Given the complexity with all the actors involved in Darfur, what are you recommedations for addressing the immediate needs of humanitarian aid and the long term needs of development in the region? In what ways could regional actors be helpful in bringing sustained peace to Darfur? Thank you!
Answer
Hi Saadia: The UN have done a tremendous job in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. They are basically coordinating dozens of international and national Ngos in providing essential services to those affected by the conflict. This lifeline must continue to be supported by the international community for as long as necessary as the search for a peace continues.
As regards regional actors, they have been both negative and positive in their involvement in the Darfur issue. Eritrea, for example, has actively militarily assisted and armed the Darfur rebels as well as providing military and diplomatic sanctuary for them. The Chadian government began well with its attempts to secure peace in 2003 and 2004 but has increasingly been drawn into taking sides in the war. It is now also part of the problem and not the solution.
All regional and international powers must bring every pressure to bear to get all those involved to the negotiating table.
Name
hisham Osman
- Sudan
Profession
IT
Question
Dear Dr
My Q is there are I think hidden agenda behind the media exaggerating the number of effective in Darfur what it could be do u think
Answer
Hi Hisham. thank you for your question.
The issue of numbers and statistics regarding the Darfur crisis is a very important one - especially so because some of the claims about mortality figures are being used as a justification or rationale for western military intervention. The number of Darfurians affected by the conflict - in the UN definition of the term affected - has been very precisely measured by the UN, and applies to those displaced by the war or in some other way impacted upon by the conflict.
The latest UN estimate places that figure at something over 2 million within Sudan and 200,000 or so in Chad. Darfur mortality figures have been at the heart of a propaganda war with the so-called Save Darfur coalition in the USA claiming that 400,000 civilians had been killed. Groups such as Medecins sans frontieres have spoken of around 125,000 deaths from all causes - of which roughly one fifth to one quarter may have been killed in the fighting etc. Independent authorities in Britain have underlined how inaccurate and conjectural the Save Darfur mortality claims have been.
I don't think that it is necessarily a case of the media exagerrating the figures - all the media has done is repeat very questionable claims without bothering to check the claims. It is more a case of a lack of professionalism than a case of a hidden agenda.
Name
Abdallah
- Sudan
Profession
Question
Who do you think is supplying the rebel groups with weapons and why?
Answer
The UN have done a lot of work in tracing where rebel weapons are coming from. Weapons have come to the rebels from, amongst other sources, Libya, Chad, Eritrea and the SPLA movement in southern Sudan. At least two aircraft moving very large amounts of weaponery into rebel areas have been shot down by Sudanese government forces.
Why have they been supplied? I think that it is naive not to believe that there are a countries and number of groups and constituencies which have pursued the destabilisation of Sudan for many years - the Darfur crisis has been just the latest opportunity for these groups to continue with these efforts. The more weapons in Darfur the more difficult it will be to solve the problem.
Name
Alnahas
- Sudan
Profession
media
Question
We need to know the reality behind the German and Libyan roles on fueling Darfur crisis
Answer
The German involvement in the Darfur issue has been questionable. Perhaps driven by their own national involvement in a real genocide in their own country, the Germans are sensitive to claims of genocide in Darfur. Any such claim is of course false but a skewed German policy towards Sudan and Darfur may continue.
They have not played as constructive a role as they should have in bringing pressure to bear on those rebel leaders - some resident in Europe and in Germany - who are currently obstructing the peace process. As for Libyan involvement, Libya has long been actively engaged in the Sahel, and especially in Chad and Sudan. They seem to be trying to maintain links to everyone in the conflict.
Name
Alhidai Ahmed
-
Profession
Question
The evidence of foreign intervention in Darfur is clear. What is the perfect policy you think the government could apply in Darfur to avoid foriegn intervention?
Answer
The government should continue to provide unimpeded humanitarian access to Darfur. It should continue to actively pursue the peace process despite the inability or disinclination of the rebel groups/factions to do so. It must highlight the activities of the rebel movements in Darfur, for example, the constant, everyday attacks on aid workers and theft of food and medical supplies.
And it should continue to may the disastrous consequences of any uninvited foreign intervention perfectly clear to the US, UK, France and Germany.
Name
abdulla bashir
-
Profession
Question
Is comeptetion over oil and uranium a factor in the Darfur conflict?
Answer
I think that the Darfur conflict has undoubtably been caught up in the struggle to control and exploit Africa's natural resources. In the case of Darfur, the region is itself rich in resources, including oil. The Darfur issue is itself being used in a large picture to destabilise Sudan perhaps with a view to attempting to control Sudan's massive oil reserves.
While this could conceivably be at least partially the motivation behind attempts to encourage a western military intervention, the fact is that any such efforts are misguided and based upon a flawed interpretation of the Sudanese situation.
Name
George
-
Profession
Question
Professor Hoile can you tell us which foreign powers are intervening in Darfur and why?
Answer
There are a number of foreign states that have to a greater or lesser extent intervened in the Darfur crisis. There are countries such as Eritrea whose government has been a long standing enemy of Sudan (despite the present government having been instrumental in bringing them to power and independence). It should be noted that Eritrea has sought to destabilise every one of its neighbours - and even Yemen - so its attempts to fuel the Darfur crisis should come as no surprise.
