all sides.

“We have adopted a resolution … firmly calling on Guinean authorities to get out of the impasse, to protect the civilian population, to launch a political process,” French President Jacques Chirac told a news conference.

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS said it was sending former Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida to Guinea at the weekend to try to broker a settlement.

Guinean officials sought to fend off the criticism, saying security forces had faced looters, escaped prisoners and protesters who had obtained arms smuggled into the country.

“We regret the sporadic shooting by uncontrolled elements, sometimes dressed in military uniform,” army chief of staff Kerfala Camara told state radio late on Thursday.

CIVIL WAR RISK

Opposition and union leaders say Conte, a chain-smoking general and reclusive diabetic in his 70s, is not fit to rule and should cede powers to a government led by an independent prime minister agreed on by consensus.

Union negotiators pressed this point on Thursday when they met state officials to try to thrash out a solution that would end the strike and lift martial law.

They demanded that Conte, who has ruled since seizing power in a 1984 coup, annul his choice last week of a close ally, Eugene Camara, to be prime minister.

Some analysts have warned the heavy-handed military crackdown could lead to a possible civil war which could spread beyond Guinea’s borders in a volatile region.

Human Rights Watch cited witnesses in Conakry’s suburbs as saying that security forces, especially the presidential guard, had searched private homes, breaking down doors and stealing cell phones, cameras, and money.

“(They) have seriously beaten individuals with clubs and rifle butts, and have even shot and wounded individuals protesting the theft of their household goods,” the group said.

Human Rights Watch said security forces had been responsible for at least 22 killings in the past five days. It cited other credible sources as saying at least three women had been raped by uniformed personnel, including soldiers. (Additional reporting by Kirsten Gemlich in Paris)

 

GUINEA: Life means terror in army-run Conakry

CONAKRY, 16 February (IRIN) – “The boss made reference to President Lansana Conte and gave us the order to shoot anyone provocative, so whoever provokes me, I will shoot him without any hesitation,” said a Kalashnikov-toting soldier in the main street outside the Donka hospital in central Conakry on Thursday, who refused to give his name.

The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday security forces have killed at least 22 people using this justification since last weekend.

Of those, HRW said at least one was killed since President Conte imposed 10 days of martial law on Monday night, although news reports have recorded nine people killed around the country since then.

In addition to the HRW count, IRIN has confirmed that a seven year-old girl, Aicha Diallo, was shot and killed during random shooting by uniformed soldiers in the Taouyah suburb of Conakry on Wednesday. CLICK to read Aicha Diallo’s story.

Guineans say uniformed soldiers have also been looting, raping and beating people at random in most of the sprawling city’s suburbs.

Violence erupted in Conakry and in towns across Guinea on Saturday after President Conte announced on Friday evening he would appoint a man seen as his close ally to the prime minister post, a position populist unions now leading calls for his resignation say he promised to an independent candidate.

Most areas of Conakry are calm since the army took over, although demonstrations have been reported in the towns Banankoro in the south and Labe in the centre of the country.

Provocations

Guineans struggling to live in Conakry, the rundown capital, where they are only allowed out of their houses between noon and 6pm, say ‘provocations’ can include staring, wearing a desirable pair of shoes, or simply being in the wrong place when the jeeps of soldiers careering around the city start shooting their guns in the air.

Alseny Bah, 21, was leaving his house in the maze of alleyways in the Petit Lac area of Taouyah district in the north of Conakry on Thursday, looking for an open kiosk to buy food.

“When I left the house, a soldier saw me straight away. I ran away but he trapped me in a corner and beat me with his fists. When I fell down he went through my pockets,” Bah said on Thursday.

Bah lost his cell phone, and the equivalent of US $8 in cash. The soldier even took his worn Nike running shoes.

Shot hiding in the closet

In the Hafea district in the east of the city, Aminata, 30, didn’t even leave her house but still got caught up in the violence, according to her sister, who gave her name as Djenadob.

