PARTS OF THE WORLD TO WATCH

I have posted many times over the last few months that people should be keeping up with what is happening in three specific parts of the world:

NORTH KOREA

AFGHANISTAN

SOMALIA

Today I am going to add another:

DARFUR

First let's look at some information about Darfur:

Darfur is a semi-arid western province of Sudan - Africa's largest country.
Darfur alone is the size of France.
In an Arab-dominated country, Darfur's population is mostly black African.

For more information about Darfur follow this link:
Darfur

Let's look at the history of the conflict:

Darfur conflict
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Darfur conflict is an ongoing armed conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a militia group recruited from Abbala the (camel-herding Arabs) tribes, and the non-Baggara people (mostly land-tilling tribes) of the region.

The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided arms and assistance and has participated in joint attacks with the group, systematically targeting the Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups in Darfur.

The conflict began in July 2003. Unlike in the Second Sudanese Civil War, which was fought between the primarily Muslim north and Christian and Animist south, in Darfur most of the residents are Muslim, as are the Janjaweed.

Estimated number of deaths in the conflict have ranged from 50,000 (World Health Organization, September 2004) to 450,000 (Dr. Eric Reeves, 28 April 2006). Most NGOs use 400,000, a figure from the Coalition for International Justice that has since been cited by the United Nations.

As many as 2.5 million are thought to have been displaced.
The mass media has described the conflict as both "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide." The U.S.Government has described it as genocide, although the United Nations has declined to do so.

After fighting worsened in July and August 2006, on August 31, 2006, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1706 which called for a new 20,000-troop UN peacekeeping force to supplant or supplement a poorly funded, ill-equipped 7,000-troop African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force.
Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as foreign invaders. The next day, the Sudanese military launched a major offensive in the region.

You can read more about the conflict at this link: Darfur Conflict


Update on the Conflict:

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported on 26 September the following: that Darfur “is again descending into a vicious cycle of violence,” that the situation “is becoming more desperate by the day” and that Darfur “is again on the brink of a catastrophic situation.”

You can read an artilce on the speech at Kofi Annan gave here: Darfur: No Time to Delay Action