There is Chad which has become increasingly drawn into the conflict for its own domestic ethnic and political reasons. Libya is also involved for reasons that are quite hard to fathom - but probably because Libya sees Chad and even Darfur as part of its backyard. The United States have intervened politically for opportunistic reasons: in exagerrating the situation within Darfur it draws attention away from the disasters it has created in Iraq and Afghanistan. One column inch of news coverage on Darfur is one less on Iraq...
Name
Mohamed
-
Profession
Question
Dear Sir
Thank you for doing this. Can you tell us what is the truth about Darfur. We are these muslims fighting each other. Why can not them make peace
Answer
The truth about Darfur is that it is an African civil war. Far from being a war about regional marginalisation, it is a national war being fought in Darfur between two or more Islamist political parties, essentially the National Congress and Popular Congress.
The difficulty about making peace in Darfur is that for one of the original 2 rebel movements, JEM, it is a zero sum game aimed at overthrowing or disabling the Khartoum government. They have not and will not sign any peace which does not serve their agenda - and that of Dr Turabi, the leader of the Popular Congress in Sudan. All this has also been caught now has various international dimensions which have further complicated the search for peace.
Name
PalmTree
-
Profession
Question
Dear Sir,
Don't you think the Sudanese government could've forseen this problem? From what I understand the basis of the problem was competiton on land resources between the nomad tribes & the farming tribes. Later on,this developed into clashes between them & escalated to the current situation.
In my opinion, I think that this problem could've been solved a long time ago, by fair distribution of land rights.
But I also think that the government, was busy with the South war at that time to consider this seriously...
Which now lead to the "Darfur Crisis".
What do you think? & What can be done now by the Sudanese people & Sudanese government?
Answer
I think that you are correct in your analysis.
The Sudanese government did take it's eye off the ball during its long engagement in the Naivasha peace process which ended the north-south civil war. There have been a range of low-intensity conflicts in Darfur for a number of decades; the 2003 Darfur war was quite different from those other conflicts, was very carefully planned and ruthlessly initiated in rebel attacks on government and civilian targets in 2003.
The hand of disaffected national political leaders in precipitating these events is clear. In answer to your last question, the Darfur crisis can only be resolved by the Darfurians - with whatever technical assistance may be necessary from the government and the international community.
Name
sudanese
-
Profession
Question
why did the rebels open office in Israel?!!
Answer
Several of the Darfur rebels have clearly plugged into pre-existing anti-Sudanese constituencies.
Much of the anti-Sudanese activity that has caused so much political noise in the United States has come from the self-styled Save Darfur coalition, which itself was started by American jewish organisations. The SLM's opening of an office in Israel would have been a logical extension of that involvement.
Name
Abdur-Rahman
-
Profession
Question
Is there any possibility that western intelligence services have contributed to the strife between the opposing groups in an effort to creat e apretext for intervention?
Answer
There is no doubt whatsoever that the Darfur crisis has been deliberately exploited by a number of foreign governments and interest groups.
Some of these actors may well (naively) believe that an intervention is necessary or desirable(for whatever reason.)
Name
merciful
-
Profession
Question
can you give detail explanation about the interest of Israel and America in the horn of Africa? I ask you this because recently there is a big movement by the Americans and the Israelis in Ethiopia.
Answer
Both the United States and Israel have had a long-standing interest in the horn of Africa, an interest most recently heightened by the post-9-11 "war on terrorism".
Sadly, the US appears to have learnt nothing from its previous involvement in Iraq and elsewhere - something which was highlighted by its recent disastrous policy towards and involvement in Somalia - policy which is creating the very circumstances which will fuel extremism and terrorism.
Name
Striver
-
Profession
Question
Can an coalition of Muslim armies (without UN support)help Darfur regain peace and prosperity?
Answer
There is no point in having a peacekeeping force (Muslim or otherwise) without a peace to keep.
Only a peace agreement will secure peace and prosperity.
Name
Operation
-
Profession
Question
Why are Western and Israeli forces "concerned about the situation" in Darfur but not in Somalia which they are mainly responsible for, or the terror in Zimbabwe?
Answer
Western institutions are "concerned" about Darfur at least in large part because of the political noise generated within the western media, deliberately or consequentially, on Darfur.
What is ironic, as in many conflicts, is that the noise has reached a climax precisely as the humanitarian situation (certainly when measured in terms of conflict-related mortality)has lessened dramatically.
While there is less noise on Zimbabwe, there is almost none on Somalia. Some people do, of course, make the point that there are no proven oil reserves in Zimbabwe or Somalia.
Name
Abdul-Rahman Saleh
- United States
Profession
Question
Hello Dr. Hoile. What role do you think private security comapnies might play in Darfur, such as Blackwater, which is already involved in Iraq and south Sudan?
Answer
There is no constructive role whatsoever that can be played by private security companies in Darfur.
The pro-mercenary lobby within the USA have been pushing for some of the security within IDP camps etc in Darfur to be taken over by Blackwater etc, and that Blackwater or any other US security company could "solve" the "Janjaweed" problem overnight.
I think that one need only look at YouTube to see the reality of Blackwater operations in Iraq for example. They would be equally disastrous in Darfur.
Name
IOL's Correspondent
-
Profession
Question
The session has ended. We would like to thank Dr. Hoile for taking the time to answer your questions, and all those who participated in the dialogue.
Kind regards,
IslamOnline.net's correspondent in Sudan.
Answer
Thank you for your kind invitation to participate in the dialogue.