“We heard trucks pulling up outside and shouting, then shooting started,” Djenadob said. The girls hit inside their wardrobe, but when the shooting stopped Aminata was slumped, bleeding.

Neighbours said later the soldiers were shooting into the air as a warning to people not to come outside. One of the bullets pierced the flimsy tin walls of the sisters’ shack and clipped Aminata.

The family borrowed a neighbour’s car and risked the long drive to the city’s only functioning hospital. Aminata’s condition later was unclear.

Stoned, raped

At the Donka hospital, the mother of a young boy who was hit in the head with a rock thrown by soldiers on Wednesday says he has not eaten or spoken since the attack.

“The soldier was going to shoot him but his colleague stopped him, so he threw a rock instead and it cracked his head,” she said.

In its statement on Friday, HRW said at least three women living in Conakry’s suburbs have been raped by uniformed personnel, including soldiers and presidential guardsmen.

“At least one victim was reportedly gang-raped,” the statement said.

“People in the suburbs are terrified because they say the soldiers are going to come in and ‘kill and rape us and send red berets into our homes’,” said HRW researcher Dustin Sharp who was in Conakry until Thursday.

Culture of impunity

Guineans say they are far more afraid of the army than the regular police or gendarmes.

“It’s the army that kills,” said a 33-year-old journalist, who did not want to be named. “We have much more reason to fear them than the police or gendarmes.”

HRW has previously accused the Guinean security services of torture and murder and said there is a “culture of impunity” compounded by a weak judicial system.

The army chief-of-staff, Gen Kerfalla Camara, told journalists in Conakry on Friday that a commission has been set up to look into allegations of army abuse.

But Sharp said no Guinean security personnel have ever been prosecuted for serious crimes, including the shooting of 13 unarmed students during a strike in June last year.

Despite the unrest, Sharp said many people he met in Conakry still wanted to demand Conte’s resignation when martial law is lifted.

“It’s an open question to what extent the resistance has been broken,” Sharp said.

Civil society leaders are due to sit down with the military on Saturday to start negotiations to end the crisis.

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IRIN news

Pressure grows on Guinea’s Conte to end martial law

By Saliou Samb

CONAKRY, Feb 16 (Reuters) – The United States, France and African leaders urged Guinea’s President Lansana Conte on Friday to end martial law and negotiate a political settlement with opponents contesting his rule over the West African country.

As human rights groups accused Conte’s security forces of shooting, beating and robbing civilians under martial law, the Guinean president came under intense international pressure to avoid further turmoil in the world’s leading bauxite exporter.

The seaside capital Conakry and upcountry towns are under tight military control four days after Conte declared a 12-day state of siege to quell a popular rebellion, triggered by a general strike against his 23-year autocratic rule.

The killings since early January of more than 120 people, mostly unarmed civilians, in clashes with soldiers and police have drawn sharp international condemnation of Conte.

“The United States is deeply concerned over the crisis in Guinea … We condemn the suspension — even partial — of civilian rule, the use of lethal force against the civilian population, the abrogation of basic freedoms, and the roll-back of the democratic process,” the U.S. government said.

It called for martial law to be lifted and the return of the military to their barracks.

“The disorder that plagues Guinea reflects widespread popular discontent caused by decades of poor governance,” the U.S. embassy in Conakry said in a statement.

Hosting a summit of African leaders in Cannes, French President Jacques Chirac also called for a democratic solution in the former French colony which became independent in 1958.

“We have adopted a resolution … firmly calling on Guinean authorities … to protect the civilian population, to launch a political process,” Chirac told a news conference.

Chirac said French planes and ships were ready to evacuate, if necessary, some 2,000 French citizens from Guinea, as well as Lebanese, U.S. and other citizens. The United States has already flown some of its nationals out.

Guinean union leaders and state officials, who held talks on Thursday, were due to meet again on Saturday to try to thrash out a solution that would end the strike and lift martial law.

