Calm Returns to Kinshasa

Eoin Young / MONUC

http://www.monuc.org/News.aspx?newsID=14194

Calm has returned to Kinshasa this Saturday March 24 2007, after two days of heavy fighting in the central district of Gombe between members of ex vice President’s Bemba’s guards and the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), which claimed the lives of at least 60 people, and left many wounded.

Among the dead and wounded were members of Bemba’s guards, the FARDC and the Congolese National Police, as well as Congolese and expatriate civilians.

Normality is slowly returning to Kinshasa, with traffic beginning to circulate freely, although the majority of shops remain shut in Gombe, which experienced much looting during the two day conflict.

Kagame Ready for World Inquiry.

News24.
31/01/2007 09:58 - (SA)
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,9294,2-11-1447_2062183,00.html

London - Rwandan President Paul Kagame says he will co-operate with an international inquiry in the death of the former leader of his country Juvenal Habyarimana, say reports. A plane carrying Habyarimana, a Hutu, was downed on April 06 1994, touching off the massacre of close to 800, 000 people, mainly minority Tutsis.

After a French judge called for Kagame, a Tutsi, to face trial over Habyarimana's death, relations between Kigali and Paris worsened, eventually snapping in November after Rwanda expelled the French ambassador.

Kagame had always denied any involvement.

Asked if he supported an investigation carried out by an independent third-party that had nothing to do with France or Rwanda, Kagame said: "I have no problem with that. I have no problem with that. I have never had a problem with that."

Rejecting allegations that he had discussed the plans to down Habyarimana's plane in the presence of his bodyguards, Kagame said: "It doesn't make sense, unless I am the most stupid person on Earth, to discuss ... in a place where everybody is listening."

He said: "It doesn't make sense." Seemingly growing angrier, Kagame continued: "To be honest, I don't care. I care that there was a genocide here."

"Would I care that bloody Habyarimana died? ... I don't give a damn." Judge Brugiere could not be contacted for comment.

Kinshasa: Civilians Caught In Fighting Write To MISNA

MISNA.

23 March, 2006.

“The situation in Kinshasa is very worrying.

At dawn, the people were awoken by the sound of heavy gunfire and panic ensued” writes in an e-mail, to MISNA, from the Ngaliema quarter of the capital, Sylvestre Somo Mwaka, a human rights activist and former assistant to Abbé Apollinaire Muholongu Malu Malu, president of the Independent Electoral Commission. E-mail is the only way to communicate now. “now, a precarious calm reigns in much of the Gombée quarter, but the damage caused by the clashes remains difficult to establish” said Mwaka, who said that gunfire can still be heard in various areas of Kinshasa, including the Limeté and ‘Beach Ngobila’ quarters, where there are said to be pockets of resistance.

“The missing soldiers have joined together in small armed groups and it is feared that most of Bemba’s men are wearing civilian uniforms blending with the population” says Mwaka, (Editor's Note: This coincides with reports of "abandoned" boots and uniforms strewn about the streets near the MONUC compound on Avenue des Aviateurs) who adds that “the morning gunfire was supposed to diffuse these small groups”.

Mwaka also said that “the danger in Kinshasa remains the high number of kids in the streets”. They have been blamed with the looting that occurred last night and this morning in the embassy of Zimbabwe, in two supermarkets (Pelou Store and City Market), at the Bravo Airlines offices and the fast food chain Hunga Busta (Editor's note: This is one of the many Lebanese owned restaraunts in the district. I myself have eaten here.), said Jean-Tobie Okala, deputy spokesperson for MONUC.

Confirming that “a UNDP employee was killed”, Okala also said that “the toll of victims from the clashes has not been established. Several civilians are said to be involved, a national police officer and two guards”. Okala also spent the night with dozens of UN employees in MONUC offices, students from nearby schools and public sector employees from neighboring offices in Gombé.

“We are blocked at the headquarters since yesterday at 11. Curiously, the presidential guard came by to identify us, but then it returned asking for 1000 congolese Francs (about EUR 2)” said a manager for the Road Maintenance Office by email to MISNA, adding that the guards of president Joseph Kabila have once again “returned to take everything that we had on them.”

Editor's Note: Other sources say the Vodacom building was also looted.

Kinshasa: Calm Returns.

MISNA.

“Our communities are calm: in Bibwa, S. Mbaga and Lemba everthing is calm. We can hear gunfire near the school and we can see tanks, but everything is calm” said father Antonio Aparicio Cardoso, Combonian missionary, from Kinshasa, to MISNA.

“The most delicate situation is here in the provincial house, where I am, because Bemba’s guards are fleeing toward us”. “It seems that they tried to loot the Ndolo airport…” he said.

MISNA has also received news from other sources that the fighting has dwindled in other areas of the city also: “We can hear only occasional gunfire from the police to prevent looting, but the people are calm. The State has asked everyone to resume their activities tomorrow” writes a resident from Lemba to MISNA by e-mail.

So, it seems that the clashes between the Bemba’s army and the regular army that started yesterday have stopped for now. The AFP agency estimated that some 60 government troops were killed. In the morning MONUC evacuated some of the students from the schools in Gombe, where students had been blocked since Thursday said a message sent to MISNA.

“The army captured about 50 men last night as they were returning after taking Bemba to the South African embassy, where he has sought refuge” said the source, adding that Bemba’s two TV broadcasting facilities have been set on fire”.The EU appealed to both sides to cease hostilities yesterday, stressing through Solana that democracy in Congo, “one of the major democratic successes in Africa should not be compromised.

Bemba Remains in DRC SA Compound

South African Press Agency.

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070324134206902C838988

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) political figure Jean Pierre Bemba is still in the South African compound in Kinshasa, but has not sought asylum, the foreign affairs department said on Saturday."Jean-Pierre Bemba still remains in our compound, this is a temporary measure and we give support to efforts under the leadership of Monuc (UN Mission in DRC) to find a resolution," spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said.Bemba was not in the SA embassy as reported, but in the SA compound, Mamoepa said.

South Africans in the city "are fine", added Mamoepa.

'He has caused serious infractions'

Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, has not travelled to the country yet following his appointment by President Thabo Mbeki as a special envoy to the DRC, but will do so if necessary, said Mamoepa.News reports said street fighting erupted on Thursday near Bemba's home and appeared to ease by Thursday night, only to resume on Friday.

He sought refuge late on Thursday after heavy fighting broke out between members of his personal bodyguard and government troops. The fighting broke out after Bemba, a former rebel chief and presidential candidate, refused a government order for his bodyguards to be integrated into the regular army.The judicial authorities on Friday announced that they had issued "an arrest warrant for high treason" against him.


'I am truly the victim'

Associated Press reported that chief prosecutor Tsaimanga Mukenda said neither Bemba's immunity as a senator nor the fact that he had sought refuge would stop him from seeking his arrest on charges of high treason."He has caused serious infractions by organising a militia and by ordering looting... his actions amount to high treason and we will pursue him wherever he is," Mukenda said.Agence France Presse reported that Bemba told Belgian public radio VRT: "It's me who's been the victim of the attack and encirclement of my residence for weeks. You can't turn the roles on their heads. I am truly the victim and am not guilty." - Sapa

Fighting Ends in DRC: UN

Agence France Presse

Democratic Republic of Congo troops restored order to the streets of the capital Kinshasa on Friday after two days of fighting killed at least 60 people, the United Nations mission here said.

The clashed flared up between the army and guards loyal to defeated presidential election candidate and former warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba, the first such violence in the city since historic elections five months ago.

The fighting, which broke out after Bemba ignored a government order for his bodyguards to be integrated into the regular army, had ravaged businesses, homes and even foreign embassies.

By late Friday, following calls from around the world for a ceasefire, the situation had calmed, although sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the centre and east of the city.

MONUC, the UN mission, confirmed that hostilities had ended and France's minister delegate for cooperation, Brigitte Girardin, told AFP that she had spoken to DRC President Joseph Kabila and that he had told her that the situation was "in hand".

In a statement, MONUC welcomed the ceasefire but said it "deeply regrets the fact that force was used in order to resolve a situation that could and should have been settled through dialogue."

It praised the government for its part in bringing an end to the fighting but urged it to "continue to act responsibly" in handling the ceasefire.

In particular, it said Kinshasa would have to restore confidence in the way it deals with the militia loyal to Bemba who have now surrendered.

"MONUC expects that the government will act towards them in accordance with international legal norms, as set forth in the Geneva Conventions," it said.

Government spokesman Toussaint Tshilombo Send earlier on Friday told AFP that an arrest warrant had been issued for Bemba for high treason. "Bemba committed treason in using the armed forces for his own ends," he said.

The former ex-vice president insisted he was the victim of a government onslaught and claimed the authorities wanted to eliminate him.

"It's me who's been the victim of the attack and encirclement of my residence for weeks," Bemba told Belgian public radio VRT.

"You can't turn the roles on their heads. I am truly the victim and am not guilty," he added, insisting that he no longer had control over his troops after they had left his residence.
Western security sources told AFP that 49 government troops were killed in the fighting, and quoted commanders of Bemba's bodyguard as saying their dead, wounded, missing or deserted approached 400, without giving any further detail.

Meanwhile, officials at various Kinshasa hospitals told AFP that around 10 civilians had been brought to their morgues, while civilian and military wounded in the hospitals were put at 60 at least, not counting those being cared for by MONUC.

Shells and mortars rained down on the Congolese capital for 22 hours straight, as a "phenomenal quantity" of bullets ricocheted between buildings, a Western official said.

A petrol storage tank was hit by a mortar shell and exploded in flames near Ndolo air base in the northern district of Gombe, where Bemba's residence is located, diplomatic sources said.

Speaking to AFP by telephone from Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo capital which lies across the Congo river from Kinshasa, Girardin said she believed the DRC was going through a "real democratic transition."
"Now, the time has come for everyone to mobilise and mobilise their energy for the development of the DRC," the French minister said, urging a resumption of negotiations between different factions in the country.

