November
26, 2006: In the capital, there is increasing terrorist activity, with police
being attacked at least four times in the last two weeks. The attackers are
usually southerners, who are under pressure from the government to leave
refugee camps around the capital, and move back south. Economic conditions in
many parts of the south are still pretty dismal, and the refugees living up
north know it. For many of them, going south would be a death sentence. But the
government does not want a lot of black Sudanese living in the capital, which
is largely run by Arab Sudanese.
November
25, 2006: The UN said that an attack on November 11 in the town of Sirba (in
West Darfur) was a "deliberate and unprovoked attack" carried out by Sudan
government forces and militia allies. The November 11 attack struck a refugee
camp in the area. The Sudan government rejected the characterization. Sudan
said that Sudanese soldiers participated in a raid that was a "response" to an
ambush conducted by Darfurian rebels.
November
24, 2006: The UN special envoy in Sudan said that the May 5 peace agreement had
failed and needed to be renegotiated. Jan Pronk, the special envoy (who is
greatly disliked by the Sudanese government) said that the May 5 peace deal was
"not supported by people on the ground."
November
23, 2006: The Sudan government continues to "negotiate in public" with the UN
and African Union (AU) over what kind of support the UN can provide to an
expanded AU-led peacekeeping force in Darfur. Sudan said that there cannot be
any UN troops serving with the AU force. The UN can only provide "technical"
assistance.
November
21, 2006: The United States threatened to implement a "Plan B" if Sudan does
not accept a new UN/AU joint peacekeeping force in Darfur. The US said
Sudan must reach a decision by January 1, 2007. The US statement only described
"Plan B" as a "different approach." It is tough to tell whether the US was
threatening military action or signaling its support for a UN peacekeeping
force intervening in Darfur without the Sudan government's approval