ECOWAS MISSION

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS said it was sending former Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida to Guinea at the weekend to try to broker a settlement.

Opposition and union leaders say Conte, a chain-smoking general and reclusive diabetic in his 70s, is not fit to rule and should cede powers to a government led by an independent prime minister agreed on by consensus.

They are demanding that Conte, who has ruled since seizing power in a 1984 coup, annul his choice last week of a close ally, Eugene Camara, to be prime minister.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch accused Guinea’s security forces of using martial law to “terrorise” ordinary Guineans.

“Under the guise of reestablishing law and order, they’re acting like common criminals, beating, robbing and brutalizing the population they’re supposed to protect,” HRW’s Africa director, Peter Takirambudde, said in a statement.

Guinean authorities on Friday lifted martial law at the country’s main bauxite mine, Sangaredi, to allow a restart of halted exports of bauxite, the country’s economic lifeblood.

Some analysts have warned the heavy-handed military crackdown could lead to a possible civil war which could spread beyond Guinea’s borders in a volatile region. (Additional reporting by Kirsten Gemlich in Paris)

Darfur rebel group says accepts cease-fire, talks

By Opheera McDoom and Aziz el-Kaissouni

KHARTOUM, Feb 15 (Reuters) – One of the biggest Darfur rebel factions said on Thursday it would respect a cease-fire and was ready to resume peace talks with the government to try to halt violence in the region that has killed some 200,000 people.

Peace talks have faltered in the past, and only one of three main rebel factions signed a 2006 deal. Since then the rebels have fragmented into numerous factions, but the group which has agreed to the cease-fire is one of the largest.

“We will respect the … cease-fire and … once we have our commanders conference we will attend peace negotiations,” rebel commander Jar el-Neby told Reuters.

U.N. Darfur envoy Jan Eliasson and his African Union counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim earlier met Darfur rebel commanders who rejected the 2006 deal.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to consult next week on proposals for a mission to protect civilians in eastern Chad, where attacks launched from Darfur have exacerbated ethnic conflicts and displaced tens of thousands.

At a French-African summit in the southern French resort Cannes on Thursday, Sudan, Chad and Central African Republic agreed not to support rebels attacking each other’s territory, Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said.

“There is a commitment in this agreement that each country will respect the sovereignty of the other countries and no country will support any rebellion within its territory,”" Akol told reporters after the meeting.

POSITIONS SOFTENED

The Darfur rebels have in the past said they want the 2006 agreement to be scrapped but the government has refused to allow any changes or additions to the accord.

Eliasson told a news conference that those extreme positions seemed to have softened during their talks, and “that leaves diplomatic space.”

Rebels have in the past rejected AU mediation in any new talks on the ground that the first peace deal, which the pan-African body mediated, was biased.

“We will now be happy with mediation from the United Nations and the AU,” said Neby.

The joint team has not yet met the other large rebel faction, the National Redemption Front, whose political leadership is divided. Eliasson said the NRF had wanted to meet in Chad, but logistics prevented his team from traveling there.

Divisions among Darfur’s rebel factions have been a factor in delaying peace talks with Khartoum, and an oft-delayed conference to try to unite their positions is now due to start on Feb. 19.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that he was awaiting a report from Eliasson and a reply from Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on a hybrid peacekeeping force of U.N. and African Union troops in Darfur.

“So again, this continuing deteriorating situation in Darfur is just unacceptable,” Ban said.

Sudan has agreed to a hybrid force but has objected to more troops coming to Darfur than the 7,000-strong African Union force now on the ground.

The United States is putting pressure on African governments to offer troops for the hybrid force. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington, “We would say that it is your responsibility because of the nature of the situation to make those contributions.”

Most of the AU soldiers now on the ground would be incorporated into a new mission the United Nations hoped would have some 17,000 troops. But until plans are settled, few other countries, except for Bangladesh, have volunteered to send soldiers or logistic personnel Western nations are to provide.