She is planning to meet with Kabila in Kinshasa next Friday, after being forced to postpone Thursday's planned visit because of the fighting.

Kinshasa: At Least 60 Have Died Since Thursday, Warrant for Arrest Against Bemba

La Conscience
Machine Generated English Translation.

At least 60 people, of which about fifty soldiers, have died in Kinshasa for Thursday during confrontations between the regular army and the guard brought closer to ex-vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba, from now on aimed by a warrant for arrest for “high treason”.

On Friday March 23, 2007
J. - P. Bemba

ES combat, led to the heavy and light weapon, knew however a lull Friday afternoon after the resumption of the shootings of guns or mortar with 5H00 GMT in the commune of Gombe (northern of Kinshasa), where the residences of Mr. Bemba are located.

Several Western sedentary sources indicated to AFP that the republican Guard had lost 12 men and the 7th brigade of the Forces armed with DRC (FARDC) 37.

The same sources indicated as officers of the guard close to Mr. Bemba estimated at nearly 400 the number of their men died, wounded, carried missing or deserters.

In addition, ten civil were killed and their bodies rested Friday in the mortuaries of various hospitals of Kinshasa, contacted by AFP.

A preceding assessment established by radio operator Okapi, sponsored by UNO, gave a report on seven dead.

Smoke escapes from a refinery, on March 23, 2007 with Kinshasa© AFP - Lionel Healing

The commune of Gombe, theatre of violences, was Friday afternoon “under the control of the Congolese army”, indicated to AFP the military spokesman of the Mission of UNO in DRC (Monuc), the lieutenant-colonel Didier Rancher, adding: There are still shootings in other districts, but the situation is with the lull”.

Friday morning, a warrant for arrest was launched for “high treason” against Jean-Pierre Bemba marked “to have diverted elements of the army at its own ends”, declared in AFP the spokesman word of the government, All Saints' day Tshilombo Send.

Friday, Mr. Bemba, currently taken refuge in the embassy of South Africa, on public radio Dutch-speaking VRT being the “victim” of the confrontations with Kinshasa affirmed.

Questioned to know if it considered that the camp of president Joseph Kabila wanted “to eliminate it physically”, Mr. Bemba answered: “Yes, I confirm it to you, and to muzzle the opposition of this fact”.
Elected official senator in January, the Bemba ex-rebel refuses to see the soldiers assigned to his safety at the time where he was a vice-president of the government of transition (2003-2006) to integrate the regular army, estimating that its safety is not guaranteed.

The prosecutor general of the Republic Tshimanga Mukeba specified in AFP that Mr. Bemba was continued for “plunderings” and “maintenance with militia” - that the Constitution qualifies “high treason” - and that it was going “to seize the Parliament for raising (its) immunity”.

An armoured tank of UNO with Kinshasa, on March 22, 2007© AFP - Lionel Healing

On the ground, the Forces armed with DRC (FARDC) had progressed as of Friday morning, but of important pockets of resistance remained in extreme cases is of Gombe, on the basis of air Ndolo, and in the common neighbors of Limete and Barumbu, according to a Western sedentary person in charge.

A tank containing approximately 2.500 m3 of gasoline was touched by a mortar shell and ignited in a deposit, close to the base of Ndolo, releasing during several hours of thick plumes of smoke.

Tens of men of Bemba started to make act of “rendering”, indicated the military spokesman of Monuc.
“One of our great concerns now, it is the risk of plunderings by the soldiers of the presidential Guard or the runaways. These people remain unverifiable”, declared in AFP a African diplomat.


The whole of the international community with called Thursday with the suspension of the combat which once again give in danger the delicate process of reconciliation between enemy camps.

Old Zaire has been mined for more than ten years by a succession of confrontations intersected with peaceful briefs interludes.

La Conscience-AFP 23/03/2007 18h31

Sri Lanka Says 29 Dead as War Spreads to Northwest.

By Simon Gardner and Ranga Sirilal

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL93424.htm

Editor's Note: This civil war is a fuse recently reignited. The U.S. private military contractor MPRI used to be involved in this war.

COLOMBO, March 23 (Reuters) - At least 26 Tamil Tiger rebels and three soldiers were killed in clashes in northwestern and eastern Sri Lanka on Friday, the military said, as analysts warned that renewed civil war is spreading.

The army confirmed troops were trying to neutralise heavy rebel guns in northwestern Mannar district, but refused to say whether they had entered terrain the rebels control under the terms of a now-battered 2002 truce as the Tigers claim.

"The LTTE is attacking with mortars ... without considering the safety of the civilians in the area. Three soldiers were killed and 4 injured," military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.

"We have retaliated to neutralise them and we have observed more than 20 Tiger dead bodies."
In a separate incident, troops shot dead six Tigers who ambushed a route-clearing patrol in the eastern district of Batticaloa, taking the death toll in the past 48 hours to at least 42.

The Tigers said they were fighting fierce artillery battles with hundreds of troops who had crossed into Mannar. They were not immediately available for comment on the death toll.
The clash, some 1.2 miles (2 km) inside rebel lines, came as sporadic fighting continued in the east -- where troops have evicted the Tigers from around 600 square km (230 square miles) of land amid a declared drive to destroy them militarily.

"This morning a contingent of army troops intruded into our parts of Mannar district ... and are holding 120 families in a village as human shields while they are firing at us," Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan said earlier from the rebels' northern stronghold of Kilinochchi.
Samarasinghe said troops had killed 13 rebels on Thursday in the northern districts of Vavuniya and Jaffna.

He said some of those slain wore characteristic Tiger-striped uniforms, and that troops had also recovered a stash of rebel equipment including a suicide bomber jacket and cyanide capsules in a lorry in the army-held Jaffna Peninsula.

The Tigers denied that any of their fighters had been killed on Thursday, saying the dead must be civilians.


WAR SPREADING

Friday's fighting is the latest in a string of land and sea clashes that have killed some 4,000 troops, civilians and rebels in the past 15 months and which analysts expect to spread.

"There are strong indications that heavy fighting will shift to the northern theatre from the east," said Iqbal Athas of Jane's Defence Weekly. "This is a clear sign that the war is escalating."
Tiger rebels attacked five army camps in Batticaloa on Wednesday and tried to infiltrate government lines in the north, sparking fierce clashes that the military said killed at least 17 people and wounded dozens.

The fighting has driven an estimated 155,000-165,000 people from their homes in the east, many now living in cramped, dusty refugee camps. Agencies call it a major humanitarian emergency.

The rebels, who seek an independent state, have warned of a bloodbath if the military tries to capture more territory.

Sudan April Nile Blend Oil Output Down at 275,000 bpd.

Reuters.
Saturday 24 March, 2007.

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=20935

March 23, 2007 (SINGAPORE) — Sudan’s Nile Blend crude will flow at a daily rate of close to 275,000 barrels next month, a lifting schedule seen on Friday showed.

The April output is slightly lower than the 300,000-320,000 barrels per day (bpd) at which the field was producing in the past few years and may herald depleting rates as the field ages.
The Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co. (GNPOC), which operates the field, expects to exports 6.060 million barrels (202,000 bpd), while 2.100 million barrels (70,000 bpd) will head to two refineries in Sudan.

Heavy sweet Nile Blend crude is exported to Asia, with Japan and China the two largest buyers of the direct-burning grade.

Sudan estimates average oil production for 2007 at 520,000 bpd as new fields are now fully on stream after last year’s delay, the finance minister said earlier this month.
Al-Zubeir Ahmed al-Hassan said the actual average oil production for 2006 was at 365,000 bpd.

GNPOC is a consortium of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) with a 40 percent stake, Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas (30 percent) and India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (25 percent). Five percent belongs to Sudanese state-owned Sudapet.

Army Restores Order to Kinshasa, Bemba Wanted for Treason by the Congolese Government.

By Joe Bavier
Reuters

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2344215.htm

KINSHASA, March 23 (Reuters) - Congo's army restored order to the capital Kinshasa on Friday after two days of heavy fighting with troops loyal to former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, who the government accused of treason.

Sporadic shooting continued after dark in the downtown area around U.N. headquarters, where some 900 civilians were earlier evacuated amid shooting and mortar fire which left the streets strewn with discarded uniforms and bodies.

There were reports of widespread looting in the central African nation's sprawling riverside capital of more than 8 million people. The U.N. mission in Congo (MONUC) said the battle had caused considerable material damage.

"MONUC welcomes the restoration of order in Kinshasa by government forces," it said in a statement, calling for its peacekeepers to be allowed secure access to those in need of food and medical attention.

Bemba, who lost landmark post-war elections last year to President Joseph Kabila, remained holed up in the South African embassy after the government ordered his arrest on charges of high treason for starting the uprising.

Diplomats said Bemba would remain in the embassy while Pretoria decided what to do with him. Bemba, who as a senator holds immunity from prosecution, has accused the government of trying to kill him to cripple his opposition coalition.

The battles began on Thursday when some 500 fighters loyal to Bemba defied a government order to disarm under a plan to cut his security detail to just 12 police officers.

By Friday evening, his forces appeared to have been routed by better-equipped army troops. More than 100 of his supporters had given themselves up at the fortified U.N. mission, with more reported to have surrendered at the main army base.

"I came for treatment. I'm worried, I don't know what's going to happen now," one of Bemba's fighters, Bienvenu Mbongo, 27, told Reuters. His legs were bandaged after a bullet sliced through his right calf muscle and lodged in his left foot.


NO SURRENDER

It was not clear how many people were killed in the first clashes in Kinshasa since October's presidential runoff. The vote was meant to turn the page on a 1998-2003 war which killed nearly 4 million people in the former Belgian colony.

