By MIKE CORDER, Associated Press Writer, Mon Jul 14, 4:53 PM ET

The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court sought an arrest warrant Monday for Sudan’s president on charges of waging a campaign of genocide and rape in Darfur, a high-risk strategy that could backfire against the people in the war-torn desert region.

The indictment marked the first time prosecutors at the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal have issued charges against a sitting head of state, though President Omar al-Bashir was unlikely to face trial any time soon.

Sudan denounced the indictment as a political stunt, saying it would ignore any arrest order and was considering all options, including an unspecified military response. One Sudanese lawmaker said his government could no longer guarantee the safety of U.N. staff in the troubled region.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges against al-Bashir related to a campaign of extermination of three Darfur tribes that the U.N. says claimed 300,000 lives and driven 2.5 million people from their homes. A three-judge panel was expected to take two to three months to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant.

Human rights groups welcomed the prosecutor’s move, but cautioned it could provoke a violent backlash from Sudan, while offering little prospect that al-Bashir will be arrested and sent for trial to The Hague. The court, which began work in 2002, has no enforcement arm and relies on governments to act as its police force.

“The prosecutor’s legal strategy also poses major risks for the fragile peace and security environment in Sudan, with a real chance of greatly increasing the suffering of very large numbers of its people,” the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a statement.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed, said al-Bashir was weighing all options, including a military response.

Al-Bashir likely will attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September, and Sudan would consider any attempt to arrest him a declaration of war, Mohamed said.

In Khartoum, the deputy parliament speaker, Mohammed al-Hassan al-Ameen, warned Sudan was unable to guarantee “the safety of any individual.”

“The U.N. asks us to keep its people safe, but how can we guarantee their safety when they want to seize our head of state?” al-Ameen said on state TV.

Sudan’s anger could undermine talks to resolve the decades-old enmity between north and south Sudan, and endanger efforts by relief workers and an ill-equipped U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force to protect 2.5 million people living in refugee camps, the Crisis Group said.

“These are significant risks, particularly given that the likelihood of actually executing any warrant issued against al-Bashir is remote, at least in the short term,” it added.

Al-Bashir, who has ruled Sudan for 19 years, appears invulnerable in his capital, though an international warrant would leave him open to arrest outside the country’s borders, restricting his travel and putting him in a category akin to Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, who faces a U.N. travel ban.

Still, African nations have rarely taken action against one of their leaders, and al-Bashir is likely to feel few constraints on his own continent.

On Monday, the Sudanese leader appeared at an elaborate law-signing ceremony in Khartoum, where dozens of lawmakers, diplomats and military leaders paraded past him cheering. Al-Bashir waved a wooden cane and smiled as advisers danced and a brass band played nationalist songs.

Moreno-Ocampo acknowledged the risks posed by an indictment, but said he had an obligation to pursue the president.

“I am a prosecutor doing a judicial case,” he said. “In the camps, al-Bashir’s forces kill the men and rape the women. He wants to end the history of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa people. I don’t have the luxury to look away. I have evidence.”

The 10 charges filed against al-Bashir include three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes.

The Sudanese Liberation Movement-Unity, a Darfur rebel group, welcomed the move and offered to help arrest and extradite any war criminals from Sudan — though it is unlikely the rebels would stand any chance of arresting al-Bashir.

If Sudan refuses to turn over al-Bashir, it will be up to the U.N. Security Council to press Khartoum to cooperate, something it has so far failed to do.

“Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo’s charges against al-Bashir underscore the need for the U.N. Security Council to finally act decisively with a comprehensive strategy for Sudan,” said Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition.

Achieving unanimous backing in the Security Council for any action against Sudan will be fraught with problems since two of its permanent members, China and Russia, are Sudan’s allies.

Both are accused of arming Sudan, but both also approved the council’s 2005 resolution ordering Moreno-Ocampo to investigate crimes in Darfur.

In a statement, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he “expects that the government of Sudan will continue to cooperate fully with the United Nations in Sudan, while fulfilling its obligation to ensure the safety and security of all United Nations personnel and property.”

The war in Darfur began in 2003 as a crackdown on anti-government rebels who complained their arid region was neglected by Khartoum. The U.N. estimates 300,000 people have died, directly from attacks or indirectly through starvation.

Moreno-Ocampo said Sudan’s forces and their janjaweed militia proxies now deliberately target civilians in villages and camps rather than the rebels, sometimes even bypassing nearby rebel encampments.

They destroy villages, rape women and girls and leave the homeless to starve in the desert or suffer malnutrition in camps, he alleged.

“These 2.5 million people are in camps. They (al-Bashir’s forces) don’t need gas chambers because the desert will kill them,” Moreno-Ocampo told a news conference, drawing comparison’s with the Nazi Holocaust.