Ban also said he was disappointed Sudan had broken its promise to allow a U.N. human rights mission into Darfur. He urged Sudan to cooperate fully, adding that if Bashir “believes that there is no problem, then he should be able to receive the human rights fact-finding mission.”

Experts estimate 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes in four years of conflict in Darfur. Washington calls the violence genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use and Khartoum rejects. (Additional reporting by Evelyn Leopold at the United Nations, and Sue Pleming in Washington)

Sudan president says Darfur rebels Western-backed

DUBAI, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said in comments published on Friday that Darfur rebels who rejected a 2006 peace deal were backed by the West.

Speaking to the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on the sidelines of African talks in the French city of Cannes, Bashir said that instead of punishing rebels that rejected the peace deal, a United Nations resolution had put the onus on Khartoum.

“The elements that reject the agreement move with freedom in Western capitals and receive financial and military support … and due to this support have been successful in controlling the northern section of Darfur,” Bashir said. “Is this not a direct threat to Darfur and to security and peace?”

One of the biggest Darfur rebel factions said on Thursday it would respect a ceasefire and was ready to resume peace talks with Sudan’s government to try to halt violence in the region that has killed some 200,000 people.

Peace talks have faltered in the past with only one of three main rebel factions signing a 2006 deal. Since then the rebels have fragmented into numerous factions but the one that agreed to the ceasefire on Thursday is one the largest.

The announcement came after U.N. Darfur envoy Jan Eliasson and his African Union counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim met Darfur rebel commanders who rejected the 2006 peace deal.

Rebels have in the past rejected AU mediation of new talks because it mediated the first deal which they said was biased.

Bashir appeared to have made his comments before Sudan agreed at talks with its neighbours Chad and Central African Republic not to support rebels attacking each other’s territory.

In his comments to Asharq al-Awsat, he accused Chad of backing Darfur rebels under the nose of the United Nations.

“These movements were initially present in the refugee camps where they were carrying out military training and where Chad opened its borders and airports to get weapons to these groups and to facilitate their movement to Darfur, and this is happening within the sight of the United Nations,” he said.

“No one has condemned Chad or the states that send arms, but accusations are always against the Sudanese government and Janjaweed,” he said, referring to a pro-government militia.

Violence in Darfur has spilled over to Chad and Central African Republic, who blame Khartoum.

SUDAN: Military solution ‘not an option’ in Darfur

KHARTOUM, 16 February (IRIN) – A military solution is not an option in ending the crisis in Darfur, according to United Nations and African Union officials. Instead, the parties to the Darfur conflict must agree to a peace process.

“There is an acknowledgement that there is simply no military solution to the Darfur crisis,” the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Sudan, Jan Eliasson, told reporters in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Thursday. “That is a starting point for the way forward and that is the political road.”

At a joint news conference with Salim Ahmed Salim, the AU’s special envoy to Darfur, Eliasson warned: “A missed opportunity, again on Darfur – not building on what we have achieved and not taking the chance now to finally get this conflict behind us – will be a serious mistake.”

The two envoys have been in Khartoum and Darfur for talks with government and rebel representatives, in a renewed attempt to coax non-signatories to the May 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement to agree a truce. They also hoped to pressure the Sudanese government to halt its military campaign in the war-torn region.

“There cannot be a military solution to the crisis in Darfur,” Salim said. “The result is only suffering, death and destruction for ordinary people.”

Despite repeated promises by both the Sudanese government and rebels, there is little evidence on the ground to demonstrate that either side is committed to a peaceful solution to the crisis, observers say.

On the contrary, the violence has continued to escalate, threatening humanitarian operations across the vast region. This week, for example, the AU reported that Sudanese military planes had bombed two villages in North Darfur in direct violation of two ceasefire agreements. Sudanese officials said the bombardment was a defensive manoeuvre against rebels.

Salim said they had urged parties to the conflict to stop the violence. “We have been encouraged by the initial reaction of everybody we met on this issue – the importance of de-escalation of violence – and by the assurances from all the other parties that they will do the utmost to facilitate the operations of humanitarian organisations,” he said.