Bemba, who enjoys strong support in Kinshasa and the lingala-speaking west of Democratic Republic of Congo, insisted he would not surrender. Congo's politics is divided along ethnic lines with Kabila popular in the Swahili-speaking east.

"It is another way to try and neutralise me, because they didn't manage to kill me and decapitate the opposition," Bemba told Belgian RTBF radio. "My residence has been surrounded for two weeks, every night."

Former presidential candidate Azarias Ruberwa, among those evacuated to the U.N. headquarters, said the fighting was hugely damaging to Congo's efforts to progress after the elections.

"We have lost a lot of credibility among our own population, among donors and among the international community. It will cost us dearly," Ruberwa told Reuters inside the U.N. compound.

Residents reported incidents of looting across the city by soldiers from both sides as well as gangs of street children.

Loyalist soldiers entered at least one apartment block, a resident said, adding he saw six bodies lying in the street, two of them children. The joint Spanish and Greek embassy was damaged by artillery fire, the Greek foreign ministry said.

Nigeria's ambassador told a Nigerian newspaper he had been injured in the leg, hand and head and U.N. peacekeepers could only rescue him from his residence once fighting subsided.

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ashby in Lagos, Christian Tsoumou in Brazzaville and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels)

Clashes Rock Mogadishu for Third Day.

Reuters.

by Sahal Abdulle

Editor's Note: Looks like the U.S./Ethiopian plan to pacify Somalia is going horribly wrong. Actions like this tend to bring swift and brutal crackdowns from the occupying forces.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Clashes broke out in Mogadishu for the third day on Friday between gunmen and Ethiopian troops helping the government fight an insurgency many fear could plunge Somalia back into civil war.

Witnesses heard shelling and cannon fire near a former defence headquarters, the scene of repeated fighting between insurgents and the government and its Ethiopian allies since Wednesday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

At least 16 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded this week in the bloodiest clashes since the government and Ethiopian troops seized the coastal city from rival Islamists three months ago.

Thousands of residents have fled almost daily guerrilla attacks in Mogadishu that were blamed on Islamist remnants and clansmen angry at a government trying to restore central rule to Somalia after 16 years of lawlessness.

Residents say the latest violence coincides with a government-led disarmament drive which has provoked particular resistance from Mogadishu's dominant Hawiye clan.

President Abdullahi Yusuf's government says it wants to secure the gun-infested city before a reconciliation conference scheduled for April 16.

Many Hawiye regard the operation as an attempt by Yusuf, from the rival Darod clan, to marginalise them.


WORSE TO COME?

Hawiye elder Ahmed Diriye said senior members of his clan met Ethiopian military and security officials on Thursday to discuss their grievances.

"One question we asked was why only one...clan is being disarmed and targeted with mortar shells on a daily basis," Diriye said. "If no one listens to us, we will fight to the last man," he told Reuters.

Diriye said he hoped there would be another meeting with the Ethiopians in coming days. A tentative agreement on a cease-fire made on Thursday was broken by Friday's clashes.

Residents and officials fear the death toll will rise from this week's fighting.

"The dead are not making it to hospitals and it is too dangerous for our staff to be out on the streets, so there is no way to know yet," said Pascal Hundt of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
"By working day and night, the doctors and nurses there have been able to keep treating the wounded. But we are very concerned about the situation," he said from Nairobi.

Analysts say there may be worse violence to come with disgruntled factions likely to exploit popular anger at any forced disarmament and at foreign troops.

The Red Cross estimated 300 were injured this week.

"This is a tragic situation," the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Eric Laroche said.

"Tens of thousands of people are fleeing Mogadishu and civilian casualties are mounting daily." He called the dragging of soldiers' bodies through the streets on Wednesday "barbaric" and "a gross violation" of humanitarian law.

(Additional reporting by Daniel Wallis)

FIghting Continues in Kinshasa.

Fighting in Kinshasa began again at dawn. Radio Okapi reports Senator Bemba is holed up in the South African Embassy. MONUC has evacuated most of the U.N. employees in the area while William Swing continues to work for a ceasefire. The UNICEF building was hit by a mortar.

The FARDC controls downtown Kinshasa. Some FARDC have taken advantage of the chaos to loot some of the downtown stores near the Hotel Memling. One of SEP-Congo's oil storage facilities is on fire. Mail & Guardian reported 2 dead civilians (including a UNDP worker) and 12 wounded, including a Belgian and a French citizen after the Greek and Spanish Embassies were hit by mortars. Local hospitals reported to Radio Okapi 7 deaths and at least 32 wounded. Minister Tshilombo (Transportation and Information) has referred Senator Bemba to the High Court of Justice for treason charges and issued an arrest warrent for him. This move may entrench Senator Bemba even further.

Maurice Tempelsman Re-Elected Head of CCA.

Corporate Council on Africa (Washington, DC)

http://allafrica.com/stories/200703220518.html

March 22, 2007
Posted to the web March 22, 2007

Washington, D.C.

Maurice Tempelsman, Chairman of Lazare Kaplan International Inc., has been re-elected by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) to serve as Chairman of its Board of Directors for 2007. Tempelsman previously served as CCA Chairman from 1999 to 2001.

"I am honored to have been asked to serve again as Chairman of the Board of the CCA. Africa's growing importance in the global economy, its development needs and its human and natural resources have an increasingly significant impact on political and economic relations between African nations and the United States in a competitive and perilous world. CCA has and will continue to play a growing role in strengthening these relations," Tempelsman said.

Tempelsman succeeds Frank Fountain, Senior Vice-President of External Affairs and Public Policy (Auburn Hills) for DaimlerChrysler Corporation and President of the DaimlerChrysler Foundation. Fountain served as Chairman from 2003 to 2006.

"We are honored to have Maurice Tempelsman serve as Chairman of CCA again. His commitment to Africa extends far beyond his own business interests. He has created many channels of communication that have strengthened U.S. relations with African nations," said Stephen Hayes, President of CCA.

"Under Maurice Tempelsman's leadership CCA will increase our efforts to engage more American businesses in Africa," Hayes added.

CCA programs are designed to bring together potential business partners and to showcase business opportunities on the continent. The organization is dedicated to raising Africa's investment profile in the U.S. through the development of critical contacts and business relationships. CCA members believe that Africa's future success depends upon the ability of its entrepreneurs and business people to create and retain wealth through private enterprise.

Media inquiries should be directed to Ilda Diffley at idiffley@africacncl.org

CCA, established in 1993, is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) membership organization of nearly 200 U.S. companies dedicated to strengthening the commercial relationship between the U.S. and Africa. CCA members represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa. Visit CCA's website at www.africacncl.org .

Editor's Note: MT has a long history in Africa. As mentioned in the press release, he heads Lazare Kaplan, a diamond cutter, polisher, and marketer founded in Antwerp back in 1903. In addition, he is a senior partner at the firm Leon Tempelsman & Son. Mr. Tempelsman's has longstanding ties to former Belgian Congo CIA Station Chief Larry Devlin and several prominent families in the Democratic Party. He remains one of the best-connected businessmen in the diamond sector.

Here are some stories about his role in Zaire written by Susan Mazur:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00323.htm
http://www.counterpunch.org/mazur01292005.html

Kitchanga: Laurent Nkunda Present at the Mixing Ceremony of the Delta Brigade.

Radio Okapi
http://www.radiookapi.net/index.php?i=53&a=12684
English Translation

The mixing ceremony took place this Thursday in Kitchanga. These soldiers constitute the Delta brigade of the FARDC. It is the 4th mixed brigade formed since the process was launched at the beginning of the year between the brigades faithful to Laurent Nkunda and FARDC soldiers coming from South-Kivu, brings back radiookapi.net.

The new governor of North-Kivu, Julien Paluku, took part in this ceremony. It was chaired by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General John Numbi. Monuc and the Commander of the 8th Military Region (General Ngizo-Editor) were present. The Minister for Defense Tshikez Diemu, who arrived in Goma the day before, did not take take part in the ceremony. Laurent Nkunda was also present in an official role. The Delta Brigade is formed after the brigades Alpha, Bravo and Charley, formed 2 months ago and already deployed in the territories of Rutshuru and Masisi.

The new governor, Julien Paluku, spoke in front of more than 2000 soldiers coming from the 83rd Brigade and the 116th non-integrated Brigade from South-Kivu. He said his satisfaction vis-a-vis the decision of the ex-insurrectionists which, according to him, come to signal peace with the FARDC. The Delta Brigade will be headed by Colonel Faustin Muhindo, former Deputy Commander of the 83rd Brigade of Nkunda. He will be assisted by Lieutenant-Colonel Masudi of the 116e Brigade. The place of deployment has not been specified. Kitchanga is 80 kilometers Northwest of Goma, in Masisi Territory.

Editor's Note: Sources state the infiltration of demobilized RDF soldiers continues, yet only The Independent has reported on this occurence. Sources state the "deal" made in Kigali between General Numbi and General Nkundabatware was to allow the integration of the Rwandans and dissident brigades with the explicit intent to let them clear out elements of FOCA in order to secure the borders for Rwanda. In exchange, Kigali will not threaten to destabilize the Congo militarily while the new government gets on its feet. In the meantime, the muted cries of the suffering Banyarwanda, Nande, Tembo, and other peace-seeking Congolese in North Kivu are ignored.

Ministry of Hydrocarbons: Time for Revival of Activities

L'Avenir
22 March, 2007.
Crude English Translation.

The Congolese Minister for Hydrocarbons, Lambert Mende Omalanga, held disscussions the day before yesterday in his office of work with three delegations from oil firms. It was still a question of starting up the activities of this young ministry.

The N°1 number of hydrocarbons in Rdc initially received the vice-president of the company African Business, Mr. Tim O' Hanion, with whom they examined the ways and means to implement the exploration of the Congolese coast, which according to all likelihood, is abound in oil.