One witness cited by prosecutors said rape was woven into the fabric of life in Darfur.

“Maybe around 20 men rape one woman. These things are normal for us here in Darfur,” said the statement from the unidentified witness cited by Moreno-Ocampo.

The prosecutor said mass rape was producing a generation of so-called “janjaweed babies” and “an explosion of infanticide” by victims.

Moreno-Ocampo said an arrest warrant for al-Bashir would present the world a chance to stop the killings.

“We are dealing with a genocide. Is it easy to stop? No. Do we need to stop? Yes,” he told the AP in an interview Monday before publicly unveiling his indictment.

“The international community failed in the past, failed to stop Rwanda genocide, failed to stop Balkans crimes,” he added. “So this time, the new thing is there is a court, an independent court … which is saying, ‘This is a genocide.’”

Other U.N.-created international tribunals have charged Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Liberian President Charles Taylor with war crimes while they were still in office. Milosevic died in his cell in March 2006. Taylor is currently on trial in The Hague for crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone.

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The cowards killed Benazir Bhutto. They finally succeeded in getting rid of her. Those murderers hated her so much and wanted her dead from the get-go. She had enemies everywhere. A lot of people inside the Pakistani army and in the Pakistani Intelligence services didn’t like her. The Islamic radicals and Al Qaeda hated to death because she was the voice of moderation and tolerance. And it’s clear that General Musharraf and the military dictatorship were not great fans of hers because she was a virulent critic of their system. Everything was in place for her murder and they just got rid of her. She knew she was at risk. She knew her life was in danger. She talked a lot of about it. I still remember her interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN just before her return to Islamabad where she came to Washington, DC. She was ready to pay the ultimate price for her country. This is a very sad day for the world and one can only condemn such a barbaric and unjustified act.

I saw it coming as soon as she announced her return to Pakistan. I knew she was going to get assassinated, like her father, like her two brothers. This is a very sad and dark day, not only for Mrs. Bhutto’s family but for all the democrats in Pakistan and in the world. She was a symbol of hope for millions of people in Pakistan and in the rest of the world. I was still in high school when she first became prime minister in Pakistan. It was the first time a woman reached that level of power in the muslim world and she was the symbol of courage and hope for a lot of women in that part of the world where many radicals oppose the leadership of a woman. Benazir Bhutto will be remembered as a strong and courageous lady who sacrificed her live for her country, Pakistan, to embrace tolerance, democracy and freedom. I have the outmost admiration for her and my sincere condolences go out to her family and the Pakistanis who believe in her.

The assassination of Mrs. Bhutto is a serious loss to the moderates and the survival of democracy in Pakistan, a country filled of extremists who only want to kill. However, I pray that the death of Mrs. Bhutto will not be vain and that democracy and liberty will triumph one day in the country she has given her life for.

May God welcome her in his kingdom and may her soul rest in peace !

Written by Armel Ramadji Doumnande, RAMADJI.com
Sunday, 07 October 2007

A few days ago, a small Chadian rebel group dubbed CDRT signed a “deal” with the Chadian to stop fighting. On October 3rd, 2007, reports coming from Tripoli and relayed by several media outlets mentioned another “peace agreement” between the regime of General Idriss Deby Itno and some Chadian rebel fractions cherry picked by Colonel Mohammar Qaddafi. The Libyan colonel is known for his obsession of Chad and his constant meddling in Chadian affairs. This has been going on for years now and it has only brought more devastation to Chad but it seems like Chadians always run to him for solutions to their problems knowing that he is part of the problem. It seems like Chadians have never learned a single lesson from the past. Worse, the guy is clearly supporting General Idriss Deby Itno he has helped put in power in 1990. What viable and serious and non partisan mediation can Kaddhafi offer to Chadians when he, himself, is big chunk of the problem? God only knows.

Anatomy of the four rebel groups that signed the “Tripoli Agreement”
The groups that signed the so called “peace agreement” in Tripoli are the United Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) of General Mahamat Nouri made up mainly of Gorans and said to be filled with former high officials of the Hissene Habré regime among whom the notorious Guihini Korei who was the last Director of the political Gestapo known as the Directorate of Documentation and Security (DDS) that murdered thousands of innocent Chadian from 1982 to 1990. The second group is the UFDD-Fondamental, an Arab dissident fraction of the UFDD led by the triumvirate Ben Barka, Acheikh Ibn Oumar and Abdelwahid Aboud Makaye. The third group is the Rally of the Forces for Change (RFC) of Timan Erdimi who is an uncle of General Deby Itno. He was a high ranking official in the Deby system for years before dropping the ball and quitting. The RFC is dominated by the Zaghawa and filled with former elements of the mighty Republican Guard of General Deby who left in 2005. They are said to be heavily armed and to have a lot of resources, probably all the money put on the side when still serving Deby Itno. The last group in this quartet is the National Concord of Chad (CNT) led Colonel Hassan Al Jinedi. It is another Arab dominated group previously allied with the RaFD (currently RFC). All those rebel groups operate along the borders with the Sudanese Darfur and Khartoum has pretty much given them a green light to use its territory as a base of retreat in response to General Deby Itno’s backing of the Sudanese Darfur rebels groups. That’s the anatomy of the four groups that signed the agreement of Tripoli.

