February 15, 2008

Bush & Rice Head Into Africa

President Bush embarks on a tour of five African countries tonight and, as the New York Times puts it, the trip will "thrust himself into the role of peacemaker" as he tries to help international leaders address recent crises in the region.

He won't be alone: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be in Kenya, one of the administration's greatest areas of concern. In Nairobi on Monday, Rice will meet with former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has been in the country since mid-January to try to mediate a bloody conflict sparked by Kenya's contested presidential election at the end of last year.

Annan said today that a deal between the two rival factions was "very close," but that a final solution about a power-sharing government had not yet been reached.

But Bush, for his part, is sticking to friendlier territory: Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia. At a speech yesterday at the Smithsonian's African Museum of Art, the president offered a rosy view of the five nations: "Each of these countries is blessed with natural beauty, vibrant culture, and an unmistakable spirit of energy and optimism. Africa in the 21st century is a continent of potential.... It's a place where democracy is advancing, where economies are growing, and leaders are meeting challenges with purpose and determination."

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Posted at 12:15 PM
Posted to: Africa, Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Kenya, President Bush, Sudan
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January 04, 2008

Group Claims Responsibility For Diplomat's Death In Sudan

A group calling itself Ansar al-Tawhid, or Companions of Monotheism, has claimed responsibility for the Jan. 1 murder of a U.S. diplomat in Sudan, the SITE Intelligence Group is reporting.

SITE, which monitors extremist Web sites, said today that there was no way to verify the statement from the previously unknown organization. "The soldiers of Tawhid carried out an operation of killing the American diplomat and his Sudanese driver who sold his religion for few benefits of life, in the section of Al-Riyadh in eastern Khartoum," the claim reads, according to SITE's translation.

John Granville of the U.S. Agency for International Development and his driver, Abdel-Rahman Abbas, were shot and killed early on New Year's Day. Sudanese officials have ruled out terrorism, but the FBI arrived in Khartoum yesterday to begin its own investigation of the diplomat's death.

Granville's body was flown home for burial yesterday.

Posted at 3:36 PM
Posted to: Africa, FBI, Sudan
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October 22, 2007

Muslim Live 8 Concert Raises Money For Darfur

London's Wembley Arena has played host to many high-profile concerts, including this summer's tribute to Princess Diana. But on Sunday, Wembley was the scene of a different kind of concert, one many are calling the first of its kind.

Ten thousand Muslims gathered at the arena for what is being dubbed Muslim Live 8, a concert to raise money for and awareness of the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.

The sold-out crowd heard music from Outlandish, an MTV award-winning hip-hop band, and Muslim-American country singer, Kareem Salama. But Sami Yusuf, labeled by Time as "Islam's biggest rock star," drew the most fervent cheers from fans.

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Posted at 3:47 PM
Posted to: Africa, Europe, Gordon Brown, Sudan, U.K.
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October 05, 2007

Myanmar Unrest Sets Stage For Another U.N. Face-Off

As the U.S. and its allies lay the groundwork for possible U.N. action against the military dictatorship that rules Myanmar, China and Russia are forming an axis of opposition to the endeavor.

China is one of Myanmar's most generous benefactors, and in a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, warned members not to interfere in the junta's crackdown on an army of monks.

"It is quite understandable for the outside world to express concern and expectation regarding the situation on the ground, however, pressure would not serve any purpose or would lead to confrontation or even the loss of dialogue and cooperation between Myanmar and the international community, including the United Nations," said the Chinese ambassador, Wang Guangya. "If the situation in Myanmar takes a worse turn because of external intervention, it would be the people of Myanmar who will bear the brunt."

According to the New York Times, Russia and China are arguing that "the crisis does not constitute the kind of threat to international peace and security that calls for the involvement of the Council."

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Posted at 3:30 PM
Posted to: Africa, Asia, China, Sudan, U.N.
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October 03, 2007

Carter Loses His Cool In Darfur

In a moment uncharacteristic for the notorious nice guy, former President Jimmy Carter lost his temper with a Sudanese security official during a visit to the Darfur region on Tuesday.

On his way to visit a tribal elder in the city of Kabkabiya, Carter was suddenly blocked by a guard, who would only give the name Omar. "You can't go. It's not on the program!" Omar told Carter, who angrily replied: "We're going to anyway!"

AP reports that Carter entered the town to meet with refugees who were "too frightened to attend a scheduled meeting at a nearby compound."

British billionaire Richard Branson and Graca Machel, rights campaigner and wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, were accompanying the former president, and "tried to ease his frustration" while "his Secret Service detail urged him to get into a car and leave."

