Conditions in Africa

Two items about current conditions in Africa. The Sudan (from The Guardian) bq. Human rights campaigners warned today that a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Sudanese government risks turning the country into another Rwanda. bq. In a new report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) describes how the Arab-dominated government forces - in collaboration with bands of Arab militia known as Janjaweed - have overseen and participated in attacks aimed at driving black African tribes from their lands in the western region of Darfur. And a bit on the background: bq. The report's findings are supported by Elsigani Seisi, former governor of the Darfur region, who said: "Information indicates that there are concentration camps and people have started to die because of hunger and disease ... it's a genocide." bq. Mr Seisi said a number of Arab tribes that migrated to the area during the last 200 years had lived in harmony with the indigenous tribes. But, since the current regime took power in a military coup in 1989, it "introduced an Islamic and Arabist agenda, which has polarised the region under ethnic lines". Living in harmony until an Islamic and Arabist agenda was introduced. Scum-sucking sons of pigs and monkeys. Religion of Peace my ass... Next, we go to Nigeria where the Christians are attacking the Arabs. (from Reuters) bq. Thousands of Nigerian Muslims braved hostile Christian roadblocks on Friday to flee the town of Yelwa after an attack by Christian militia killed hundreds earlier in the week. bq. Many wounded and exhausted, the refugees sought police escorts to take them to neighboring Bauchi and Nassarawa states as Christians manning road blocks in surrounding villages tried to kill them as they left. And a bit on the background: bq. Yelwa had already witnessed one of the worst atrocities of the Plateau conflict in February, when Muslim militia killed almost 100 Christians, including 48 massacred in a church. bq. Nigeria is a battleground for the world's top two religions, with its population of 130 million roughly split between Muslims and Christians. bq. Religious violence has killed at least 5,000 Nigerians since 2000, when 12 northern Nigerian states established Islamic Sharia law. Democracy and religious tolerance now please...