Overview of the rest of the Chadian rebel groups not included in the “deal”
The rest of Chadian rebel fractions who are fighting the Deby regime are not included in this so called “peace agreement”. They are for example TELSSI National Rebirth (TRN) of Colonel Mbailemal Michel which operate in the Southwest of Chad and is made up of Southerners, the Front for the Salvation of the Republic (FSR) of Colonel Ahmat H. Soubiane, former Ambassador to the USA, established in the East. The FSR is one of the recent armed groups created and is pretty heteroclite but led by the Arabs under Colonel Ahmat H. Soubiane. The other group dominated by the southerners is the Movement for Peace, Reconstruction and Progress(MPRD) led by southerner Djibrine Dassert, a former associate of President Déby. The MPRD is credited with an attack on a Chadian military barracks outside N’Djamena in November 2005. Colonel Djibrine Dassert and his men are established in the Southeast of the country. Another active group is the Popular Front for National Rebirth (FPRN) of Colonel Adoum Yacoub which operates in Southeast Chad along the borders with South Darfur. The Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) of Choua Dazi occupies the extreme North. It is the principal rebel movement in northern Chad and created and led by former Defense Minister Youssouf Togoimi, an ethnic Toubou who began an armed rebellion against the Deby government in 1998, operating initially from his power base in the northern Tibesti Mountains. Togoïmi died in very mysterious conditions September 2002 and was succeeded by Aboubakar Choua Dazi. In December 2003 MDJT and the government signed a peace accord that was rejected by MDJT hardliners. Choua Dazi is still the leaders of that movement. Beside those groups there are others movements like the UFNT, MDD, the ANR, the CNR….All those other rebels groups have not been involved in this “deal”. Therefore, they are free to keep operating at will. The non involvement of those other components of the Chadian resistance casts serious doubts on the Tripoli agreements and makes its very fragile. Already, the Front for the Salvation of the Republic of Colonel Ahmat H. Soubiane, the UFNT, TELSSI and other rebels groups have rejected the “Tripoli agreement” and promised to keep fighting the Deby regime. The FSR went on sending clear warnings and declaring its opposition to the projected deployment of UN-EU forces in the area. For the FSR, this deployment is nothing else but a backing of the Deby regime by France under the cover of the UN-EU forces. Consequently, those forces can be easy target if they attempt to protect the regime of Deby. The message is crystal clear. No more meddling in Chadian internal affairs seems to say the FSR. The recent killing of the soldiers of the AMIS by Darfur rebels speaks volumes and should be a major lesson for all those countries that are planning to send their young men and women on the ground on the Chad - Sudan border and Chad-CAR limits. They must think twice before deploying their troops in Chad and getting caught in a nasty quagmire with no way out.

Not only the Chadian rebel groups excluded from the Tripoli talks are rejecting the “deal” but worse there are different interpretations of the “Tripoli agreement” by those who signed it. It seems like each of the four groups who signed the “deal” has its own understanding of the paper. Some of the four rebel groups say that the “Tripoli Agreement” is not a definitive one and that more discussions are needed to reach a final and global agreement. For the Chadian regime, it’s a done deal. Welcome to incoherent, messy and crazy Chad! The bottom line is that this smells very bad.

All this shows how shaky and ineffective Kaddhafi’s approach of trying to solve the Chadian conflict is. It won’t cut it Mr. Kaddhafi. The “my way or no way” practiced by the Libyan leader is not helping Chad at all. What Chadians needs is to go to the root causes of their conflict in order to fix it and find a lasting peace and stability. The quick-fixes applied here and there have never worked and the Libyans know that. Somebody needs to tell them one more time.

