Sudan: thousands fleeing attacks in Western Darfur

In ten days an estimated 3,000-4,000 families have fled to the town of Junaynah after their villages were burned and looted in militia attacks on Western Darfur, according to local sources.

A spokesman of the Sudan Liberation Army, a rebel group, reported that on January 2 about 225 men, women and children had been killed by Arab militias mounted on horses and camels in the village of Sorrah, about 15 km outside of Zalingei, in Western Darfur. Describing the attack as “ethnic cleansing,” he said the inhabitants of the town were mainly from the Fur ethnic group.

Regional analysts accuse militias of perpetrating gross human rights abuses including the killing of several thousand people and displacing hundreds of thousands of others. In December alone, about 30,000 people fled from militia attacks, crossing the border to neighboring Chad, bringing the number of refugees there to 95,000. It remains unclear to what extent either the government or local Arab tribal leaders exercise control over the militias.

Meanwhile, rebels reportedly attacked the village of Sharaya in Southern Darfur on Jan. 2, killing between four and six policemen and soldiers, and looting a local market.

The Sudanese government has vowed to crush the Darfur rebellion using any available means. But regional analysts say a political solution, based around devolution of power and equitable sharing of resources, is necessary to resolve Darfur’s decades of economic and political neglect. (UNIRIN)

US implicated in Iraq reconstruction scam

Iraq’s interim trade ministry is investigating alleged corruption of up to $40 million by members of the US led Coalition Provisional Authority and senior ministry officials.

Trade minister Ali Allawi says he discovered a month ago that a contract for wooden doors worth about $80 million had been manipulated.

“I think a third of it was stolen,” he said, specifically estimating that $30-40 million disappeared.

Allawi said the allegations mainly involve “contract manipulation and... contract prioritization,” which he has asked a prosecutor to investigate.

“There is strong evidence ... of the implication of certain individuals, senior management who have since been asked to leave, together with, unfortunately, figures in the CPA,” said Allawi, who returned from his job as a London investment banker to take up his post in September.

He said a few “key individuals” were under investigation.

“If the evidence is confirmed then obviously I’ll bring charges,” he said.

The Coalition Provisional Authority could not immediately comment on the case. (Agence France-Presse)

Israeli colonel resigns over army’s ‘immoral’ actions

A reservist colonel in the Israeli army has resigned his commission in protest at his army’s “immoral conduct” in the occupied territories. In an open letter to the army’s chief of staff, Lt-Col. Eitan Ronel, returned his officer’s commission. Ronel, 51, is a veteran of 1973’s Yom Kippur War, the invasion of Lebanon, and the first Palestinian Intifada. He was released from active reserve duty two years ago.

His resignation came even as five teenage conscripts were recently sentenced to a year in prison each for refusing to serve in the Israeli army “as long as it acts as an army of occupation.” Scores of reservists have refused to report for duty for similar reasons, and many of them have been sentenced to prison terms, but Lt-Col. Ronel is believed to be the first Israeli officer to resign his commission in protest.

In his letter to the chief of staff, Ronel wrote that for him, the final straw had been when Israeli soldiers opened fire on unarmed protestors demonstrating against the “separation fence” Israel is building in the West Bank.

“A country in which the army disperses demonstrations of its citizens with live gunfire is not a democratic country,” Lt-Col Ronel wrote. “An army that educates its soldiers that such a crime is conceivable has lost all its borders.

“This is the failure of army commanders,” he told the chief of staff, “…You and your predecessors have corrupted my army, our army. I do not want to be a part of such an army. You gave me the ranks, to you I return them.” (Independent (UK))

Mail bombs target EU parliament

One of a number of letter bombs sent to the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels exploded as it was opened by German MEP Hans-Gert Poettering, head of the European People’s Party. Nobody was reported injured as a result of the explosion.

Another device found at the building, where staff had returned to work after Christmas, did not explode.

The office of a British MEP, Jonathan Evans, has been evacuated after the delivery of a suspicious package.

A number of letter bomb devices have been sent to European Union institutions in recent weeks. Similar packages were sent to European Commission President Romano Prodi, the head of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet, Spanish conservative Jose Ignacio Salafranca, and the offices of Europol and Eurojust in the Hague, the Netherlands in December.

All the devices were sent from Bologna, prompting authorities to block any further parcels sent from the Italian region to EU institutions.

An unknown Italian group calling itself the Informal Anarchist Federation is believed to be behind the campaign.

At the end of last year it threatened to target “the apparatus of control that is repressive and leading the democratic show that is the new European order.” ( BBC)

Brazil to fingerprint US citizens

A Brazilian judge has announced that US citizens will be fingerprinted and photographed on entering the country.

