Darfur: Mujahideen to Fight UN, Journo Arrested

(Darfur, Sudan) The Sudanese government is sending Arab Islamist Mujahideen on late-night, after-curfew plane flights into the Darfur region to train and fight United Nations peacekeeping forces. Furthermore, it's reported that Osama bin Laden and deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri have personally directed Muslims to fight the UN in Darfur.

From Sudan Tribune:

Sudanese Islamist leaders say they will take up arms against United Nations peacekeepers if they deploy to Darfur, and some have warned they will also fight the Khartoum government if it agrees to the force.

President al-Bashir, who swore to lead personally the resistance to a U.N. force, renewed Sudan's rejection to any UN forces in Darfur, considering the draft resolution forwarded by Britain to the Security Council in this regard as a colonial attempt against, a matter which Sudan would not allow.

Despite Sudan's objections, the United States and Britain have introduced a Security Council draft resolution that would deploy up to 17,000 troops and 3,000 police in Darfur, where an overstretched African Union force is monitoring a shaky truce.

It's irrational to think that the U.S. and Britain might consider colonizing Sudan, or any country. I do not believe the public would even entertain the idea. Unfortunately, the Sudanese are being told that foreigners want to colonize the country, so that's the perception that must be dealt with.

It's unclear how the situation is going to play out but it is clear that the existing African Union peacekeepers are ineffective. It's also a safe assumption, based on history, that the UN will be ineffective, whatever it does.

In related news, Chicago Tribune journalist and Pulitzer Prize recipient Paul Salopek was arrested by Sudanese government authorities and charged with espionage and entering the country illegally from Chad.

From NY Times:

Mr. Salopek was traveling in Chad to report for an article about the culture, history and politics of the Sahel region, a vast, arid stretch of earth that spans the continent from east to west.

His trial was to begin on Saturday, but the judge granted his lawyers' request for a delay of two weeks to prepare his defense. Two Chadian men traveling with him, Suleiman Abakar Moussa, an interpreter, and Idriss Abdulraham Anu, a driver, face the same charges.

For reference, filmmaker and human rights advocate Tomo Kriznar was recently sentenced to two years in a Sudanese prison on charges similar to those Salopek faces. I would guess that they don't get cable in Sudanese prisons.

Lastly, there's also speculation that the government is seeking bargaining chips - hostages - to ward off the deployment of a UN force in Darfur.

Lovely.


[Update 09/11/06]

Salopek freed.