Band-aid remedies won’t do it
Chadians long for peace and stability. Chadians who have been suffering for decades desperately want peace, justice, freedom and democracy, pillars of a free, modern and developed society. Therefore, any gesture that goes in the direction of solving the Chadian conflict and ending the years of sufferings is welcome by everybody. However, signing separate “peace agreements” with some rebel groups hand picked by Libya and Sudan will not solve the problem. It’s a band-aid remedy and it won’t do it. A quick look at our history suffices to realize that those separate deals done on ethnic, familial, sectarian or religious basis sipping green tea under a tent have never worked in Chad. The proof is the ongoing war that has been wrecking havoc in the country for years. Those types of quick-fix peace deals may work somewhere else not in Chad because of the complex aspect of our problems. This calls for a serious diagnostics in order to come up with an efficient and sustainable therapy. Rushing to sign peace agreements has proven ineffective and a complete fiasco. There are numerous examples to illustrate that failure of previous separate peace deals. Captain Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, the current Chadian Defense Minister, former leader of the United Front for Change, the former Chadian rebel group which launched a spectacular offensive against N’Djamena in April 2006 knows something about that. Less than two weeks ago, different sources have mentioned a failed attempt to poison him. He was rushed to a Parisian hospital to save his life. Other rebel leaders like Laokein Bardé, Kétté Nodji Moise, Abbas Koty and several others were murdered after signing truces with the regime of General Idriss Deby Itno. None of the peace deals signed with major rebellions in Chad under the iron fist rule of General Deby Itno have been fruitful. All have failed and ended in more killings, more massacres, and more destruction. Consequently, Chadians need to learn lessons from their failures and opt for a global and inclusive solution to save Chad.

We need an inclusive and global solution
What we urgently need is a global solution for the Chadian tragedy. Those separate “peace deals” brokered by the big guy of Syrte have never worked. Unfortunately, the Libyans keep being stubborn and pushy with their approaches which have never been successful in Chad. Our neighbors of the North tend to be very patronizing and keep believing that nothing can be done in Chad without them having their say in it. And the disappointing part of all this is that despite all the fiascos harvested in the different Libyan mediations in Chad, there are still some Chadians who always run to Tripoli for solutions to Chadian problems. I just don’t get it. What’s wrong with you people? I don’t believe a single moment that Libya is all for peace in Chad. So, please, stop your moronic and lame behavior. Just take a quick pick at the Chad-Libya track record in terms of peace agreements sponsored by Kaddhafi and you’ll figure out on your own that this way of dealing with the Chadian conflict isn’t going to work. The roots of the conflicts are never, never serious dealt with. How on earth do you expect to effectively solve the problem?

We need to go to a large and inclusive dialogue which will be the opportunity to lay down all the numerous problems which have been the source of our wars for the last 47 years. That meeting will be the right forum to speak frankly and name the root causes of the Chadian problem and find a way to solve them once for all and move forward on the path of a sustainable development. An inclusive dialogue under the watch and the monitoring of the International community is what Chad needs now to avoid hitting the bottom of evil.

Voices like those of the only radical opponent Ngarlejy Yorongar inside Chad ( the one opponent who has still some credibility in the eyes of Chadians!), Dr. Albissaty S. Allazam, the CSAPR, the COMPAS, the COPORT, the Libreville Group,…and several others have been calling for an inclusive forum under the auspices of the international community. Unfortunately, in his strategy to divide and rule, General Deby Itno has been very reluctant to go for that option. He would rather sign phony and crappy agreements here and there, hoping to shut down all the growing opposition to his doomed regime. That approach has worked because of the inconsistency of some of those who call themselves rebels or opponents to his regime due to the fact they are not really fighting for our people. Most of them are fighting for themselves and their selfish interests, not for our people. Being an opponent or a rebel in Chad has become what the French call ”fond de commerce (business opportunity)” for many and it has been detrimental to the good work of few who really strive for the emergence of a new Chad, a society built on a solid rock of the core values of peace, freedom, justice, democracy, accountability and development. Because of their failure to be unified and consistent in front of Deby Itno, he has been using that weakness to his advantage with the blessings of the big powers to be. After all, those big powers are only looking out for their selfish interests. They don’t really care if Chadians are being crushed by the dictatorship of Idriss Deby Itno. It’s business as usual. It’s shameful but that’s the hard reality of our world.

In any case, only a global solution will be successful in Chad. The rest is just nonsensical and will generate more rebels against the regime and more destabilization in the central Africa region already in serious trouble. If the UFDD, the UFDD-Fondamental, the CNT, and the RFC are tired to fight and want to join General Idriss Deby Itno and his crew in perpetuating evil against Chadians and against the entire Central Africa region, let them go and get lost.

Now, Chadians know exactly who are those who are standing up for them and who are the fake ones. Now, the Chadians know who those who preach something and do its contrary are. Those who are still so stupid and gullible to believe that peace will be reached with phony separate agreements haven’t gotten it yet. They are still getting it backwards. The sad truth is that General Idriss Deby Itno does not want a global solution which will put him on the EXIT door. He wants to die in power so dividing ensures the continuation of his iron fist rule because it weakens the opposition.

