Darfur Conflict Intersects Sudan’s Other Wars – The Irish Examiner
November 1st, 2007
Shambolic peace talks only part of the problem, as renewed war looms elsewhere in Sudan
Kassab IDP camp, northern Darfur (Simon Roughneen, Feb 06)
On Monday United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) mediators tried to put a positive spin on the latest Darfur peace talks failure. Talks may resume in three weeks, leaving little time to broker some viable deal before a proposed 26,000 UN/AU peacekeeping force enters Darfur in early 2008.
The Libyan-hosted gathering attracted few of the main rebel protagonists, instead featuring a gathering of relative unknowns and splinter movements. But not only have key rebels stayed away, the Khartoum government with whom they are supposed to negotiate has collapsed.
Two of the main rebel factions – the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) wing led by a Paris-based lawyer, Abdul Wahid al-Nur, and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), did not go to Libya. Wahid wants international peacekeepers on the ground first – he is widely popular among ethnic Fur in Darfur’s camps, but has relatively few fighters. For its part, the JEM does not take the UN or the AU as honest brokers, and linked with another SLA wing – ‘Unity’ – to form an effective military opposition to the government forces. (more…)
The coming war in Sudan – Foreign Policy
October 31st, 2007
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2007/10/31/the_coming_war_in_sudan
On Monday, United Nations (U.N.) and African Union (A.U.) mediators tried to put a positive spin on the failure of the latest Darfur peace talks in Sirte, Libya, after various splinter movements were the only groups to show up to negotiate with a Sudanese government that has collapsed. Crucially, Darfur’s major rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), were absent.
The meeting’s host, Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi, said that the world should cut Khartoum some slack over international peacekeepers since Darfur is nothing more than a tribal “fight over a camel.” (more…)
No Progress Reported in Ending Rift Between North and South Sudan – VoA
October 30th, 2007
De Capua interview with Simon Roughneen mp3 
Listen to De Capua interview with Simon Roughneen mp3
De Capua interview with Simon Roughneen ra
It’s been several weeks since ministers from Southern Sudan suspended their involvement in the national unity government. They say Southern Sudan has not benefited so far from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005. The agreement ended about 20 years of civil war.
For a look at where the situation stands now, VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua spoke with Simon Roughneen, former aid worker and now a senior analyst for the International Relations and Security Network. (more…)
Military Grip on Burma backed by China and India – The Irish Catholic
October 4th, 2007
Cracks in army needed to unseat Generals
Saffron protests, Burma Sept 2007 (Daily Mail)
The Buddhist-led anti-military protests in Burma have faded as an army crackdown has prevented monks from getting onto the streets. Fears that hundreds may have died in the brutal reaction to peaceful protests, has cowed the demonstrators, for now at least.
After more than a week of protests in Rangoon and other cities, on Wednesday September 26 the Burmese military dictatorship lived up to threats to “take action” against protesters, with over 14 deaths reported by last weekend and dozens of bloodied Buddhist monks reeling from the military’s counter-action on the city’s streets.
Although the protests were led by monks, by Thursday September 27 the proportion of monks versus laypeople than in previous days, after hundreds of were rounded up and troops surrounded monasteries.
UN Envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Burma over last weekend, but despite meeting the democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the former Nigerian foreign minister was not permitted meet the military dictator General Than Shwe. Thus far, mission failed.
Last week, the UN Security Council sought to impose western-led global sanctions against the Burmese regime, but this was blocked by China and Russia on Wednesday evening. Agreement was reached on a watered-down press statement expressing “concern” and urging “restraint especially from the government.” (more…)
The greed behind Burma’s agony – Sunday Business Post
September 30th, 2007
http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2007/09/30/story26992.asp
Corruption is endemic in the military-dominated Burmese economy, and army cadres have been enriched using the country’s natural resources, writes Simon Roughneen in Kuala Lumpur.
from bdcburma.org
With at least 14 people dead after Burmese soldiers opened fire on protesters in Rangoon last Wednesday and Thursday – and fears that the toll could be much higher – Burma’s ‘‘people power’’ revolution seemed to be fading by this weekend.
Only a few thousand reportedly took to the streets, down from an estimated 100,000 before the government’s violent reaction. However, cracks in the ruling junta over the crushing of dissent mean that an olive branch may be offered to the pro-democracy movement.
Last Friday, diplomatic sources in Bangkok said that the junta’s second-in-command, General Maung Aye, was scheduled to meet democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, after dissenting from the bloody crackdown authorised by General Than Shwe, Burma’s military dictator.
As the killing proceeded, the UN Security Council failed in an attempt to impose western-led global sanctions against the Burmese regime.
Punitive measures were blocked by China and Russia last Wednesday evening, although agreement was reached on a watered-down press statement expressing ‘‘concern’’ and urging ‘‘restraint, especially from the government’’. (more…)
Burma: Colonels vs clerics – ISN
September 27th, 2007
The coming days will be crucial in Burma (Myanmar) depending on how the military junta chooses to respond to demonstrations led by Buddhist monks that have gained serious critical mass.
- By Simon Roughneen in Dili
After more than a week of protests in Rangoon (Yangon) and other cities, on Wednesday the Burmese military dictatorship lived up to threats to “take action” against protesters, with between four and eight deaths reported and dozens of bloodied Buddhist monks reeling from the military’s counter-action on the city’s streets.