The passion of the oil firms implicitly confirms the presence of the black gold on the Congolese coastal basin

The oil operator was delighted by the participation of the Congolese operators, precisely of Cohydro. This local expertise not only will help support the expatriates in the search for solutions to protect the environment from the effects of industrialization, but will also provide jobs for the locals. The discovery of oil will start the development of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but it is like an engine in the Great Lakes area as a whole, an area devastated by wars, which is one of the causes of its economic poverty.

African Business is already present in Uganda, but its small presence in this country is not able to yield big profits unlike the DRC, and influence the path of this part of the continent. After African Business, the minister, Lambert Mende Omalanga received the Director of Surestream, another oil firm.

Its chairman, Ebeli- Popo benefitted from the occasion by taking stock of work that his firm has carried out since their installation in Democratic Republic of Congo two years earlier. Their field of activity is found as in the coastal basins of the Congo River.

Lastly, the minister ended this series of audiences with an interview granted to the Swedish firm, Lundin Petroleum.

All this activity is proof if possible that Congo hold lots of oil, as much as Angola, Congo-Brazzaville or Equatorial Guinea. It cannot be of it differently when it is known that these countries share same geographical and geodetic space with the DRC. Up to now the position of poor relations occupied by the DRC as regards hydrocarbons always astonished the policies and disconcerted the scientists. Popular opinion believes this state of affairs is a conspiracy of the prospectors who would have given each other the word not to suitably explore the Congo's sea-beds.


New political era new generation of political actors

This time of stagnation is from now on completed. The RD Congo has crossed the democracy rubicon for nearly six-months. The men who control it make new skin so much on the internal level than in comparison with the external partners. The country is certainly a geological scandal, but this label seems to refer only to the ores underground. This time, one should not count only on these ores and neglect other sources of income; the country has to diversify its sources of riches. The oil which was missing up to now, is soon to be discovered in almost all the parts of the DRC. The minister in charge of this department is a qualified statesman, who for a long time proved reliable as a nationalist with many years' service.

Here is an imperative reason to trust him in the current political environment, characterized by an overall revival. Its makings of contact as much as for the others, are followed closely by the population, which await new agents, the translation in acts of the agreements which will be signed at the end of these contacts.

The ministry for hydrocarbons, creates to give a new dash to this lame sector, is one of the keystone departments of the economic advancement this country. The actions of Mende must contribute to take up this enormous national challenge.

Editor's Note: This Editor does not necessarily agree with the political views shared by the staff of L'Avenir.

First-ever Media Code for Elections Adopted.

Sierra Leone: First-ever Media Code for Elections Adopted at UN-backed Roundtable.

UN News Service
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=21948&Cr=sierra&Cr1=leone

21 March 2007 – The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, with assistance from the United Nations, the National Election Commission of Sierra Leone and other civil society groups has agreed on a media code of conduct to guide the electoral campaign leading to presidential and parliamentary elections set for this July.
This is the first time journalists in the country have formulated such a code to guide media behaviour during elections, according to the UN Integrated Office for Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL).

A national roundtable in Freetown on Friday, 16 March, brought together Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) delegates from all regions with high-level representatives from the UN, the National Electoral Commission, the Political Parties Registration Commission and civil society organizations to consolidate the findings from regional seminars in a final Electoral Code of Conduct for Media.

The document was ratified and signed the following day by regional executive members of SLAJ, newspaper and magazine editors, radio and TV station managers at a signing ceremony attended by cabinet ministers, leaders of political parties, senior members of the National Electoral Commission, the Political Parties Registration Commission, the UN and diplomats, as well as activists of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The two-day event also attracted participants from across the country including traditional and religious leaders, civil society organizations, women and youth groups, trade unions, local councillors and members of the armed forces and police.

The Executive Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and UN Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone, Victor Angelo, emphasized the historic importance for the entire sub-region of this decision by Sierra Leonean journalists to adhere to self-regulatory factual and objective reporting that should be matched by a strong personal and collective commitment to uphold and observe the principles set out in the Media Code of Conduct.

“The United Nations is engaged in this process, because we recognize the maturity and professionalism of the journalists in the country,” Mr. Angelo said, reiterating the UN's determination to ensure credible and transparent Presidential and Parliamentarian Elections set for 28 July.

The Media Code of Conduct for the elections resulted from a collaborative effort between SLAJ, UNIOSIL and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The compliance of media with the Code is to be observed by a Monitoring and Refereeing Panel which will include members of SLAJ, the UN Country Team and other organizations.

Alhaji I. B. Kargbo, President of SLAJ, said his Association's formulation of a code of conduct is “part of a general goal to make sure that the elections do not get out of hand,” adding: “The media has a key role in the upcoming elections, especially in informing voters about the main messages of the political parties. Journalists will be most effective in assuring successful elections if their contributions are within a self-regulated framework.”

In Sierra Leone the 2007 elections are widely regarded as a watershed in democratic development, because the country is still recovering from an 11-year long civil war. The Media Code of Conduct complements the Political Parties Code of Conduct which was a collaborative effort between the UN in Sierra Leone and the Political Parties Registration Commission. The Political Party Code of Conduct was signed by eight active political parties on 20 November 2006.

South Sudan Leader Calls for Darfur Rebel Meeting in Juba

Thursday 22 March 2007.
Reuters.

March 22, 2007 (JUBA, Sudan) — South Sudan’s president has called for rebels from the western Darfur region to meet in his capital to build consensus ahead of possible peace talks to end a four-year-old insurgency and humanitarian crisis.


Salva Kiir Mayardit

In a speech to donor nations on Wednesday in Juba, Salva Kiir also said peace in Sudan had to include the entire country and the Darfur rebels should form a joint committee to prepare for the meeting which should take place in April.

"I have personally called for an all-Darfur conference to take place in Juba in April and I will be calling on you to contribute in this endeavour," Kiir, who is also Sudanese first vice president, told a donors conference in the capital of southern Sudan Juba.

Under a north-south peace deal signed in January 2005, Kiir’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) became head of an autonomous southern government and partners in the central government in Khartoum.

But that deal did not cover a separate rebellion in the remote Darfur region, where experts estimate 200,000 have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes in fighting between government-backed forces and rebels.

Washington calls the conflict in Darfur a genocide, a term Khartoum rejects and European governments are reluctant to use.

Kiir said he had asked the rebels to form a joint team to be the focal point of coordination for the meeting. The SPLM has good relations with the Darfur rebels as they advised and helped them during the early stages of the rebellion.

"The conference is to build consensus and a common political stand on critical issues that would be the basis for a comprehensive peace agreement in Darfur," said Kiir.

Darfur rebel splits has been one of the main obstacles to several rounds of peace talks culminating in a May 2006 peace deal signed by only one of three negotiating rebel factions.

Previous efforts to reunite Darfuris, including tentative moves by Kiir, have foundered amid distrust and suspicion among the rebels.

A long-delayed unity conference called by rebel commanders in Darfur has been postponed indefinitely as not all factions agreed to attend. A joint U.N.-African Union effort has similarly made no progress.

Many rebel factions have returned to the battlefield and split further along tribal and political lines, with no one leader now representing any significant body of rebel fighters.

In an interview with Reuters earlier this month, Kiir said that the fragmented Darfur rebel groups are ready to meet in the south to overcome divisions which have stymied peace efforts.

SPLA General Arrested for Importation of Arms, Training of Troops.

Thursday 22 March 2007.

Gurtong
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=20904

Editor's Note: No different than the arms Uganda shipped to the SPLA during the North-South Sudanese War.

March 21, 2007 (JUBA) — A Southern Sudan army general is arrested since two days to investigate illegal importation of arms, and because he sent troops to Uganda for training without the knowledge of the army.

According to the Gurtong website, the head of political and moral orientation for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), Major General Isaac Mamur, is under arrest since Tuesday.

Mamur has been accused of inappropriate behavior “for purely military administrative reasons,” said the SPLA spokesperson, Kuol Diem Kuol Kuol, on Wednesday.

Mamur, one of the top six members of the SPLA under the Commander in Chief and president of the South Salva Kiir, has been accused of importing guns, pistol pouches and ammunitions into the South as well as cars without the authority of the SPLA head quarters.

He also has been accused of taking a platoon of soldiers for training in Uganda without the authority or knowledge of the SPLA leadership, a move Kuol says is still mysterious.

Mamur also hired three members of the Ugandan army as drivers. These were added to a group of some 50 bodyguards and drivers, which Kuol says is more than the eight staff allowed for SPLA personnel of Mamur’s rank.

They are all under open arrest and have had their weapons confiscated, Gurtong disclosed.

According to the London based Asharq Al-Awsat, General Mamur had refused to surrender to the SPLA, but general Paulino Matip convinced him to go to the arrest so that investigation will take it is course.

Mamur headed up a committee overseeing the integration of the former other armed group, the South Sudan Defence Force (SSDF) of Paulino Matip into the SPLA in 2006. However, he has been accused on continuing to sign contracts for the provision of food to the ex-SSDF soldiers in Juba long after his mandate to do so ended.

“The Commander in Chief has ordered staff to form an investigation committee to check if charges are true or not, if they are not true he will go back to his duties, if found to be true, he will face court martial,” said Kuol.

Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga Escapes From an Attack-DigitalCongo 3.0

Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga Escapes From an Attack
Kinshasa, 3/22/2007
Politics
DigitalCongo 3.0 Crude English Translation.
http://www.digitalcongo.net/article/42182

The worst was avoided thanks to his guard's vigilance that one of the two Jeeps that tried to block him on the road was neutralized. The Congolese Prime Minister, Mr. Antoine Gizenga Fundji, escaped Wednesday in the beginning of the afternoon from an attack. This is according to information close to the sources generally very aware.

