The Khartoum regime, Talisman Energy’s business partner, resumes its aerial bombardment of civilian and humanitarian targets in southern Sudan; yet another episode of lies and broken promises.
Eric Reeves [August 22, 2000]
Smith College ereeves@smith.edu
Northampton, MA 01063
413-585-3326
There was an assumption that when Operation Lifeline Sudan resumed last week (after an eight-day suspension because of Khartoum’s bombing of humanitarian sites) this critical relief effort for the suffering people of southern Sudan would be safe. There was an assumption that because the Government of Sudan had promised that it would no longer bomb humanitarian clinics, planes, and personnel, relief efforts could resume without undue risk.
Such assumptions were unwarranted, given the abysmal record of lying and broken promises that the Khartoum regime has established. And now they are belied by information that comes from the ground in Sudan: a highly experienced and authoritative source, working for the UNICEF, reports that Khartoum’s guarantees of safety for humanitarian missions have again proved worthless:
[1] The village of Maiwut (N 0836.45/E 03355.70) was bombed on Monday, August 21, five days after the resumption of humanitarian flights. Operation Lifeline Sudan has four people on the ground at this location: two from the International Rescue Committee, and two from ACCORD. Both these agencies work under the UN’s Operation Lifeline Sudan umbrella. They were present with the full knowledge and permission of the Khartoum regime. Fourteen bombs hit the village, one landing 200 meters from the compound of the International Rescue Committee
[2] Narus, a town close to the Kenyan border, was bombed on Saturday [August 19] at 11:30am (Sudan time). Six bombs were dropped, killing two local people and injuring another.
Bombing humanitarian relief efforts. Bombing undefended civilian villages. Engineering another famine. It’s business as usual for the Khartoum regime–soon to be a member of the UN Security Council.
Protected by its oil resources—and its corporate sponsors Talisman Energy of Canada, Petronas of Malaysia, and China National Petroleum Corp—the Khartoum regime is savagely confident in its genocidal ambitions.