Sudan Breaks Truce Agreement

[Phalanx]

Army attack breaks Darfur truce

The United Nations and African Union have condemned the Sudanese army and Janjaweed militias for attacking rebels in Darfur's Jebel Moon area.
They denounced the government violation of a May peace agreement and expressed concern for the safety of civilians.

This is the first time since the peace deal that the Sudanese army has been confirmed as fighting in Darfur.

The attack was against the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, (JEM) which did not sign the deal.

Some 2m people have fled their homes in Darfur since conflict began in 2003, and tens of thousands of people are reported to have been killed in ongoing violence.

Both government and militia troops had been observed massing near the western town of Geneina before the attack on Friday.

An assortment of armed groups that remained outside of the peace agreement, including Chadian elements, are known to be taking shelter in the Jebel Moon mountains.

The attack is confirmation that Darfur's conflict has changed in nature, the BBC's Jonah Fisher reports from Sudan.

The two signatories to the peace agreement - the government and the Minni Minnawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement - are using the agreement as a springboard to attack those outside the deal.

The SLM Minnawi has launched a wide-ranging offensive against their former rebel allies and supporters, leaving at least 80 people killed and thousands displaced.

JEM spokesman Ahmed Hussein Adam said the Sudanese government was systematically attacking groups who had refused to sign for peace.

SLM Minnawi was the main rebel group in the Darfur conflict, and the only one that signed the deal on 5 May with the Sudanese government.

BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5227186.stm)

I think it's quite sickening how the world forgets Darfur, where an estimated 180,000 - 400,000 people have now been killed. I think we should form International Brigades to fight the Janjaweed.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Some communists actually support them..

I think I read something in the PSL's magazine about the janjaweed and Sudanese government being justified because they were defending against a "U.S. backed insurgency".. I could be wrong though..

[Phalanx]

Do you think you could give me a link on that?

The genocide in Darfur in no way is revolutionary. The Janjaweed and the Sudanese government are killing Darfuris because they are black, that's the only reason. There is absolutely nothing revolutionary about it.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Here.. this isn't what I read, but it's two things they published on the subject:

Darfur, imperialist intervention and anti-Arab hysteria (2006) (http://socialismandliberation.org/mag/index.php?aid=628)

U.S. prepares new intervention against Sudan (2004) (http://socialismandliberation.org/mag/index.php?aid=65)

This is a logical extention of their outlook (which was inheireted from the WWP they split from, who in turn inheireted it from the cold-war leadership of the USSR & China) that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".

[Phalanx]

Thanks for the links. Honestly, to me those essays were pure bullshit, but I guess that's the opinion of one person.

[Morag]

I always thought it was strange to call such a small group of the combatants no longer fighting a truce. It's clear when that happens that it's only a ploy- at least that was how I saw it, but I'm a cynical person. Sometimes the enemy of the enemy can be an ally, but usually that doesn't work. It's worse that so many people just choose not to see Darfur, or Africa at all. The term I've heard is "afro-pessimism," the idea that only bad news can come out of Africa, so why bother paying attention at all? As if such a massive area as Africa can possibly be summed up in one breath.

[Janus]

Also, both Sudan and Chad have agreed not to interfere in the other's respective nations.