The incident in question happened to the main entrance even of the Palais du peuple, Wednesday precisely to 14.45 '. "Yandi ve" was going back to the Prime minister office on the ex-3Z Avenue in Gombe, while passing by the road before the ex-building of the medical teaching institute (IEM) which has been occupied a long time by families of soldiers, to clear then by the Palais du Peuple before reaching the triumphal Boulevard, Sendwe, Lumumba and his residence. But, before the main entrance of the Palais du Peuple, two parked Nissan X-Trails seemed to wait for his convoy and tried to block him on the road. Facing this obstacle, the escort vehicle that was on the left of the prime minister's Mercedes turned quickly in the direction of one of the two jeeps resembling those of the ex-Parliamentarians of the transitional government to embarrass him and stop him from meeting the official car of Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga. It is there that the driver of Antoine Gizenga avoided the jeep in question and kept going until they hit the border of the Park rising in front of the Palais du Peuple. The official car was damaged with broken axles.

Gizenga was transferred to an escort vehicle and immediately routed in emergency to his residence in Limete. During this time, the guard of the Prime Minister went to neutralize occupants of the first X-Trail jeep registered KN8837BG, the same set as the license plates of the jeeps of Parliamentarians in the transitional government, while the second X-Trail jeep drove away. A son of Jeannot Bemba Saolona and brother of JP Bemba were implicated.

Whereas the two occupants who were to the rear of the Jeep ran away, the two others who were in the front, were routed to the Prime Minister office before being moved to the facilities of the Special Services of the Police to Kin-Mazière. It is there that the disturbing revelations were made. To believe our sources about it, "this jeep was occupied by Bemba Tatia, son of Jeannot Bemba Saolona and brother of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo." The driver answering to the name of Ngbendo Eugide was the secretary of Bemba Tatia. Shortly before the release of this edition, we heard that Bemba's son has been freed.

(MRod)

Editor's note: Radio Okapi claims the situation was the result of an accident by careless drivers (http://www.radiookapi.net/index.php?i=53&a=12674) and the Kinshasa newspaper Le Prosperite is reported that the incident was an attack (http://www.laprosperiteonline.net/affichage_article.php?id=181&rubrique=La%20Une). However, shortly thereafter, a gunfight broke out between Senator Bemba's residence in Gombe, including heavy weapons fire (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-03/22/content_5883186.htm; http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22192939.htm; http://www.radiookapi.net/index.php?i=53&a=12679). MONUC has moved APCs to the area and pleaded for calm, but the FARDC has deployed to the area. So far, Radio Okapi is reporting one civilian casualty.

If Okapi's report is true, and the Gizenga incident was only an "accident", the DigitalCongo paper, partly owned by Joseph Kabila, may be attempting to destabilize Senator Bemba, who's personal guard has refused to integrate into the FARDC and created a standoff in Kinshasa. The story would create more pressure on Bemba to integrate his men. It could also justify a series of mass arrests of MLC soldiers and officials by the Congolese Government if they accuse MLC members of plotting to harm PM Gizenga.

On the other hand, if Bemba and/or MLC officials were involved in an attempt to harm PM Gizenga, Kinshasa is likely in store for a spat of violence that could easily be worse than the post-elections violence that rocked Kinshasa last year. President Kabila's Presidential Guard, known for its agressiveness, will likely be deployed immediately and this will increase the casualty count quickly. They will take no prisoners.

Update: (23:45)- The fighting spread to Fatima Parish, Marsavco company,and the central station as the afternoon dragged on. FARDC soldiers staged in Maluku. In the early evening, Senator Bemba called for a ceasefire while MONUC's Chief of Mission William Swing continued to lobby for a ceasefire as well.

Major Ntuyahaga Pleads Not Gulty to the Murder of UNAMIR Soldiers.

Editor's note: This relates to a previous post.

ICTR/I NFO-9-2-151
Arusha, 13 November 1998

MAJOR BERNARD NTUYAHAGA PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO THE MURDER OF BELGIAN SOLDIERS AND THE FORMER RWANDAN PRIME MINISTER

Major Bernard Ntuyahaga, a former officer in the Rwandan Armed Forces (RAF), today pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of responsibility for the murder of ten Belgian soldiers of the UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda) peacekeeping mission, and the former Rwandan Prime Minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, in April 1994 in Rwanda. The plea was entered during his initial appearance before Trial Chamber 1 composed of Judges Laïty Kama, presiding, Lennart Aspegren and Navanethem Pillay.

The charges state that Ntuyahaga was responsible for disarming and arresting the ten Belgian soldiers who were sent to escort the Prime Minister, before they were killed. "Immediately thereafter, members of the Presidential Guard, the Para-Commando Battalion and the Reconnaissance Battalion proceeded to track down, arrest, sexually assault and kill the Prime Minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana".

By preventing the UNAMIR personnel from protecting and escorting the Prime Minister, Ntuyahaga, is alleged to have facilitated her assassination.

It is also alleged that after their arrest the Belgian soldiers were taken to Kigali camp by Ntuyahaga in a Rwandan Army minibus. On arrival at the camp, the accused addressed the Rwandan soldiers who were there and asserted that the Belgian soldiers were responsible for the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana. Immediately thereafter, the UNAMIR soldiers were attacked and beaten by Rwandan soldiers in the presence of Rwandan Army officers including Ntuyahaga. Four of the Belgian soldiers were killed on the spot, and the remaining six withstood several attacks for a number of hours before finally being killed.

All these actions, it is alleged, were part of a systematic attack against a civilian population on political or national grounds and thereby constituted a Crime Against Humanity.

Bernard Ntuyahaga was born in 1952 in Kibingo, Mabanza commune, Kibuye prefecture and was a major in the Rwandan Army. From May 1994 he assumed command of the 74th Battalion in Kigali sector. He surrendered himself to the Tribunal on 8 June 1998. The accused is defended by Counsel Georges Komlavi Amegadjie from Togo, who has been assigned by the Registrar. Questioned specifically by Judge Kama if he consented to having the assigned counsel as his lawyer, the accused responded, "yes I do".
A status conference will be held later to fix the date of his trial.


Director of U.S. Defence Intelligence Visits the ICTR

The Diredor of the United States Defence Intelligence Agency, Lt. General Patrick Hughes, visited the ICTR at Arusha on 11 November 1998. General Hughes accompanied by his wife and several aides, met with the President of the ICTR, Judge Laïty Kama, and was later briefed by senior officials of the Tribunal on its operations. The U.S. Defence Intelligence Chief concluded his visit with a meeting with the Tribunal's Registrar, Mr. Agwu Ukiwe Okali. General Hughes expressed his appreciation of the legal precedents established by the recent verdicts of the ICTR for the crime of genocide. "The work of this Tribunal is of tremendous historic significance", he stated.

Vangold Acquires Exclusive Rights to 2,700 Sq Km Rwanda Oil Concession.

Vangold Acquires Exclusive Rights to 2,700 Sq Km Rwanda Oil Concession

African Oil Journal
03-05-2007

Vangold Resources Ltd. announces that the Minister of State in charge of Energy and Communications, Republic of Rwanda, has granted to Vangold the exclusive rights to commence negotiations for a production sharing license for oil and gas in the north western part of Rwanda. The concession, known as White Elephant, is 2,708 sq kms in area and is shown on the attached map. This concession represents 11% of the land mass of Rwanda. With the discovery of oil in south western Uganda by Heritage Oil Corporation, a technical review will determine whether Rwanda has the extension of that discovery.

The agreement calls for Vangold to undertake a technical review of all information available and commence negotiations for a production sharing agreement over a period of 18 months. The technical review will cover the north western part of Rwanda, the block named "White Elephant" by Vangold, which is part of the Albertine Graben where oil was discovered in Uganda. Vangold's team of petroleum geologists (located in Nairobi, Kenya) is confident that the Uganda discovery could be reflected in Rwanda as an extension of the Lake district's geology.

Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil have reported their latest well in this basin is flowing 4,100 bopd. During the signing ceremony, Rwanda's Minister of State for Energy and Communications, Eng Alberta Butare, stated that Rwanda is committed in the long term to explore for hydrocarbon potential. Currently, the country has significant reserves of methane gas in the Lake Kivu area which is being developed commercially. Upon completion of the technical review and concluding negotiations with Vangold, the government may consider participating in the exploration phase.

Present at the ceremony were representatives from Vangold, Joseph Katarebe and Idi Kawadi. When asked the significance of White Elephant by Ms. Anthe Vrijandt, Expert External Links at the Ministry, Mr. Kawadi responded by saying, "The country's part of the East African Rift Valley Basin lies on a downhill trend and we expect there to be a significant reservoir of oil in Rwanda's area."

In response to Minister Butare's comments, Mr. Katarebe, Vangold's country representative, said that, "With the admission of Rwanda and Burundi in East African Community trading bloc effective July, 2007, the company will take advantage of technical expertise within the region. A technical team has been mobilized from Kenya to undertake the technical review."

He further stated that, "If the company were to mobilize resources outside the region, it would take a few months as opposed to weeks." Vangold is an active explorer for resources and a fast growth oil producer in North America.

The exploration portfolio is extensive and it also includes interests in international ventures and development projects.

Vangold's President, Dal Brynelsen said that, "Through the acquisition of White Elephant, the company is becoming an active player in the oil industry in the region. This will add to the company's capability of competing on the world stage with a strong asset base and skilled employees." He further added that, "The expansion of the operations is not only to enhance shareholder value, but building and maintaining effective operations, with the foundation built on ensuring that safety, environmental and social responsibility are given primary focus."

He further stated that the company's focus will be on value creation in the contract area by acquiring critical information so that development can be prioritized and risks reduced. Identifying optimum drilling, stimulation and completion techniques early in the development cycle will minimize full cycle development costs.

Mr. Brynelsen said that it was the Canadian government that attracted him to Rwanda. In discussions with Benjamin Wamahiu, Canadian Trade Commissioner, "Ben said that the country is focused on good governance and eradication of corruption.