Throughout our wobbly and tumultuous history, we’ve seen a gazillion of similar pieces of crappy “peace agreements” come to life and die soon after. From Kano I to Kano II to Brazzaville, Libreville, Khartoum, Tripoli, to just list a few, we have seen it all. They led to nothing except more distrust, more wars, more divide, and more destruction. The solution to the Chadian problem is through a frank, open, direct, inclusive, “tabooless” dialogue under the auspices of the international community. It’s the only way out. It’s the only path to saving Chad and restoring hope to those millions of young Chadians who are fed up with the craziness of those so called leaders who really don’t care about the future of the country. It’s the only way to stop our hopeless youth from becoming easy target for recruitment for rebellions and other groups with dark agendas. It is known that in absence of hope and a better alternative in life, everything is possible and temptation becomes paramount. An inclusive meeting under the direction of the UN, AU, and EU is what Chadians call for. The rest is just an ugly joke and it won’t cut it.

Written by Armel Ramadji

According to news we have been receiving from Chad and relayed by different other media outlets, the complicity of the Chadian regime in the “smuggling/kidnapping/stealing” of the 103 children is becoming clearer. The short version is that Chadian officials at different level knew about the activities of the organization. Even General Idriss Deby Itno, the ruler of Chad met with the leaders of the Zoe’s Ark last September in one of his private home in N’Djamena, Chad. Therefore, all the emotions displayed by Deby himself and all his ministers around this case are just meant to fool the opinion once again. They have been behaving like people who have just discovered the plans of the French NGO. That’s just not true. They knew about the whole thing. Coming out with crocodile tears and crying fool is just another big comedy the Chadian regime has used people to.

After a phone conversation with President Sarkozy of France who pleaded for the release of the three journalists and a “presumption of innocence” for the rest of the group and their transfer before French courts, General Idriss Deby Itno agreed yesterday, October 31, 2007 to back down and let the heat of the recent days cool off. In effect, he has accepted to let the 17 Europeans go. Why on earth would he do that, he who shed tears in Abeche a few days ago, talking about a “pedophilia”, “organ harvesting” and what not? It’s a little shocking and surprising to see him and his regime stop the process of having the accused prosecuted in Chad. Well, the truth is that General Idriss Deby Itno, who loves to exploit tragedies like he has been doing in the Darfur for the last 5 years, has realized that allowing the group of Europeans to be prosecuted in Chad could be trouble for his regime for the two main reasons below:

First of, putting Westerner journalists on trial in Chad would mean inviting the entire world press to come and look in his closets. That would open the eyes of the international press on the true nature of his vicious regime. He and his crew of thugs will be put under scrutiny for all their crimes and it could be big trouble for them. Therefore, after thinking about that, Deby Itno has decided to accept to let the group be transferred to France.

The second and the most important reason is that six months ago, the President of the Zoe’s Ark, Eric Breteau, met General Idriss Deby Itno who instructed his Interior Minister to “facilitate” the mission of the NGO. It was equipped with an “Authorization to circulate and investigate for caring for children” from Chadian officials that Ark of Zoe began its work near the Sudanese border. And the NGO has never crossed the border. So, the truth of the matter is almost everyone at the official level in Chad was well aware of the activities of the Ark. Therefore, if the organization is found guilty of attempting to smuggle Chadian children out of the country, it will be with the cooperation and complicity of Chadian authorities because both the Interior Minister, Mr. Ahmat Bashir, the Mayor, the Sous-Prefet of Tine…were fully available to NGO.

At RAMADJI.com, we were very suspicious, right from the beginning, of the allegations of the Chadian regime which claimed to be “totally ignorant” of this operation. It’s impossible for such an operation requiring a lot of paperwork and logistics to take place in Deby’s Chad without the knowing of the authorities and the notorious National Security Agency, the secret police of the regime. It’s also impossible for a Boeing 757 to be flown in the Chadian aerial space without an authorization, a flight plan approved by Chadian authorities at the highest level and a clear justification of the mission. We knew that Deby’s tears were just a big joke destined for the consumptions of the gullible who believe he is an angel. He is not.

Deby and his government are full of it as the details of the operation are unfolding everyday that passes. The same Deby Itno who was crying like a baby because Chadian children were being “smuggled” out of the country “without the knowledge” of his regime has been using and abusing children for years now. The most recent cases are his use of Child soldiers in his army. This problem has been reported by numerous sources including the Chadian independent press. An in-depth and well documented work done by Human Rights Watch along the Chad-Sudan border and titled “Early to War” describes the phenomenon of Child soldiers and the crimes of the Chadian government. Children are being recruited and enrolled in the different units of the Chadian Army to fight against the different rebellions the corrupt regime in place in N’Djamena is confronted with. Many of those kids have been killed during the fighting or wounded or captured. This situation has been going on for years now. The French Army stationed in Chad has a lot of explaining to do regarding this issue because we are just learning that they used their planes to move a group of those children to the combat areas according to a confidential source that talked to us. Where is the France, land of human rights and what not? This is so disgusting and shameful for the French government who preach something and always do its opposite.

