dont u think its all about oil yet again
The Nation (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
July 30, 2004
Posted to the web July 29, 2004
Nairobi
A human disaster continues to play itself out in the Sudan’s western Darfur region as Africa, and the world, dithers.
The Janjaweed militia, backed by the Khartoum government, has so far killed up to 50,000 people in the region. More than one million have fled their homes and an estimated 2.2 million are in urgent need of food or medical aid.
An expedition by the African Union and visits by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Colin Powell have failed to stop the carnage. Despite this, a UN resolution draft threatening the Sudan with sanctions unless it reins in the Arab militia within 30 days is opposed by seven of the Security Council’s 15 members.
The story might have been different if the AU was the one leading the charge to be tough on Sudan. Instead, some AU members - led by Egypt - want the Sudan to be given more time to deal with the Darfur crisis.
The Darfur crisis has revealed a shameful degree of cynicism. Because the long-drawn-out talks between Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA)/Movement were making progress at our own Naivasha, the world didn’t want to threaten that by raising the Darfur issue.
The disappointing thing is that the SPLA was willing to play along, because its leadership, too, seemed eager to close the deal and move on to enjoy the privileges that it has won for itself in the peace agreements.
The Sudan government must not be allowed to get away with what some people are calling the “Darfur genocide”. Oil, again, seems to be the force driving the international community’s fatal hesitation to deal firmly with the Sudanese government over Darfur.
The killings serve its interests because uprooting and murdering large numbers of non-Arab populations reduces the political leverage that the numbers in the south gives its opponents. And it will bog down the SPLA when implementation of the peace agreement gets under way, because it will have millions of refugees to repatriate and resettle.
This is why it is equally scandalous that the SPLA has not raised the stakes much higher than it has on Darfur as the added price for the settlement with Khartoum.