Daily News: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
 
Associated Press: US may airlift African peacekeepers to Darfur. The U.S. envoy for Africa said Monday that Washington was ready to airlift as many as 4,000 peacekeepers, including Ethiopians and Egyptians, for the joint U.N.-African Union mission to Darfur . The mission started deploying in Darfur in January but remains at less than half of its 26,000 authorized capacity, and has complained of Sudanese government stonewalling and transport problems.
 
Reuters: US praises Sudan for speeding Darfur peacekeeper roll-out. A senior U.S. official on Monday praised Sudan for speeding up the deployment of peacekeepers in Darfur but stopped short of saying it had done enough to win support over a war crimes probe. The top U.S. diplomat for African, Jendayi Frazer, struck a rare positive note saying Khartoum had shown "energy" and more flexibility in getting international troops into Sudan 's violent west. But the United States still needed to see more action on the ground to resolve the five-year conflict, Frazer told reporters at the end of a two-day trip to Sudan .
 
Reuters: Sudan Journalists In Hunger Strike Over Censorship. More than 150 Sudanese journalists and support staff Tuesday started a 24-hour hunger strike to protest against censorship by state security services, media executives said. They added three opposition newspapers would shut down for three days, and writers from other publications would withdraw their columns to highlight a growing crackdown on media. "We are being censored every day," said Ajras al-Huriya newspaper's general manager Saleh Ahmed Mohammed Elhag at the protest launch. The daily Ajras al-Huriya is closely linked to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the main political party in the south and part of a national coalition government set up after the peace deal.

Daily Press Briefing: Monday, November 3, 2008

STATE DEPARTMENT
The daily press briefing conducted by Robert Wood, Deputy State Department Spokesman, mentioned the following about Darfur :
 
QUESTION: Jendayi Frazer is at – apparently in Khartoum today? What is she doing there?
MR. WOOD: That’s correct. She is in Khartoum . She’s meeting with Sudanese Government officials, talking about the Comprehensive Peace Agreement as well as Darfur .
QUESTION: Why?
MR. WOOD: Why? Because they’re important issues and we want to see the situation improve on the ground.
QUESTION: And is there, you know, some hope or there are some discussions right now or –
MR. WOOD: Well, she’s going to have discussions with officials –
QUESTION: Was there something scheduled or –
MR. WOOD: This was an update in the schedule. I just found out about it this morning that that’s where she is, so once we get a little bit more detail, we’ll be happy to provide that.
QUESTION: Okay.
 
UN
The highlights of the noon briefing conducted by Michelle Montas, Spokesperson for Secretary Ban Ki-moon, did not mention Darfur .
 
UN News released the following story:
 
Worsening violence deepens humanitarian crisis in Chad , UN relief wing warns
 
3 November 2008 – Volatile security conditions and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the area around Dogdor in eastern Chad threaten the lives of 26,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), United Nations humanitarian officials warned today.
 
“Humanitarian operations remain suspended in Dogdor, with the exception of urgent activities such as responses to medical emergencies and the provision of drinking water,” said Philippe Verstraeten of the Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for Chad .
 
A number of aid agencies suspended almost all operations last month, affecting the provision of health services, the supply of clean water, and the delivery of nutritional supplements among other activities aimed at assisting the most vulnerable.
 
Eastern Chad currently shelters 315,000 refugees – the majority being Sudanese escaping from the conflict in Darfur – and 180,000 IDPs, all of whom depend on aid to survive.
 
The humanitarian agencies have pleaded with the Government to provide security to their staff and assets while asking the UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad , known as MINURCAT, to reinforce its presence in those areas closest to Chad ’s eastern border with the Sudan , including Dogdor.
 
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes also urged the Government to “step up its efforts to improve security conditions in those areas, in the interest of the protection of civilians, so that full-scale humanitarian operations may soon resume.”
 
“I call on the Government of Chad to work closely with humanitarians on these issues, and I furthermore call on all belligerent parties to allow humanitarian activities to continue without hindrance,” added Mr. Holmes, who is also Emergency Relief Coordinator.
 
Mr. Holmes is slated to travel to Chad later this year amid a humanitarian crisis that is affecting over half a million refugees and IDPs and shows no sign of receding.