Dec 29, 2006  Sudan: Darfur Peace Talks Analysis http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/sud0612a.php
    "Military intervention won't stop the killing. Those who are clamouring for troops to fight their way into Darfur are suffering from a salvation delusion. It's a simple reality that UN troops can't stop an ongoing war ... Moreover, the idea of Bush and Blair acting as global moral arbiters doesn't travel well. The crisis in Darfur is political ... is a civil war, and like all wars it needs a political settlement." - Alex de Waal

Nov 30, 2006  Somalia: Getting It Wrong, Again http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/som0611.php
    "Unfortunately for Somalis, the United States and other members of the UN Security Council are taking actions that make war more likely, not less. The State Department wants to loosen a UN arms embargo and allow deployment of a regional peacekeeping force, a move that will be viewed as an act of war by the Council of Somali Islamic Courts. ... [the resolution] would bring the UN into the coming conflict on the side of Ethiopia and give a green light to Ethiopia's deployment in Somalia."

Oct 31, 2006  Congo (Kinshasa): From Votes to Security? http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/conk0610.php
    Voting went peacefully in presidential runoff elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo on October 29. And both contenders have promised not to resort to force to contest the results. But there is still a significant threat of violence as the votes are counted.

Oct 11, 2006  Africa: "New News" http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/news0610.php
    "I am constantly confounded as to why American media don't find Africa an exciting place to report from and about. I think there's a perception that audience interest is limited. That's certainly not been true in my experience. ... I don't have a problem with reporting death, disease, disaster and despair, because all of the above exist. But that is not all there is to Africa." - Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Sep 6, 2006  Sudan: Diplomatic Denialism? http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/sud0609.php
    "This is no way to run a peacekeeping operation. Morale is low, we cannot pay our troops and the [Sudanese] government makes sure we are unable to do our job." - Senior African Union official

Aug 13, 2006  Nigeria: Swamps of Insurgency http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/nig0608.php
    "Over the past quarter century, unrest in the Niger Delta has slowly graduated into a guerrilla-style conflict that leaves hundreds dead each year. The battle lines are drawn over the region's crude oil and gas that make Nigeria the number one oil producer in Africa and the world's tenth largest crude oil producer." - International Crisis Group

Jul 30, 2006  Congo (Kinshasa): A New Beginning? http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/conk0607.php
    In the best scenario, today's elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 25 million voters, will demonstrate the will of the Congolese people for peace and the possibility of increased stability. In the worst case, the elections themselves may prove a stimulus for further violence. In any scenario, the fundamental issues of building a government that works and fighting poverty and corruption lie ahead.

Jul 23, 2006  Sudan: Still Delaying on Darfur http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/sud0607a.php
    Despite wide consensus that the current African Union force is inadequate to stop the violence and ensure implementation of peace agreements in Darfur, there is no sign that the international community is willing to escalate pressure on Khartoum to accept its replacement by a stronger United Nations force, "The United Nation Security Council has threatened us so many times, we no longer take it seriously," a Sudanese official remarked early this month.

Jul 23, 2006  Sudan: Darfur Peace Agreement Detailed http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/sud0607b.php
    The real problem with the Darfur Peace Agreement, contends one of the advisors to the negotiations, is not its detailed provisions, which are both substantive and the result of significant input even from factions that eventually refused to sign. It is the lack of will to implement the accord, whether on the part of the government of Sudan, the rebels in Darfur, or the international parties that must guarantee its implementation,

Jun 19, 2006  Somalia: Renewing Diplomacy http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/som0606.php
    After several months of escalated fighting in Mogadishu prompted by U.S. covert funding for a warlord alliance against Islamic militia, a victory for the militia has led to unaccustomed calm. After a heated internal debate, U.S. policy has shifted to support of multilateral diplomacy. But the threat of renewed violence comes both from multiple internal divisions and the risk that even multilaterally decided external involvement could accentuate rather than relieve internal divisions.

May 15, 2006  Sudan: Opportunity for Peace http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/sud0605.php
    "This is the triumph of Africa doing what it should be doing with the support of the international community. [but unless there is] the right spirit, the right attitude and the right disposition, this document will not be worth the paper it is written on." - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, commenting on signature of peace agreement on Darfur

May 4, 2006  Congo (Kinshasa): Elections and More http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/conk0605.php
    The first round of presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now scheduled for July 30, after repeated delays. South Africa is taking responsibility for producing the ballot papers, while the European Union will send over 1,000 troops to aid United Nations forces in maintaining security during the elections. The elections, observers stress, are only one of the essential steps for consolidating peace in the country.

Apr 20, 2006  Uganda: The Costs of War http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/ugan0604.php
    "Since 1986 northern Uganda has been trapped in a deadly cycle of violence and suffering. After 20 years the war shows no real signs of abating, and every day it goes on it exacts a greater toll from the women, men, and children affected by the crisis. ... The Lord's Resistance Army, the Government of Uganda, and the international community must act ... without delay ... to secure a just and lasting peace." - Civil Society Organisations for Peace in Northern Uganda

Mar 27, 2006  Sudan: More Resolutions - Actions Delayed http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/sud0603.php
    "The international strategy for dealing with the Darfur crisis primarily through the small (7,000 troops) African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) is at a dead end. ... the international community is backing away from meaningful action. ... If the tragedy of the past three years is not to be compounded, the AU and its partners must address the growing regional crisis by getting more troops with greater mobility and firepower on the ground at once and rapidly transforming AMIS into a larger, stronger UN peacekeeping mission with a robust mandate focused on civilian protection." - International Crisis Group, March 16, 2005

Mar 23, 2006  Africa: Arms Embargoes http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/arms0603.php
    UN arms embargoes are systematically violated and must be urgently strengthened if they are to stop weapons fueling human rights abuses, according to a report presented to the UN Security Council last week. According to the Control Arms Campaign every one of the 13 UN arms embargoes imposed in the last decade has been repeatedly violated. And despite hundreds of embargo breakers being named in UN reports, only a handful have been successfully prosecuted.

Mar 19, 2006  Liberia: Johnson Sirleaf in New York, Washington http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/lib0603.php
    "Listening to the hopes and dreams of our people, I recall the words of a Mozambican poet who said, 'Our dream has the size of freedom.' My people, like your people, believe deeply in freedom - and, in their dreams, they reach for the heavens. ... I ran for president because I am determined to see good governance in Liberia in my lifetime. But I also ran because I am the mother of four, and I wanted to see our children smile again." - Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, speaking to the U.S. Congress, March 15, 2006

Jan 16, 2006  Africa: From Rwanda to Darfur http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/cap0601.php
    In Rwanda, says Gerald Caplan in an analysis of "lessons learned" from Rwanda to Darfur, the international community excused its failure to respond by hesitation to apply the term genocide. When the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration in 2004 declared the slaughter in Darfur to be "genocide," therefore, many expected that this would be a signal that the international community would take effective action. Unfortunately, Caplan concludes, that expectation was false.

Jan 16, 2006  Sudan: African Union on the Spot http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/sud0601.php
    "The African Union should not reward the sponsors of crimes against humanity," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. "How can the African Union be seen as a credible mediator in Darfur if one of the warring parties hosts its summit and becomes the head of the organisation as well?