Federal Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva was reacting to US plans to do the same to Brazilians entering the United States. From Jan. 5, travelers from all countries which need a visa to enter the US will undergo the same checks before entering the country. He made the order after a Brazilian government office filed a complaint in a federal court over the new US immigration measures.

“I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic, and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis,” da Silva said in the court order.

Washington’s new rules are part of increased anti-terrorism measures, aiming to identify people who have violated immigration controls, have a criminal record, or belong to groups that Washington has on its list of “terrorist” organizations.

It will not apply to citizens of 27 nations who do not require a visa to enter the US. (BBC)

Malawi activist to run for office

A veteran political activist and human rights campaigner in Malawi has announced that she intends to contest this year’s presidential election in May.

Vera Chirwa, who was jailed for 12 years for treason under the late Hastings Banda, would be the first woman to stand for the presidency. Chirwa commands great moral authority in Malawi. She and her husband, Orton, were jailed for their role in the campaign for independence from Britain. After power was handed over in 1964, Orton became justice minister, only to fall foul of the Malawian President Hastings Banda.

The Chirwas went into exile but were abducted, put on trial for treason, and jailed. She was not released until 12 years later, shortly after her husband had died in prison. Over the past decade she has dismissed calls to stand for public office, but now, in her early seventies, she is finally preparing to stand as an independent candidate for the presidency.

“Men have been dominating Malawi politics for too long. Maybe that’s why they are blundering. But I think that if a woman can come up, she would improve a lot of things,” she said. Chirwa acknowledges improvement in human rights, including freedom of expression over the past decade, but says those gains have been undermined by economic decline. ( BBC)

Leader of Georgia’s ‘rose revolution’ claims landslide

Mikhail Saakashvili, the former New York lawyer turned leader of Georgia’s “rose revolution,” claimed a landslide victory in the country’s presidential elections on Jan. 4.

An exit poll indicated that Saakashvili, who was responsible for organizing the mass demonstrations that forced former president Eduard Shevardnadze from power in November, had won 85.8 per cent of the vote. Despite no official results being available, Saakashvili declared himself the winner.

Voters emerging from polling stations said they hoped the 36-year-old could reverse the 11 years of corruption and mass poverty they had experienced under Shevardnadze. Many also expressed hope that Saakashvili will bring peace and stability to a population of 4.5 million beset by civil war, ethnic separatism and organized crime.

“Our country needed change desperately, and [Saakashvili] is the only one who is up to the job,” said Lasha Bugadze, a writer. “He has inspired the people to hope again, after years of despair ... this is a huge achievement.”

Saakashvili’s extravagant campaign pledges, including promises to double wages and pensions, jail corrupt officials and force Georgia’s super-rich to disclose the sources of their wealth, look set to ensure a testing start for his premiership. He has also worried some observers with his plan to force two separatist regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, to bow to centralized rule. ( Independent (UK))

North Korea accuses US of aerial espionage in preparation for war

North Korea has accused the United States of conducting more than 180 aerial spying missions this month in preparation for a “surprise attack” on the communist country.

US reconnaisance planes, including U-2 and EP-3, flew “at least on 180 occasions in December” to spy on North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency said, quoting a military source.

“Such aerial espionage fully shows that the US imperialists are watching for a chance to make a surprise attack on the DPRK (North Korea) in a bid to stifle it by ‘strength,’” the agency said.

US military authorities refuse to comment on allegations of aerial espionage, but maintain that their operations in the region are defensive to thwart off North Korea’s threats.

Presently, some 37,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea. (AFP)

US border closing plans revealed

The United States would virtually close the Canada-US border if a terrorist attack were launched anywhere near it, according to documents obtained under access-to-information legislation.

“One additional terrorist attack, that had its origins in Canada or occurred at, or along, the Canada-US border, would likely cause Congress to lift the drawbridge,” warn the documents from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

The confidential government documents also sound the alarm over newly implemented US anti-terrorism legislation, warning it could wreak havoc on Ontario manufacturers.

The legislation, which took effect Dec. 12, requires trucking firms, air cargo companies and railway shippers to submit electronic data about their deliveries of food and beverage products before they can enter the US.

“If implemented, as Congress probably intended, entry/exit could create monumental delays at the border, with devastating effects on Ontario’s export industries,” read the Oct. 23 documents.

The United States is Ontario’s largest trading partner with 93 percent of the province’s international exports going south into bordering American states.

Miranda Hawkins, a ministry spokeswoman, said the first phase of enforcement of the new law will begin March 12.

“This ... grace period will give truck drivers and food manufacturers the opportunity to comply with the new regulations,” she said. (Toronto Star)