Deby and his crew of cheer leaders are crying fool today and blasting the French NGO for wrong-doing and illegal activities vis-à-vis Chadian children. But let’s be honest. What have they ( Deby and his team) been doing for the last 18 years to create a better, a peaceful, a secure, an livable environment for Chadian children and youth? They have been doing nothing that I know of. Instead, they’ve been wasting all the resources which could have been used to ease the sufferings of Chadians into buying weapons, waging wars, building palaces, marrying numerous wives,…living an insulting opulent life when millions of Chadians live with less than a dollar per day. Maybe the French NGO committed a crime against Chadian and Humanitarian laws but the Chadian dictator and his crew haven’t been doing any better either. Maybe Zoe’s Ark violated rules and procedures but General Deby Itno is the wrong person to be talking about the sufferings of Chadian children because we know his track record on that matter. He is just a big joke and he knows it himself. The show he has been putting on is for the consumption of those who really don’t know him

As mentioned in the lines above, with this Zoe’s Ark and the established implication of the French military in the operation, we are also learning for the first time that sometimes between 2006 and the beginning of 2007, in the middle of the fighting between Chadian rebels and the National Chadian Army (ANT), the French army transported Chadian child soldiers to the front line, in Eastern Chad, using French airplanes. It’s unbelievable but the news is coming from a very credible source which required to be kept anonymous for obvious security reasons. That act’s coming from the same France that claims to be the “mother of Human Rights”. Nobody has talked about this side of the Child soldiers’ problem and the French involvement in transporting those kids to be killed in the battles in Eastern Chad. It was kept secret so far but we thought that it’s very important to break the news so that these sorts of crimes never happen again under our watch. This time, in this Zoe’s Ark, the same French army transported the leaders of the organizations at least twice aboard their military jets from the Chadian capital to the town of Abeche in Eastern Chad.

This shows that the complicity exists at different levels in this exploitation of Chadian children. The French and the Chadians authorities are just full of it and are just trying to cover themselves with their shameful and repugnant behaviors. It’s against international laws to knowingly use children in wars. It’s against international laws to “smuggle” children or exploit them. The Chadian regime, France and the Zoe’s Ark are all accomplices in whatever is happening to Chadian children today and one day, they will be accountable before history for their crimes.

Yes, I’ve been away for a while, not being able to blog on a daily basis for numerous reasons but thank God I’m back now. I’m back to the blogsphere and will be blogging on a regularly basis, if not daily basis, on different sort of topic pertaining of US news, Chadian news, International news, security issues,…

Enjoy the ride and feel feel to drop me a line if you have something to say. This is going to be a freestyle type of writing and it’s going to be very harsh sometimes depending on the issues I talk about. So, put your sit belt and let’s roll!

Destruction in LebanonFor almost two weeks now, the war between Israel and Hezbollah has been destroying lives on both sides. Everything has started withthe kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by the Hezbollah. The reaction of Israel has been a shock and awe. Israel is trying to destroy the Hezbollah. Israeli has been looking for that opportunity for a long time and this kidnapping of the two sodiers has given the Tshahal the golden opportunity to decapitate the Hezbollah. War has been total: violent airstrickes, artilery bombing, incursions of special ops forces have been hitting Hesbollah strongholds really hard. The tragedy is that not only Hizbollah fighters are being pounded. Civilians are also persishing. At the same time, the Hezbollah has been firing Katoucha rockets into Israel, reaching cities far away like Haifa and causing innocent victims on the Israeli side too. It’s just sad. It’s just destruction everywhere. On both sides, the killing goes on. Innocent women, children,…are suffering and don’t know who to turn to.

Be it in Haifa or in the Southern neighborhoods of Beirut, war is taking innocent lives, destroying infrastructures, dangerously jeopardizing peace and the future of generations. How can the world get out of this mess? God only knows. I just want peace for all the parties involved in the conflict. Each one of them has its part of responsibility. Now is not the moment to point fingers. The International community must do something to save all those women and children caught in the middle of the cross fires. People hurt both in Israel and in Lebanon. The rest of the world cannot afford to stand on the side and watch that armaggedon take place under its eyes. Where is the UN? Why so much destruction? Why so much tears and blood? Why so much pain and hatred? There is just too much suffering going on. Let’s give peace a chance!

