ANALYSIS
Posted from:www.w3.org
Junaynah
Looting and killing has become a way of life around Junaynah,
capital of
"I believe this is an elimination of the black race," one tribal
leader told IRIN.
He said that since Saturday alone, an estimated 9,000 people had become
displaced in attacks on 15 villages located between 20 and 40 km from the town.
Sixteen injured men were brought to Junaynah hospital
on Tuesday night, and 10 on Monday, all with gunshot wounds. The hospital
receives five or six casualties with gunshot wounds daily.
HORSE-BACKED MILITIAS
Highly visible around the town, the horse-backed Arab nomads - Janjaweed militias or Peshmerga
as they are known in western
Corroborating sources have accused the government of backing the militias,
charges it denies. Dr Sula Feldeen,
the national humanitarian aid commissioner, told IRIN all of
In a report on Thursday, the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank said
the conflict started when the JEM and another rebel group, the Sudan Liberation
Movement/Army (SLM/A), launched their first attacks on government garrisons in
the region in February 2003.
"In response to those actions, the government of
"The fact is the government is arming some tribes, just Arabs, they go and
kill, take the belongings and rape the women," local sources in Junaynah told IRIN. "The militias have been given
access to good arms, they are better than the army's."
FOOD CONCERNS
Concern is mounting in western
"Now they are fighting with bullets, but the time will come when
starvation will set in," said one local leader.
Those who try to defend their farms with guns come under attack, and are
sometimes arrested by the local authorities, IRIN was told. Local farmers are
unable to leave their homes to harvest or to go to local villages to trade for
fear of being shot.
Commercial traffic in western
Wood and charcoal prices have also gone up, while livestock are decreasing in
value as people desperately try to sell their animals before they are looted.
"The visible agenda is to fight the rebels, the invisible agenda is to get
rich by looting and expand their tribal grazing areas," said a local
source.
PEACE EFFORTS
Meanwhile, local efforts to begin a peace initiative have been put on hold. A
meeting in Junaynah which planned to bring together
leaders of 20 tribes - Arab and black African - was reportedly cancelled last
week by the local authorities.
Elsewhere in
UN officials and aid agencies were assured on Friday by local authorities that
northern
"The problem is in areas controlled by the SLM," explained deputy
governor El Nour Mohammed Ibrahim.
"Our experience has made us hesitant to send relief to areas under the SLM
because of kidnapping and attacks on trucks."
In its report, the ICG warned the international community not to focus solely
on the regional peace process, mediated by the Inter-Governmental Authority on
Development (IGAD) between the government and Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/Army (SPLA/M).
"The international community has thus far failed to respond appropriately
to these developments, in part because the attention of the world remains
focused squarely on the IGAD peace process," said the ICG's
John Prendergast.
"The government of
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]