“We are going to operate with a sense of urgency,” the envoy added. “Because if you say ‘we will continue to consult and consult and consult,’ the more time you take, the more people will die.”

According to aid workers, violence in Darfur has escalated since the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement between the government and one faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement.

Two factions refused to sign, complaining that it did not meet their basic demands of wealth and power-sharing. The rebel movements later fragmented and shifting alliances between rebel groups have resulted in continuing clashes with government forces.

Over the past year, a significant number of attacks have been directed at humanitarian workers, severely curtailing aid operations. Observers say the culprits remain largely unidentified due to growing confusion over which groups are politically motivated rebels and which are mere bandits.

“The humanitarian workers are exhausted,” Eliasson added. “We heard from them clear expressions of fatigue, of frustration at the situation.”

The Darfur conflict started in 2003, when rebels took up arms complaining that the remote Darfur region remained undeveloped due to neglect by Khartoum’s powerful Islamist regime.

The Sudanese government responded by arming Arab Janjawid militias to contain the conflict; the militias instead launched a campaign of rape and murder, targeting black African communities.

Aid workers estimate that at least two million people have been made homeless by the conflict. The fighting has also spilled over into eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic, with the three countries trading accusations of supporting each other’s rebels.

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission on Darfur travelled to neighbouring Chad to interview refugees who have fled the war-torn region, having failed to secure Sudanese visas.

Speaking in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was disappointed the team could not visit Sudan, and had raised the issue with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Source: IRIN

Sudan’s southern former rebels move north

By Opheera McDoom

KHARTOUM, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Sudan’s southern former rebels said on Friday they would move their headquarters to Khartoum to influence national policy more as north-south relations had soured since a 2005 peace deal ended Africa’s longest civil war.

Under the peace accords a national coalition government was formed, wealth and power was shared and the south given the right to vote on secession by 2011.

But the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) has complained their northern partners in peace, the dominant National Congress Party (NCP), have not implemented the accord and have taken key policy decisions unilaterally.

“We are going to relocate the headquarters of the SPLM to Khartoum so as to be more active in national politics,” said SPLM spokesman Yasir Arman.

The SPLM headquarters was previously in the south Sudan capital Juba and observers had often criticised the SPLM for focusing on southern issues and neglecting national politics.

Arman said the NCP was wrong to prevent a U.N. human rights delegation from visiting the war-torn west Sudan region of Darfur this week and it was just the latest in a string of decisions imposed by the NCP without consulting the SPLM.

“This will add more fuel to the problems between the government of Sudan and the international community and we don’t want to do that,” said Arman.

COALITION IN DANGER

Khartoum has defied a U.N. Security Council resolution authorising some 22,500 U.N. police and troops to keep peace in Darfur, calling it an attempt to colonise Sudan. The SPLM supports a clearly mandated U.N. Darfur mission.

Relations have been tense between the world body and the NCP, which expelled Jan Pronk, the top U.N. official in Sudan, last year. This week Khartoum also refused visas to a six-member delegation from the Geneva-based U.N. human rights council, saying one member was biased.

Arman criticised also this decision.

“We need the cooperation of the international community to reach a peaceful political solution to the Darfur problem which is more important than the fuss about visas,” he added.

He said the NCP was using its mechanical majority rather than taking decisions by consensus within the coalition government formed by the January 2005 peace deal, he said.

Under the deal the NCP was allocated 52 percent of parliament and government institutions while the SPLM took 28 percent with the rest going to other political forces.

But another SPLM official who declined to be named said a “gentleman’s agreement” was made at negotiations that decisions would be taken by consensus. “But we made a pact with the devil,” he told Reuters from Juba.

Arman said if the NCP persisted in pushing through its policies without consensus the coalition could be in danger.

“This will no longer be a government of national unity but a government of the National Congress Party,” he said.