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN

WASHINGTON, May 7 — A committee of World Bank directors has formally notified Paul D. Wolfowitz that they found him to be guilty of a conflict of interest in arranging for a pay raise and promotion for Shaha Ali Riza, his companion, in 2005. The findings stepped up the pressure on Mr. Wolfowitz to resign.

The contents of the panel’s findings were not made public. People who are familiar with the panel’s report said that it reviewed extensive documents and testimony before concluding that Mr. Wolfowitz breached his obligations in arranging for Ms. Riza’s reassignment from the bank to the State Department.

The report, as transmitted to Mr. Wolfowitz, did not recommend a punishment for Mr. Wolfowitz. Bank officials, speaking anonymously because the proceedings are supposed to be confidential, said that the special committee was still working today on what to recommend.

It was not clear whether the committee, consisting of 7 of the bank’s 24 board members, would remove Mr. Wolfowitz from his post or, more likely, express a loss of confidence in his leadership in a manner that might persuade him to resign. Bank officials say that a majority of the bank board has concluded that he should go.

In another sign of Mr. Wolfowitz’s difficulties, his top communications aide, Kevin Kellems, resigned today, saying that “the current environment surrounding the leadership” at the bank made it “very difficult to be effective in helping to advance the mission of the institution.”

Mr. Kellems said in a written statement that he had “tremendous respect and admiration” for the bank’s staff. He made no mention of Mr. Wolfowitz, with whom he had a close association when the bank president was deputy secretary of defense.

European officials at the bank said that if Mr. Wolfowitz resigns, either now or some time in the future, Europeans may be willing to let the United States continue to exercise its customary prerogative of choosing the next bank president.

Since the bank was established as part of the post-World War II global economic architecture in a conference at Bretton Woods, N.H., the United States has always chosen the bank’s president, in part because it has always had the largest single share of voting rights at the bank, currently 16.4 percent.

A senior European official said that Europeans have informally told Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. that many of their governments, some of whom asked for the custom to be discarded in 2005, would now renew their demand, especially if Mr. Wolfowitz is forced out by a vote of the bank board.

This official said that the overwhelming sentiment in Europe, as expressed in editorials, political commentaries and even web logs, was that European governments should never again let the United States pick the president of the World Bank all by itself.

In addition, the Europeans say that they have begun signaling their intention of aiding African countries and other poor nations through their own development agencies, rather than through the World Bank or its principal vehicle for aid to the poorest countries, known as the International Development Agency.

The bank estimates that there are now about 230 separate government and non-government organizations that channel aid to the poorest countries, resulting in a splintering of aid programs that have created duplications and contradictions.

Some officials at the bank said that despite the antipathy toward Mr. Wolfowitz among members of the bank board, they will probably take their cue from the finance and development ministries in their home countries. These ministries, in turn, may be guided by the wishes of the political leadership of their nations.

Technically, it is the bank’s 24-member board of executive directors that has the power to choose, remove or reprimand a bank president. Each director represents either a single country or a “constituency” of countries that vote as a bloc after polling their home governments.

Bank officials say that as of now, only the United States, Japan and Canada would vote in favor of Mr. Wolfowitz. They represent less than 30 percent of the voting shares. Most other directors are reported to be willing to vote against Mr. Wolfowitz, though some countries, mainly in Africa, are said to be wavering.

Mr. Kellems’s departure leaves another top aide to Mr. Wolfowitz, Robin Cleveland, still in place. Both Mr. Kellems and Ms. Cleveland have been the focus of complaints from the bank’s staff over their unusually high salaries — about $250,000 each — and unusual level of control at the bank.

Ms. Cleveland remains at the bank, but officials said that she moved out of her office just outside Mr. Wolfowitz’s last week, and into a smaller office elsewhere at the bank headquarters.

N’DJAMENA, April 18 (Reuters) - Chad’s former head of state, Goukouni Weddeye, has offered to meet eastern rebels fighting President Idriss Deby to try to persuade them to begin peace talks, the Chadian presidency said on Wednesday.

Goukouni, who ruled the landlocked central African country from 1979 to 1982, when he was deposed by Deby’s predecessor Hissene Habre, met the Chadian president in Gabon on Tuesday in an encounter arranged by Gabonese President Omar Bongo.

In comments quoted by Chadian state media on Wednesday, Goukouni said he would seek to persuade Chadian rebels who are fighting a hit-and-run war in the east to start peace talks.

“I’ll commit myself to go to these Chadians who have taken up arms to propose the idea that they talk with Deby,” the former Chadian ruler said in the Gabonese capital Libreville.

“Those who accept will be heard. Those who refuse, we’ll know who they are,” he added.

For more than a year, eastern Chad has been swept by repeated attacks by the rebels and by Sudanese Arab militia raiders striking across the border from Sudan’s Darfur region, where conflict has killed more than 200,000 people since 2003.

