MASS DISASTER

Sudanese Arabs flee round of ethnic violence

Unrest continues in the wake Garang's untimely death.

Africans angered by the death of popular rebel leader John Garang went on a two-day rampage, chasing Arabs in the street and burning Arab shops and homes. At least 18 people were killed, witnesses said.

... via the Globe and Mail.

Bosnian war criminal Milan Lukic arrested in Argentina

Good news, but there are more still at large. The worst being Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic who were involved with the Srebrenica massacre.

The Hague's indictment describes a number of other atrocities, including Lukic entering a furniture factory and forcing seven Bosnian Muslims to walk to a riverbank where he shot them at point-blank range.

In Buenos Aires, the police spokeswoman said authorities had been following Lukic's movements for days and arrested him on a street in a posh Buenos Aires neighborhood.

... via Reuters.

Leaders plead for calm as Sudan riot toll rises to 130

Via the Guardian Unlimitied...

The trouble in Khartoum and other cities, sparked by the death of the vice-president, John Garang, exposed the racial and religious tensions that threaten to divide the country, which has just come out of a lengthy civil war.

Calls for peace and national unity were issued yesterday by both President Omar al-Bashir and former rebel leaders of Mr Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

... full text here.

Is al-Bashir really a man who can honestly call for "national unity" ?

With the backing of Hassan al-Turabi, the fundamentalist leader of the National Islamic Front (NIF), the General al-Bashir immediately took steps to 'islamicize' the state. Al-Bashir dissolved parliament, banned all political parties and shut down the press. He also stepped up scorched-earth campaign in the south while courting his fundamentalist supporters. All opponents were dismissed as 'agents imperialism and Zionism'.

... read more.

John Garang background...

The SPLA was formed in 1983 when Lieutenant Colonel John Garang of the SPAF was sent to quell a mutiny in Bor of 500 southern troops who were resisting orders to be rotated to the north. Instead of ending the mutiny, Garang encouraged mutinies in other garrisons and set himself at the head of the rebellion against the Khartoum government. Garang, a Dinka born into a Christian family, had studied at Grinnell College, Iowa, and later returned to the United States to take a company commanders' course at Fort Benning, Georgia, and again to earn advanced economics degrees at Iowa State University.

... via Global Security.org.

AFRICA: The next 15 years

If you are interested in Africa - it's many problems and it's future, you should read the following article which summarizes the results of a conference sponsored by the National Intelligence Council (of the United States). It is chock full of predictions and analysis running the spectrum from terrorism, corruption, democratic growth, economic trends, religious conflict, AIDS impact and more.

Remember that these are predictions. But they are based on a broad knowledge of how Africa is today and has been in the past, so it can serve as a consise and dispassionate window into the "big picture" for anyone seeking to familiarize themselves with the issues. The link goes to the Vanguard - a Nigerian site - so the title is about Nigeria, but the article itself deals with Africa as a whole.

Patterns of Conflict

Africa was the site of much of the military conflict in the world in the 1990s and there is no reason to believe that its share of world violence will change appreciably in the next 15 years. As in the past, most African conflicts will be internal, although the pattern of outsiders intervening in civil wars, either to help one of the protagonists or to protect themselves from the fallout of the conflict, will continue. African governments and rebels will continue to take advantage of the international market for basic weapons and, increasingly, logistics and higher-order military functions such as aerial reconnaissance.

... full text via vanguarddngr.com.

IVORY COAST: Witnesses describe Ivory Coast massacre

Witnesses claim that the nightime attack was staged by two to three hundred "traditional hunters" from the north. All 3000 of the villagers apparently fled following the massacre.

WARNING: ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS

Charred corpses, including children, lay in a village in western Ivory Coast after attackers with machetes and guns went on a killing spree on Wednesday.

... full article via CNNInternational.com.