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Posted at 11:15 AM
Posted to: Africa, Jimmy Carter, Sudan
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October 01, 2007

AU Opens Probe Into Deadly Weekend Attack In Darfur

The African Union is vowing to punish those responsible for the death of 10 peacekeepers and the disappearance of 40 others as it begins an investigation today into a deadly weekend attack on one of its bases in Darfur.

The well-organized attack by several hundred gunmen at the Haskanita base, the worst in the AU's three-year deployment in the region, has been blamed on rebel factions. According to Reuters, an influential member of one of those groups, the Sudan Liberation Army's Unity faction, "said if his faction was involved it was a local decision, not ordered by the leadership."

The AU's probe into the incident commences as "a delegation of notable world figures led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu has arrived in Sudan for talks" aimed at addressing the genocide and ongoing strife there, BBC News reports. Former President Jimmy Carter is also among the delegation, which is the first of a new initiative called The Elders -- a group of prominent leaders and Nobel Prize winners who will address various global hotspots to gather information and help mediate conflicts.

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Posted at 7:35 AM
Posted to: Africa, Sudan
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August 14, 2007

The China Conundrum

The Chinaphobia train grew a little more powerful today, but there are various ways to view our emerging supercompetitor to the East.

One is the What, Us Worry? approach. The repetition of product recalls and bans this year exposed a large, ugly gash in the exports machine China's become. Sure, they can turn out commodities faster and cheaper, but where's the quality control? For nations including the U.S. and Germany, which lead China in exports but not for long, this is potentially good news. Those fearing China's economic reach will soon envelop the world have good reason to suspect the communist giant can't logistically handle the task after all.

The other, darker vision of what's ahead: China, as both manufacturer and investor, is simply too wealthy and ambitious to ignore. The relationships China has developed with countries like Iran and Russia have given rise to an alternative axis of world powers that has successfully stymied the agendas of the U.S. and EU. China is rising, and no amount of crowing about its lax human rights record and alarming income gap will change that.

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Posted at 6:35 PM
Posted to: Africa, Asia, Bush Administration, Campaigns, China, Democrats, Economy, Sudan, WH 2008
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August 08, 2007

'08 Olympics: 365 Days And Counting...

Today marks the one-year countdown to the opening ceremony of Bejing’s 2008 Olympic Games, an event the communist superpower hopes will draw positive attention from the international community. However, the Chinese government has faced harsh criticisms on a range of issues, from food safety to human rights abuses to complicity in the genocide in Darfur, leaving many to wonder: Is China ready to open itself up to the world?

Immediately after winning its bid for the games, the Chinese government in 2001 released the Beijing Olympic Action Plan, a series of principles and objectives for developing not only the venues for the games, but also an environment conducive to hosting delegations from across the world. One provision was that China would clean up its human rights record and expand press freedoms for domestic and international journalists before the games.

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Posted at 3:45 PM
Posted to: Africa, Asia, China, Climate Change, Congress, FDA, Health, House, Olympics, Sudan
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June 12, 2007

Sudan OKs U.N. Peacekeepers

After months of resistance, the Sudanese government has agreed to allow a combined force of United Nations and African Union peacekeepers into the Darfur region, Reuters reports.

"AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said Khartoum agreed to a hybrid, compromise force of between 17,000 and 19,000 troops and an additional 3,700 police," according to Reuters.

The White House has termed the killings of tens of thousands of Africans at the hands of Arab militias in the region genocide. President Bush announced new economic sanctions against the Sudanese government, which is accused by the international community of turning a blind eye to the carnage.

AP reported today on the U.N.'s efforts to rush food and aid to thousands of refugees from Darfur in the Central African Republic. The Council on Foreign Relations' Web site has an interactive, historical guide to the crisis.

Posted at 4:00 PM
Posted to: Africa, Sudan
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May 29, 2007

Bush Turns Up The Heat On Sudan

In an early morning address, President Bush announced three new steps his administration is taking, including economic sanctions and diplomatic efforts, to ratchet up the pressure on Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to end the violence in the Darfur region.

"For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing, murder, and rape of innocent civilians," Bush began. "My administration has called these actions by their rightful name: genocide. The world has a responsibility to help put an end to it."

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Posted at 2:15 PM
Posted to: Sudan
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April 16, 2007

Sudan OKs U.N. Peacekeepers

The Sudanese government has agreed to accept more than 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help stabilize the war-torn country, AP reports.

For months, the government has been under pressure to accept a much larger force of up to 20,000 peacekeepers. There are currently 7,000 African Union peacekeepers in the region, but they have been unable to check the raging violence.

"More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million have been displaced in the four-year conflict in Darfur," AP reports.

Posted at 2:37 PM
Posted to: Africa, Sudan
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