The raids have triggered tit-for-tat revenge attacks between Chadian Arab and non-Arab tribes, creating a cycle of violence that has killed hundreds of civilians in recent months.

Deby, a former army chief who himself seized power in an eastern revolt which toppled Habre in 1990, was re-elected in a presidential vote last year that the main opposition parties boycotted. His rebel foes accuse him of ruling like a dictator.

While keeping up a military offensive against the eastern insurgents, he has also tried to coax them into laying down their arms. In December, he signed a peace deal with one rebel chief, Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, and made him defence minister.

Goukouni said he would seek to contact two other rebel leaders still opposing Deby — Mahamat Nouri of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) and Timane Erdimi of the Rally of Democratic Forces (RAFD).

Welcoming Goukouni’s support for peace efforts, Deby said in Libreville: “Chad has suffered too much from useless wars”.

Goukouni, who since being deposed has lived mostly in exile in Libya and Algeria, was expected to return to Chad with his supporters.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has recommended deploying a strong U.N. military peacekeeping force in eastern Chad to try to halt the unrelenting violence, but Deby’s government has said it would prefer a smaller police force. (Additional reporting by Antoine Lawson in Libreville)

15 Apr 2007 20:24:09 GMT
Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said on Sunday he intends to continue his “important work” while leaving the controversy surrounding the promotion of his girlfriend to deliberations by the bank’s board of directors.
“This is important work and I intend to continue it,” Wolfowitz told a news conference following the release of a communique by the bank’s Development Committee that said “the current situation is of great concern to all of us.”

15 Apr 2007 20:39:29 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Lesley Wroughton
WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Development ministers from around the globe on Sunday voiced “great concern” over World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz’s handling of his girlfriend’s promotion, but Wolfowitz said he intends to stay in his job.

“The current situation is of great concern to all of us,” the top officials said in a communique issued after a meeting of the IMF-World Bank Development Committee.

“We have to ensure that the bank can effectively carry out its mandate and maintain its credibility and reputation as well as motivation of the staff,” the ministers from World Bank member states said.
In a news conference shortly after the Development Committee’s tough words were released, Wolfowitz said he believed he could still effectively lead the poverty-fighting lender. “This is important work and I intend to continue it.”

Top European officials were among those who expressed worry in closed-door sessions on Sunday that Wolfowitz had tarnished the bank’s reputation by helping to secure a high-paying promotion for his girlfriend, bank employee Shaha Riza.

At the start of speeches to the Development Committee, ministers from Britain and Germany said the bank’s reputation had been dented, sources told Reuters.

Other sources monitoring the meeting said several other European countries also briefly addressed the issue, although they did not call outright for Wolfowitz to step down.

The Netherlands, a large donor country, was among the chorus of nations wondering how the bank’s credibility could be restored. “We are critical but are awaiting development,” William Lelieveldt, Dutch Treasury spokesman, told Reuters.

MORAL AUTHORITY IN QUESTION
Staff and development activists accuse Wolfowitz of breaking bank rules in helping to arrange Riza’s promotion before she was assigned to outside work at the State Department.

They argue the institution’s moral authority has been left in tatters, especially its authority to make countries who receive aid accountable for the money, a priority for Wolfowitz, who has ruffled feathers at the bank with a strong-arm anti-corruption push.

The former No. 2 official at the Pentagon has apologized for his handling of Riza’s promotion and has said he was advised by a World Bank ethics panel to assign her to a job outside the bank to avoid a conflict of interest.

While his backers in the White House have come to his defense, large shareholders like Britain, Germany and France question whether he still has the credibility to lead the bank, which spends about $25 billion a year on projects to fight poverty in developing countries.

African ministers have expressed confidence in Wolfowitz and many World Bank member countries have cautioned against judging him until an examination by the bank’s board wraps up.
The board has said it will move quickly.

Still, the scandal has stirred up lingering antagonism over Wolfowitz’s appointment to the bank in mid-2005 by the U.S. administration and bitterness over his role in the U.S. invasion of Iraq while he was deputy defense secretary.

In notes of a speech prepared for delivery to the Development Committee on Sunday, Wolfowitz appealed to rich nations to deliver on aid promises and to keep the bank’s own coffers stocked so it can keep lending to needy countries.

“We stand half way to the 2010 goal post for doubling aid to Africa compared with 2004,” Wolfowitz said, as he outlined priority areas for the bank.

But his appeal was clouded by the concerns of many of the bank’s main donor countries, who are beginning year-long talks about replenishing the World Bank’s main lending fund.

Some insiders worry some donors could withhold funding to the bank’s International Development Association if the scandal hampers Wolfowitz’s ability to run the back.
(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert)