by Drima on April 14, 2006
I was just out about an hour ago with a group of Sudanese friends having a smoke and the topic concerning Iran’s nuclear capabilities came up. They are all supporting Iran’s use of nuclear weapons against Israel which I think is completely idiotic. When I asked why they said Israel’s intention is to take control over the region. As proof supporting their claims they asked me to go and look at the Israeli flag. According to them the upper blue line represents the Euphrates and the lower blue line represents the Nile. In between is the Star of David. So yes you get it.
It would be helpful if any Jews could clarify this issue to me. Previously I had a lot of wrong preceptions about Jews and Zionism but I managed to educate myself on the various issues. However I missed this one. Just incase you’re wondering, neither do I like the brutal system of the Israeli government against innocent Palestinians nor that of suicide bombers against innocent Jews. Call me naive but I believe large scale open minded dailogues and diplomacy are the long-term solution to this problem. Now if you may regarding the flag.
by Drima on April 14, 2006
Sudan has now apparently managed to piss off its neighbour Chad. The Sudanese government however, is denying any involvement in the violence that occured in Chad and is calling it an internal matter. Frankly, I don’t think the Sudanese government has much to do directly with what happened. They just have way too much to deal with in Darfur right now. I don’t see a reason as to why they would want more problems for themselves.
“The Darfur conflict erupted in early 2003 when various tribes took up arms, accusing the Khartoum government of neglect. The Darfurians thought they could achieve what the Southerners did. The government retaliated by arming militia, known as Janjawid, who began a campaign of murder, arson and plunder that drove two million villagers into squalid camps. Khartoum still denies responsibility.”
The truth is, after Khartoum armed the Janjawid it lost control over them. The Janjawid then started their lunatic campaign. The government hasn’t and is still not doing enough to regain control over the situation. Meanwhile the Abuja talks seem to be heading towards a disaster. Well no duh! The Janjawid are not even part of the Abuja talks.
by Drima on April 14, 2006
I found
this information on the website of the Sudanese Embassy at Holland. It shows the companies involved in oil activities in Sudan. Notice that CNPC (Chinese National Petroleum Company) has the greatest involvement besides the Malaysian oil company PETRONAS. Things have improved in Sudan (previously 99% of revenues went into the government’s pocket and 1% to the population). At the moment 90% of revenues go into the government’s pocket and 10% to the population (sweet! yeah baby big improvement). Hey did I just say things improved? No wait they haven’t. They’ve only improved in Khartoum while in Darfur they’ve gotten pretty much worse!
by Drima on April 14, 2006
The US & UK pressed again for Darfur sanctions. Why wouldn’t they? The situation keeps getting sicker and sicker. As you read this right now there are probably people dying. Naturaly Russia & China signalled disapproval. Why wouldn’t they? China specialy will have billions worth of dollars at stake. The Sudanese government has been using the country’s newly found oil wealth quite cleverly. They gave and continue to give most of the big contracts to the Chinese. Recently they have also considered allowing the Russians in.
by Drima on April 14, 2006
I dug around here and there until I was disappointed to realize there are no Sudanese bloggers out there blogging Sudan’s news (or at least any I heard of). So I took the initiative of starting out this blog to bring you the latest news on the country. This is very important for me to do especially since the Darfur situation is getting very intense.
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