The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame has stated publicly on several occasions that, "We know that the role of the private sector is central on our fast-paced journey of reconstruction for development, and that is why we have built a new impetus for economic change that is driven by private enterprise and capital, and supported by good political choices."

After the technical review, Vangold will undertake development initiatives within the area in consultation with the government and villagers. Geologically and technically, Mr. Brynelsen met with Mr. Reuben Kashambuzi in Entebbe, Uganda, Commissioner, Petroleum Exploration and Production Department, who advised him that the Albertine Grabine extends southwards from Uganda into Rwanda. With Albertine Grabene's known discovery, a 10 percent probability exits that there is a commercial and viable discovery in Rwanda, Vangold will commit its financial and human resources.

Vangold Corporate Website: http://www.vangold.ca/

Ugandan Government Agreed to Release the Secret Oil Profit Sharing Contracts to MPs

African Oil Journal
03-15-2007

The Ugandan parliament requested the Government to reveal all contracts signed with foreign oil companies to drill mainly the western block of the country. Both the Minister of Energy Mr. Daudi Migereko and the State Minister for Energy Mr. Simon Dujanga were urged to present all the documents when they were appearing before the committee to brief MPs on the progress of oil exploration.

During his response to the committee, the Minister of Energy, Mr. Migereko insisted that the Attorney General must be consulted before the oil exploration contracts are taken to parliament.

"We have confidential clauses within the contracts and as government, we cannot just divulge confidentiality. We are not hiding anything from MPs but we think this is the right thing to do," Migereko said yesterday to the press after the committee briefings.

The government signed Production Sharing Contracts with Tullow Oil, an independent oil and gas exploration, development and production company, in July 2004 under its subsidiary Energy Africa in respect of Block 1 (Waraga), an exploration area that covers the northern part of Lake Albert and the surrounding onshore area.

Committee chairperson Emmanuel Dombo, however, requested to get all signed contracts with all the oil exploration companies in the country.
"Even if it requires a closed session for MPs to be able to look at these contracts, we are ready for this exercise. Our stand is clear, we must have these documents availed to the committee as soon as possible," Dombo said. "This is a critical area where parliament as a stakeholder must be involved. We have a right to have access to these agreements and the issue of confidentiality should not arise. We want to know the government obligations in the deal," Dombo explained.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Migereko agreed and said the details of all the oil production contracts would be made available as soon as possible.
The committee visit to the oil exploration areas of Bunyoro region in western Uganda is also going to be arranged by the Minister of Energy.

On March 1, Heritage Oil company has said in a statement that final tests from Kingfisher, one of Uganda's oil wells in the western region located on the shores of Albert lake, indicate that a maximum of 13,893 barrels of oil per day, increasing the country' s potential to begin commercial production.
Kingfisher is the second well after Waraga 1 that has produced over 12,000 barrels of oil per day under test. Uganda is planning to begin petroleum production with a mini refinery as early as 2009, making its first step of shifting from a fuel importer to a self-reliant country, which would save the country millions of dollars on oil imports annually.

Tullow Oil Flags Big Uganda Reserves, Profits Rise.

Reuters.
Wed Mar 21, 2007
7:45 AM GMT
http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=companyOutlooksNews&storyID=2007-03-21T074555Z_01_LAG000933_RTRIDST_0_TULLOWOIL-RESULTS-UPDATE-1.XML

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - UK-based oil explorer Tullow Oil Plc said initial estimates of its fields in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo suggest they could contain up to 250 million barrels of recoverable oil, as the company announced a lower-than-expected rise in profits.

Tullow said in a statement on Wednesday that a preliminary assessment of the gross recoverable reserves in the Albertine Basin, around Lake Albert, was between 100 and 250 million barrels.

"We're getting more comfortable toward the higher number," Chief Executive Aidan Heavey told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The company would like to export the oil via a pipeline to a port on the Kenyan coast and is assessing whether this would be economic. The reserves news makes this more likely, one analyst said.

Tullow added that its net profit rose 39 percent in 2006 to 157.4 million pounds, thanks to higher oil prices and output.

The net profit is below an average forecast of 174 million pounds, but within a forecast range of 151-210 million, according to a Reuters Estimates poll of 15 analysts.

Prospecting Company says Uganda and DR Congo Have Recoverable Oil.

Prospecting Company says Uganda and DR Congo Have Recoverable Oil

African Press Agency.

APA-Kampala (Uganda) A company prospecting for oil in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday said reserves in the two countries could contain up to 250 million barrels of recoverable oil.
Tullow Oil, an Ireland-based energy prospector, has said in a statement released in Kampala that oil reserves in Uganda are located in Hoima district mid western region.

Tullow said a preliminary assessment of the gross recoverable reserves in the Albertine Basin, around Lake Albert, was between 100 and 250m barrels, but the company chief executive Aidan Heavey told reporters that it is looking towards the top end of this range.

JM/pm/APA
2007-03-21

Tullow Corporate Website: http://www.energyafrica.com/aboutus/

Editor's Note: Tullow currently owns concessions on both sides of Lake Albert along side Heritage Gas and Oil. The concessions on the DRC side are located in the Ituri District.

North Kivu's Provincial Governor Decides to Make Goma a City Without Weapons.

Radio Okapi (English Translation)
http://www.radiookapi.net/index.php?i=53&a=12662

21 March 2007
11:48: 43

The governor of North-Kivu and the chiefs of the communes and districts discussed safety in the province Tuesday. One of the resolutions taken by the participants in these dialogues is to make Goma a city without weapons, radiookapi.net notes.

The meeting took place with the governorship of the province between the chief of the provincial executive, Julien Paluku, and the various chiefs of district, Nyumba Kumi, the chiefs of avenue as well as the chiefs of commune.

According to the governor, Julien Paluku, he held a meeting to discuss the sedentary problems in the town of Goma. At the end of this meeting, it was decided to make of Goma a “city without weapons”.

“From here the 30 [March], everyone will have to bring at least one weapon which they recovered in one or the other house. Each person will have to also take part in the regular control of what we call in Goma: Nyumba Kumi, 10 houses. It is that, from this moment, each district chief must set up the 10 houses, so that these 10 houses have their chief who takes regular control. It is what will allow the report to go up to the top."

"At the end of the day, the governor will be informed of all that occurs in the district and the provisions one must take eradicate the insecurity which prevails in this city. From now, the 30, we will make an evaluation to know if there are weapons which were not recovered. I inform you that if we make a point of implying the chiefs of districts, it is because on the FARDC brigade level, who is based in Goma, one has already begun the activity”.

Rwanda, Google Sign Software Deal

Rwanda, Google Sign Software Deal

The New Times
BY INNOCENT GAHIGANA
Mar 21, 2007 at 06:58 AM

Rwanda has entered into a software deal with Google Inc. International to ease information and communication system for Rwandan students and civil servants. According to a release issued on March 19 by Google Inc. US, the partnership will enable Rwandan education institutions and government ministries to start using Google applications. Three universities to have initial access to Google applications of education edition include the National University of Rwanda (NUR), the Kigali Institute for Education (KIE) and the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).

“Rwandan students and government officials will have access to free communication Google tools including e-mail, shared calendars, instant messaging and word processing under their institutions’ domain names,” the release, which was posted on Google website, states in part.

During the first phase, government ministries will be using Google Apps Standard Edition, with around 20,000 users expected to have access to these services. Broader countywide rollout will follow shortly afterwards, the release said.

“The deal aims to supply software to students and government workers to put them on the technical footing of more developed countries,” it said.

The deal was signed in the US by the State Minister for Energy and Communication, Eng. Albert Butare, and Google’s Senior Vice President of Business Operations, Shona Brown.

“This partnership will be a boost in terms of services offered to our academic institutions, allowing them to collaborate in their learning activities,” Butare was quoted in the statement as saying.“I believe communication between students and their lecturers will be enhanced as users throughout the country will be using the same high-tech, cutting edge technology that is available in other parts of the world,” he reportedly added.

Brown said that Google has a simple ambition to help organise the world’s information, making it universally accessible and useful.

“For us, communication is crucial because we believe everyone should have access to the same services wherever they live, whatever their language and regardless of income. “I am delighted that we have signed this deal and look forward to working with other African governments to make life-enhancing services like free email, instant messaging and Potable Computer (PC)-to-PC phone calls more widely available across Africa,” the release quotes him as saying.

Infrastructure ministry is the official government representative in the deal. Rwanda signed the deal alongside Kenya where 50,000 students of the University of Nairobi will be the first to benefit from Google applications. These services will then be extended to 150,000 Kenyan students at universities across the country. The rollout will be jointly coordinated by Google and Kenya Education Network (KENET), which represents students and staff at 32 universities in Kenya. Google applications allow institutions and individuals to use its communication and collaboration applications under their own domain names. This is done through all services hosted by Google and is available to users via any web-based PC.

Mayhem in Mogadishu

Mustafa Haji Abdinur Mogadishu, Somalia
Mail & Guardian.
21 March 2007 01:10

Heavy fighting erupted on Wednesday in the Somali capital, killing at least 14 people in an escalation of violence that also saw angry residents attacking the bodies of dead soldiers. Residents burned the bodies of two soldiers and dragged another through the streets, recalling the similar fate of United States troops in a failed United Nations-backed peace operation in the early 1990s.

Heavy weaponry duels across southern Mogadishu killed six uniformed soldiers and eight civilians after insurgents opened fire on former Defence Ministry headquarters where Ethiopian troops, backing the Somali government, are based.Hundreds of angry civilians celebrated in the Baruwa neighbourhood as they burned the bodies of two of the dead soldiers.

The crowd shouted: "You and Ethiopians will die", "Down, Down with Somali troops", and "We will burn you alive".