The killings apparently took place near the Shwedagon Pagoda, Buddhist Burma’s holiest site. The ruling junta stated that one person died during the show of force by the security services. (more…)
Pol Pot’s Deputy To Face Trial – Village
September 20th, 2007
The most senior surviving member of the genocidal Khmer Rouge leadership has been arrested at his home in rural Cambodia, close to the Thai border.
By Simon Roughneen in Dili
Brother No 2 (Reuters)
Nuon Chea, known by his Orwellian-sounding title of ‘Brother Number 2’, will face trial for crimes against humanity at the United Nations-backed genocide court established in Cambodia last year.
He was Pol Pot’s right-hand man during the 1975-1979 reign of terror imposed by the Khmer Rouge, during which almost 2 million people perished due to starvation, disease, enslavement, or execution by the Maoists, in the name of utopian agrarian reforms, of which Chea was a central architect. Formal education, property rights, religious profession and currency were all abolished, as the Khmer Rouge sought to turn the country into a large-scale collective farm cum labour camp, before being overthrown by an invading Vietnamese army in 1979. The number of people killed due the relentless brutality under the Khmer Rouge amounted to almost 20 per cent of the population of Cambodia.
As Chea was led to the helicopter deployed to fly him to Phnom Penh to face trial, a neighbour told Agence-France Press that “he was shaking, he looked like his legs would collapse”. A penchant for Gucci sunglasses aside, the aging Chea lived austerely in a wooden jungle house in recent years. (more…)
Malaysia marks 50 years as a nation – The Irish Times
September 1st, 2007
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2007/0901/1188336566052.html
Simon Roughneen in Dili
KL Tower from the ground (Simon Roughneen)
MALAYSIA:As one of the world’s most successful post-colonial states celebrates a half-century of independence, many wonder if the relative harmony that has characterised Malaysian society during much of that time is in jeopardy.
At yesterday’s celebrations attended by regional heads of state and Britain’s Prince Andrew, prime minister Abdullah Badawi voiced pride in his country’s pluralism, but hinted at underlying social tension.
He told tens of thousands of Malaysians who had turned out in the capital’s main square: “We must take care of our unity and we must be ready to destroy any threat which may affect our unity”, a reference to recently-emerging ethnic tensions in what was deemed Asia’s melting-pot.
On August 31st, 1957, Malaya finally broke free from British rule, adding what is now Singapore as well as Sabah and Sarawak in the northern part of Borneo in 1963. Singapore seceded in 1965, and the renamed Malaysia soon after erupted into its one notable episode of political-ethnic violence, when 1969 race riots caused the deaths of about 1,000 Chinese-Malaysians. (more…)
East Timor: Bishop sees hope after the elections – The Irish Catholic
August 23rd, 2007
The old saying “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” might seem to be a relic – in more ways than one – of the early Christian era when Nero and Domitian sent saints to a gory death in Rome’s Coliseum.
Bishop Silva at his desk (Simon Roughneen)
But it might apply just easily to a tiny half-island nation lying just north of Australia. In 1975, on the eve of the Indonesian invasion of what had had been a Portuguese colony for over 450 years, it is thought, though no precise figures are available, that around 20% of Timorese were Catholic. In 1999, when the Indonesians left, all bar 1-2% of Timorese were Catholic, and remain fervently so. As Bishop of Dili Ricardo da Silva told me “in East Timor, you will see every parish faithful and every Church full on Sunday”
In that quarter-century interlude, the occupying Indonesian troops contributed to the death of between 150,000 – 250,000 Timorese, if not through direct attacks, then because of the impact massive displacement of people had on food supply and healthcare. Given that there were only 700,000 East Timorese when the occupation began, the death toll is almost certainly the highest per capita of any country anywhere since World War II. As the Bishop says: “during the Indonesian time the Church was active, the Church attended to the people. People were frightened, and they ran to the Church”
The Bishop spoke to me before the recent announcement of a new coalition government comprising 4 parties, headed by 2002-2007 President Xanana Gusmao, a former resistance hero who spent much of the 1990s in jail in Jakarta. A week of riots ensued, led by supporters of the ousted Revolutionary Front for Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN) party. (more…)
Philippine escalation may spark wider war – ISN
August 22nd, 2007
Recent clashes between government troops and militants spark fears that the Philippine’s move to quell insurgency in the south could pave the way for full-scale conflict.
Map of Philippines (BBC)
By Simon Roughneen in Dili
As Philippine Armed Forces (AFP) – advised by US military personnel – move against insurgents in the southern Philippines, there is the danger that the clashes could ignite more violence in the restive region.
Battles continued 18-19 August in the area, with US military advisors working on the ground alongside AFP contingents moving against al-Qaida-linked Islamists.
However the offensive could lead to large-scale fighting, as two larger militia groups opposed to the government have exchanged fire with the army in recent weeks.
Sixteen Philippine soldiers and at least two – according to the AFP over 40 – members of the Islamist group Abu Sayyaf have been killed in an ongoing offensive on the twin islands of Jolo and Basilan, 900 kilometers south of Manila. The militants are suspected of beheading 10 soldiers last month after they had been killed in clashes with a separate militia. (more…)
