October 18, 2007: Money is a weapon. Economic
embargoes have a very mixed record and they are not a decisive tool. However,
they are a political signal. Private citizens and local governments cannot
enforce economic embargoes on a sovereign nation, but they can do something
that is like an embargo. That something is called disinvestment. At the moment
twenty U.S. states have voted to "disinvest" any state funds (usually pension
funds) invested in companies that invest in Sudan, Sudan businesses or Sudan
government bonds. Over fifty US universities have also pledged to withdraw
investment dollars.
October 14, 2007: Members of the southern rebel
Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) are withdrawing their representatives
from the government because "the Sudan government had failed" to implement 2005
Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The south Sudan peace process was hailed as a
model for reconciling all dissidents in the Sudan. As recently as six months
ago the South Sudan government said it would help negotiate a peace agreement
in Darfur. This withdrawal from the national government is more than a major
blow to peace to Darfur; it suggests the south Sudan civil war could re-ignite.
October 10, 2007:
Mortar fire south Darfur town of Muhajiiriya has caused foreign aid
workers to flee the area,
The UN accuses the government and several Darfur
rebel groups of violating the UN arms
embargo. The UN found that the government airlifted weapons and material into
all three of Darfur's state capitals, El Genenina, El Fasher, and Nyala. The
rebel groups received ammunition, light
weapons, and some anti-aircraft weapons from neighboring Chad. Eritrea has also shipped weapons to the area.
Eritrea is always looking for allies, and
Eritrea has become a hangout for many African rebel and dissident
groups. However, the likely reason Eritrean weapons are ending up in Darfur is
money.