Nearby, a woman carrying a machete shouted obscenities against Ethiopian and Somali troops while stepping on the body of another dead soldier being dragged by a rope tied to his foot, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent said. It was unclear if the soldiers were Somali or Ethiopian.

Elsewhere, civilians were caught off-guard in stray gunfire and shelling after Ethiopian-Somali troops responded to the attack in a bid to take over areas believed to be occupied by insurgents, residents said.

"Three people were killed after shells landed in their house. I saw the bodies and one of them is my relative," resident Abdulkadir Hassan told AFP. "So far, I have seen four bodies of people killed and several others wounded," said Abdullahi Ahmed Sheikh, a resident of Shukri area.

Another resident, Mohamed Ali Sheke, said: "I have seen three government forces killed in Hilweyne military camp. Their bodies are still lying in the area."

"A stray bullet killed my neighbour and wounded five others, one of them a child," added Muhubo Moalim Dahir, a resident of Al-Baraka area.

Doctors in the capital's largest hospital, Medina Hospital, said they expected a huge number of casualties."So far, we have 25 wounded in the hospital -- they include civilians and fighters from both sides," said medic Mohamed Ali.

The clashes, pitting Ethiopian-Somali forces against masked gunmen -- suspected Islamist insurgents -- came a day after Somali troops and African Union peacekeepers reinforced their deployment in the seaside capital. A planned 8,000-strong African force aims to help Somali government troops regain control.

The spokesperson for the AU forces said that they had not been involved in the fighting. "So far, we have not been counter-attacking at all. We are still in the phase of settling down the whole operation," said captain Paddy Ankunda, in charge of about 1,500 Ugandan AU troops already deployed. Meanwhile, hundreds of Ethiopian forces on Wednesday pulled out from the presidential palace, Villa Somalia, as Somali troops and AU peacekeepers took over around the popular target for insurgent attacks.

"The government troops are now capable of dealing with the situation with help from the AU. Peace is gradually coming to Somalia, but not overnight," said Yamene Gabremickael, the commander of the Ethiopian forces in the area, as violence escalated in the capital.

Dozens of people have died since January when joint Somali-Ethiopian forces drove an Islamist movement out of south and central Somalia, including the capital, but insurgents and allied factions have responded with deadly guerrilla warfare. The AU mission is the first international peacekeeping venture since US troops led an ill-fated, UN-backed peace operation in the early 1990s. During the first six months of that mission many civilians, 24 Pakistani peacekeepers and 18 US forces were killed in battles with local militia.Factional bloodletting has wracked Somalia since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, creating a platform for a civil war that has defied more than 14 peace-making attempts. -- Agence France Presse

Ethiopia to Tender Blocks in Ogaden Basin

Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections
volume 12, issue #5 - Wednesday, March 14, 2007
17-02-07

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) is to tender two oil exploration blocks in the Ogaden basin, in eastern Ethiopia. The ministry will put up an international tender that will be inviting petroleum companies interested in engaging in oil exploration activity in the concession areas called Block 7 and 8. The blocks are found in the Ogaden basin in the Somali Regional State. There are about twenty blocks in the Ogaden basin and 16 of them were given to different companies.

Alemayehu Tegenu, Minister of MME, told that three companies had asked the ministry to be given block seven and eight. Alemayehu said since different companies had shown interest to acquire the blocks the ministry opted to float a tender. Alemayehu added that the ministry was preparing tender document to be soon put on an international tender.

Petronas, Pexco, Lundin and South West have concession areas in the Ogaden basin. The basin covers 350,000 sq km. of land. The Malaysian oil and gas company, Petronas, acquiredfour blocks in Genale, Kelafo, Warder and Ferfer localities covering 93,000 sq km of land. The agreement was signed in August 2005. Currently Petronas is undertaking a seismic survey in Genale locality.

Petronas has won the Calub and Hilala gasfield tender put up by the MME last April. The gasfields are located some 1,200 km east of Addis Ababa. Officials of Petronas and the Ministry have been negotiating on the gasfield development project. The two parties are expected to sign petroleum development and production sharing agreements in March. The agreements would enable Petronas to extract the natural gas reserves in Calub and Hilala localities found in the Ogaden basin. Petronas has also asked to be given Block 11 and 15 near the Calub and Hilala gasfields. Officials of Petronas and MME have been negotiating on the two blocks. "We have concluded talks on the acquisition of Block 11 and 15. We could give the blocks to Petronas together with Calub and Hilala," Alemayehu said.

Petronas has proposed to construct a gas processing plant and gas pipeline that stretches from the gasfields to the port of Djibouti. The company also proposed to drill additional wells in Calub and Hilala. So far ten wells in Calub and four in Hilala were drilled. The gas reserve is estimated at 113.3 bn cm. Petronas will conduct a seismic survey in block 11 and 15 and will drill exploration well. The company has proposed to invest up to $ 1.9 bn for the gas development project. Petronas would pay $ 75 mm pre-development cost that the Ethiopian government spent on the Calub and Hilala gasfield.

Munyandekwe Testifies Before the ICTR

ICTR/ZIGIRANYIRAZO - A RWANDAN REBEL SUSPECTED OF GENOCIDE CAME TO TESTIFY BEFORE THE ICTR

Arusha, March 20, 2007 (FH) – A Rwandan rebel chief, Anastase Munyandekwe, sought by Kigali for his alleged role in the 1994 genocide, has testified Monday and Tuesday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in the defense of Protais Zigiranyirazo, brother-in-law of President Habyarimana. Protais Zigiranyirazo is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. His trial started in October 2005. He has pleaded not guilty.

Munyandekwe who lives in Belgium where he is the spokesperson for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a rebel movement based in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), placed responsibility for the genocide on the current regime in Rwanda and accused the ICTR of partiality.

“When will the prosecutor (of the ICTR) arrest the real authors of this genocide?” the witness asked at the end of his hearing. According to him, the government in place in Kigali is responsible for genocide. “They killed people who they found in refugee camps under the protection of the United Nations. They planned the genocide,” he said, accusing the ICTR prosecutor of making “selective arrests.” Stating that he spoke “in the interest of the Rwandan people,” he declared that this posed “a credibility problem” for the Tribunal.

The Argentine Judge Ines Weinberg de Roca, who is presiding at the Trial Chamber responsible for this case, interrupted him explaining that she and her associate judges were there to conduct Zigiranyirazo’s trial and not to respond to political interrogations.

Since Monday afternoon, the witness repeatedly said that the Rwandan term akazu (small house) by which members of former President Juvenal Habyarimana were designated, was invented at the beginning of multiparty rule by a dozen opponents of which he was a part. According to him, their goal was to “demonize” President Habyarimana and all people who refused to abandon the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND).

The witness was, since the advent of multiparty rule in 1991, a member of the Democratic Republic Movement (MDR) which, before its demise in 1993, was the principal party opposed to Habyarimana. Using several examples, he also rejected certain allegations of the prosecution that “nothing could be obtained” without passing through Zigiranyirazo and other members of the president’s immediate circle. He meanwhile admitted that he did not maintain relations with this circle and that he was therefore not privy to meetings between Habyarimana and his relatives.

Munyandekwe surprised the judges by declaring that even in 1991 when he decided to join the opposition, he always appreciated the management of the country by Habyarimana and his party, the MRND. “We only wished that he left; just because a president is good doesn’t mean there won’t be opposition,” he said.

ER/PB/KD © Hirondelle News Agency

Summary of Ambassador Flaten's ICTR Testimony.

ICTR/MILITARY I - FORMER US AMBASSADOR TESTIFIES IN GENOCIDE TRIAL
01.07.05
http://www.hirondelle.org/arusha.nsf/LookupUrlEnglish/3be26bdae89a96d0432570310024b103?OpenDocument&Click=

Arusha, June 30th, 2005 (FH) - Robert Flaten, a former American ambassador to Rwanda, Thursday began testifying at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) where four senior officers in the former Rwandan army are jointly standing trial for war crimes.

The ambassador served in Rwanda between December 1990 and November 1993 but left five months before the genocide erupted April 6, 1994.His testimony mostly dwelt on the political context that prevailed in the country from October 1990, when the Tutsi-dominated Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) attacked Rwanda from their base in Uganda, as well as discussing the advent of political pluralism in the tiny central African country.

Flaten said that although many government officials he had met showed willingness to seek a peaceful solution to the Rwandan conflict, a small group of extremists emerged and derailed the peace process. He particularly pointed a finger to a group of Hutu hardliners who rallied under the extremist CDR (Coalition pour la defence de la République).

“President Habyarimana seemed consistent in his support for the process he had asked us to help in”, said Flaten. “The regime was working with us in building democracy and peace”.

He also singled out James Gasana, a former minister of defence, among those who genuinely gave a positive impression.

Habyarimana was assassinated on April 6, 1994 as he returned from regional peace talks in Tanzania thereby triggering mass killings of Tutsis and Hutu members of the opposition. An estimated one million people died countrywide.

Earlier the ambassador had declined to confirm the Prosecutor’s allegations that the 1994 genocide of Tutsis was planned well in advance.

“That part does not fit with my experience in Rwanda”, stated the former diplomat. “We learned of a plot to kill Tutsis, saw lists of people to be killed, and learned of threats against those supporting the Arusha accords. But we were not aware of plans to commit genocide”.

Among the former Rwanda army officers on trial is the former directeur de cabinet in the ministry of defence, Colonel Theoneste Bagosora who is referred to by the prosecution as the “mastermind” of the genocide. With him is Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi, former head of operations in the Rwanda army, the former commander of the Gisenyi military region (North West), Lieutenant-Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, and the former commander of the Kanombe Par-commando battalion in Kigali, Major Aloys Ntabakuze. All have pleaded not guilty.

KN/AT© Hirondelle News Agency

Two Experts of the ICTR Protest Against Fallacious Evidence.

