Shalom has been in close contacts with western aid officials to get the job done

By Mohammad Ziada, IOL Correspondent

CAIRO, August 18 (IslamOnline.net) – Israel is planning to send aid supplies to the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur in addition to a high-profile “medical team” to the refugee camps in neighboring Chad.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has been in close contacts with western aid officials to get the job done, the Israeli radio announced Tuesday, August 17.

According to a well-placed source with the Israeli health ministry, Israel will also send an official delegation to the Darfuris in Chad.

The radio quoted Israeli politicians as saying the move is "motivated by a moral commitment by Tel Aviv towards people who suffer from the horrors of ethnic cleansing and severe injustice".

Reports said earlier in the week that a three-member Israeli medical team returned home from Chad following two weeks of hands-on experience in refugee camps.

The three work for a Non Governmental Organisation funded by Jewish donations.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the reports, saying it arranged the journey in coordination with United Nations officials for security and safety reasons.

The visit is the first of its kind by Israeli citizens to Chad, according to the ministry’s website.

Israel’s mass-circulation Maariv newspaper reported on its July 29 edition that the Jewish Agency had provided aid to the Sudanese refugees in Chad in coordination with US aid agencies operating in Chad.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mostafa Othman Ismail accused Israel on August 8 of fueling tensions in the troubled Darfur region, calling for a greater Arab role to contain the crisis.

Speaking to reporters on his arrival in the Egyptian capital for an emergency meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers on Darfur, the top Sudanese diplomat said information at hand asserted that Israel backed up the main rebel groups in Darfur.

"The days to come will reveal close contacts between Israel and the rebels," he said.

Bandwagon

Israeli officials and media jumped on the western-driven bandwagon that circulate every now and then news about atrocities and human rights violations in Darfur.

The recent statements made by the top Israeli diplomat is a case in point. Silvan Shalom said last month that a "human catastrophe" was taking place in Sudan.

He claimed that up to 30,000 Darfuris were killed and some one million fled their homes.

The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations started his speech in a session on the West Bank separation wall with a reference to Darfur and what he termed "Arab atrocities there".

Israeli experts have also called for imposing international sanctions on Sudan for the status quo in Darfur, warning the Sudanese regime of the same fate that befell the ousted Iraqi government.

The United Nations has labeled the 16-month-old conflict as the world's worst current humanitarian crisis, amid mixed reports putting the number of people killed at 10,000 to 50,000 and over one million reportedly forced to flee their homes.

But Dr. Hussein Gezairy, Regional Director of World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, told IslamOnline.net Thursday, July 29, that the situation in the restive area did not amount to genocide or ethnic cleansing as claimed.

Foothold

Arab analysts believe that Israel is trying hard to get a foothold in Africa by enhancing its ties with basically Nile Basin countries.

They said that Israel are courting such countries by security and agricultural expertise.

The Israeli activities are a cause for concern to many countries in the region, chiefly Egypt which fears that it could affect its water quota from the River Nile.

Other experts even believe that the Israeli interference in Africa is used by Tel Aviv as a bargain chip to be used against the Egyptian role in the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

The Nile Basin countries include Egypt, Sudan, Burundi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda.

Sudan - the largest country in Africa by area - lies at the center of the Nile Basin, encompassing about two thirds of the total Basin area.

All of the major tributaries of the River Nile, the longest river in the world, meet within Sudan. At Khartoum the White and the Blue Nile join to form the Main Nile.