ICTR/ATTACK - TWO EXPERTS OF THE ICTR PROTESTING AGAINST FALLACIOUS EVIDENCE

08.12.06
http://www.hirondelle.org/arusha.nsf/LookupUrlEnglish/9C3BB546611A2D7A4325723E00224FE2?OpenDocument

Arusha, December 7 2006 (FH) - André Guichaoua and Filip Reyntjens, a French and a Belgian academics admitted as expert witnesses by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) have expressed their concern after an ‘evidence’ they thought had been abandoned has been presented again.

After the release of the report on the investigation of the French judge Jean-Louis Bruguière on the attack against the plane of Juvénal Habyarimana, the Tribunal’s spokesperson, followed by the Rwandan delegate at the ICTR, made mention of an order form for ground-to-air missiles completed by the Rwandan government before the genocide. According to the two experts, the missiles that were fired at the President’s plane came from this same lot. Guichaoua and Reyntjens have both repeated arguments the prosecution has presented several times according to which a radical group of Hutus had an interest in the death of the head of state.

« (…) truth has its own rights and we must be careful not to let the clues be clouded », Filip Reyntjens has written the Hirondelle Agency. This document, he explained, is not a purchase order but a letter to the Minister of Defense suggesting the purchase of missiles. It contains no serial number. « As far as I know, he added, the order was never completed ». The Belgian expert witness, who reproached the prosecutor for not pressing charges against RPF members, put an end to their cooperation more than a year ago.

« It’s a strategy of suspicion (…) [which] adds up to the general confusion triggered mostly by the office of the prosecutor who refuses, even though his mandate allows it, to press charges against the war criminals of the Rwandan Patriotic Army », André Guichaoua has commented.

The French expert witness considers that when he presented this document before the court on November 16th 2005, the prosecutor of the ICTR demonstrated a « lack of rigor (…), confusion is not permissible » he continued. The set of forty missiles from which those used on April 6th 1994 were taken has been sold to Uganda, he maintained.

According to Guichaoua, « the rebellion now in power in Kigali is impeding with remarkable determination and invariability the investigation on its forces and gets rid meticulously of all traces and witnesses of its crimes ». Guichaoua says that « by having endorsed a selective policy at the benefit of the winners all these years, the prosecutor’s office has already allowed the war criminals’ attorneys to implement defense strategies that are purely political on the grounds of a logic: one’s crimes clean off the other’s ».

PB/MG Hirondelle News Agency

Atrocities in Darfur Region 'Very Real’ - US

Wednesday 21 March 2007.

Associated Press

March 20, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — The U.S. said Tuesday that a comment by Sudan’s president denying widespread rape in the Darfur region bore no resemblance to reality, adding that atrocities, including rape, are "very real."

Despite U.N. estimates that more than 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 2.5 million displaced in recent years, President Omar al-Bashir accused the U.S. in an interview broadcast Tuesday of exaggerating evidence of war crimes.

"Yes, there have been villages burned," al-Bashir said in the interview with the NBC television network recorded Monday. "People have been killed because there is war. It is not in the Sudanese culture or people of Darfur to rape. It doesn’t exist. We don’t have it."

He accused the U.S. of plotting to gain access to the country’s oil.
"The goal is to put Darfur under their custody," he said. "Separating the region of Darfur from Sudan."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday that the atrocities, including rape, are well documented.

"It’s very real. We’ve seen it. We have heard firsthand accounts of it," McCormack said. "To try to brush this aside as mere fabrications of the United States or others is really just misguided. You can find a lot of other words for it, but I’ll just stick with misguided."

The Hague-based International Criminal Court has accused Sudanese officials and militias of orchestrating massacres, mass rapes and the forcible transfer of thousands of civilians from their homes in Darfur. The U.S. has called the massacres genocide.

Al-Bashir has resisted international calls to strengthen peacekeeping forces in the region. He made clear in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon circulated on Friday that he did not agree to a proposal to send more than 3,000 U.N. military, police and civilian personnel, along with substantial aviation and logistical assets to beef up the 7,000-strong African Union force now on the ground in Darfur.

He also has raised objections to the final stage of a U.N. plan that calls for a 22,000-strong joint U.N.-AU peacekeeping mission.

"We have gotten to a point where we need to look, give a good, hard look at what levers we might use at our disposal in order to convince the Sudanese government to change its position," McCormack said Tuesday. "Maybe what we need to do is try to change the cost-benefit analysis for them. And that is something that we are looking at actively."

In a congressional hearing Tuesday, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Swan also warned that relief organizations have been forced by rising violence in neighboring Chad to cut their staffing in that country by about half. The violence and reduced manpower has greatly reduced their ability to care for refugees in the whole region, including thousands who have fled Darfur for Chad.

Swan said that the U.S. and allies are pushing the Chadian government to accept an international military force to keep peace between rival political and ethnic groups, but that so far the country’s government has resisted the suggestion.

Swan was speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing focusing on violence in Chad and the Central African Republic, which has received less attention than the conflict in Darfur.

He said that the violence in Darfur has spilled over borders and cannot be treated separately from conflict in the two other countries.

The president of the Central African Republic has already announced that he is willing to accept U.N. peacekeepers as part of a proposed force that would also operate in Chad.

Swan said that given the difficulty of getting countries to contribute large numbers of troops, the U.S. is urging the U.N. Security Council to approve a smaller force backed by heavy equipment including helicopters that would allow troops to respond quickly to outbreaks of violence over a large area.

Violence in Chad has been fueled by economic disparity as a result of oil revenues controlled by the government that are not being distributed. The U.S. is pushing for government reform.

"Because we recognize that poor governance is a major cause of Chadian instability, we have emphasized the importance of democratic reform, respect for human rights, dialogue, and transparent governance," he said.

Oil in the Nuba Mountains.

Oil in the Nuba Mountains

NAFIR
Volume 5, No 2, August 1999

This article provides a background context for the current politics of oil in Sudan-Editor.

Oil, Sudan's biggest non-renewable resource, is being bled from under the feet of some of the world's poorest people and will soon be piped round the Nuba Mountains on its way to the north, when a 1600km pipeline from Bentiu to Port Sudan is finally completed. (The pipeline has been completed-Editor)

The National Islamic Front (NIF) government is determined to complete its new oil pipeline because of its importance to staying in power. It has found backing from China and Malaysia, but vital components of the project - in both exploration expertise and specialised hardware - have come from Canada, Britain and Germany. Austria's big petrochemical company OMV and Sweden's Lundin oil companies are also involved, and Germany's Mannesmann combine has provided 500km of the pipe. Total of France is waiting in the wings to resume oil and gas exploration.

How clear does the link between the National Islamic Front's oil project and its pursuit of the civil war have to be? NIF leader Hassan al-Turabi boasted in April this year that the oil revenue, at $300-$500 million a year, equal to its spending on the war, will help build tanks and missiles. People around the militarised oil installations and the pipeline route have already been subjected to devastating raids by government forces. Systematic destruction and relocation of communities are part and parcel of the project. Southerners and Nuba people are said to have been removed by force, and others kept under harsh military "control"; meanwhile, Arabised ethnic groups are reportedly being moved in to the pipeline zone to ensure greater local loyalty to the regime.

Ismail Khamis, commander of the SPLA's Fifth Nuba Mountains Division, interviewed in Changaro on 4th February this year, said that the government launched its early dry-season offensive at the end of 1998 for "four reasons, one of which was oil."

"They are making the pipeline from El-Obeid to Dilling and through Keiga and to Keilak, and from there to the Heglig wells. The army wants to pin us down in our positions so they can get the pipeline going. This oil will be very important for them. Why? For their economy and their war effort."

In 1996, Canada's Arakis Energy Corp - now wholly owned by Talisman (ex-BP Canada) - started pumping 10,000 barrels a day from its oil wells in Heglig, south Kordofan, and sending the crude oil to the refinery in el-Obeid. The refinery is not a sophisticated one; it is wasteful and inefficient. The primary significance of the NIF's efforts to transport the oil there by truck and rail - also an inefficient process - seemed at first to be its propaganda value, more than the cash value of the oil. But it shouldn't be forgotten that El-Obeid is a major regional military base for the air force and the army of the Sudanese government - and it is a vital staging post for military operations into the Nuba Mountains as well as parts of southern Sudan. This oil is unlikely to be primarily for civilian use, and more likely to be refined into fuel for military trucks and tanks. It's also possible that the El-Obeid refinery is producing aviation fuel that could be used by government planes flying bombing missions on the Nuba Mountains and parts of the south.

Turning its often-repeated threats against the oil pipeline into reality will be a challenge for the SPLA. When the SPLA first forced Chevron to close down its oil operations in 1984, the Movement was united and the Arab militias sent to protect the Bentiu oil fields were easily beaten. However, following the 1991 split, the SPLA no longer has large numbers of forces in the predominantly Nuer territory around Bentiu and Western Upper Nile. In 1998 the main SPLA forces nearest to the oilfields were in the Nuba Mountains, where the Nuba SPLA are still fully involved in defending their own area against the latest onslaught of the National Islamic Front. They cannot simply be dispatched to the oil fields. But there is no doubt that the installations will remain a military target.

The people, meanwhile, are becoming Sudan's version of Nigeria's Ogoni, and the horrors of the Niger Delta look set to be repeated here. The environmental dangers of the pipeline are inadequately studied and impossible to discuss under the totalitarian regime. As the former UN Human Rights Rapporteur Dr Gaspar Biro says, if the oil companies don't know what is really going on, they can't be looking over the fences of their compounds.

The exploitation of Sudan’s oil reserves has created a rush for profit by many international oil companies. Their greed has impaired their judgement. Sudan needs to develop its oil resources for the benefit of all its people—or it will face more conflict and war.

Nuba Survival
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Hayes Middlesex, UB3 3WZ
United Kingdom UK
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