373 Lake Darfur
This is big. As big as Lake Erie, the state of Massachusetts, or four times as big as Lebanon (journalists are reaching for new comparisons). Scientists at Boston University’s Center for Remote Sensing have found a massive underground lake under Darfur. This has quite properly generated a lot of excitement, considering the role competition for disappearing water resources has played in the conflict in Darfur. It’s also nice to see good news in satellite images of Darfur, after seeing so many photos of destroyed villages from space.
I’m happy to see that Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Egypt’s minister of water resources and irrigation, has pledged to drill the first 20 wells. It’s nice to see Egypt playing a genuinely constructive role in Darfur (not always the case). They’re calling the initiative “1,000 Wells for Darfur.” And all of Egypt can be particularly proud that Dr. Farouk El-Baz, whose team found this lake, is also an adjunct professor at Ain Shams University and a native son of Zaqaziq (his bio has a nice photo of him standing in front of a satellite image of the Nile Delta, with the water showing as red, as well as shots of him meeting Sadat. The man also has a Star Trek space shuttle named after him).
Years ago, I remember UN humanitarian staff complaining about Egypt’s obstructionist role in diplomatic efforts to get motion on Darfur. So it’s particularly sweet to see an Egyptian contributing what’s perhaps the most promising effort to help Dafur I’ve seen. Thank you, Dr. Farouk!
People are saying this might solve the conflict in Darfur. That seems a little premature. I hope it will quickly ease people’s thirst in northern Darfur and pave the way to peace there. I hope it won’t shift the conflict to a competition over the areas where the wells are drilled.
How will this help in the rest of Darfur and across the border in Chad? Can you get this water out of the ground and to the rest of the region? What would that take? How would you use this for irrigation? Over how large an area?
[tags]Darfur, Lake, Egypt, Sudan[/tags]
372 Libya: Saving Face, Saving Lives
Good news on the “Benghazi Six:”As hoped, Libya has commuted the death sentences of five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian medic, raising hopes that they might be freed, or at least extradited to Bulgarian (and Palestinian?) custody, soon. The Guardian‘s Ian Black has a good article today. I must also apologize for referring to the payments as blood money in my previous post. Apparently the money will go to the Benghazi International Fund, which will be used to improve healthcare in Benghazi.
Rumor has it that Libya is the primary contributor to this fund, along with the United States, the European Union, and Bulgaria. If so, this was not only a face-saving exercise, but a nice way to improve the lives of the people of Benghazi. Crafty colonel…
Here in Egypt, the Maat Center for Rights and Constitutional Studies hopes that the Egyptian government will take a cue from its neighbor to the West and stop executing people here (Maat’s press release after the break).
371 From the Afghan Press
Two interesting items in the latest edition of Afghanwire, an Afghan press translation service…
Pakistan is reaping in Islamabad what it sowed in Afghanistan, Killid says in response to the showdown at the “Red Mosque.” Also some interesting insights buried in this (somewhat confused) comment on attempts to secure mass graves in Chamtala. “Who’s Afraid of the Mass Graves?” Hasht-e Sobh asks. Full stories after the break.
370 Appeal for Haleh Esfandiari
Press release from the Woodrow Wilson Center:
The Woodrow Wilson Center announced today that any confessions by Haleh Esfandiari which Iranian state-run television says it will air on Wednesday and Thursday have no legitimacy. Esfandiari, director of the Wilson Centers Middle East Program, has been held in Tehrans notorious Evin prison since May 8th on charges of acting against Irans national security. Haleh is in her 71st day of solitary confinement in Evin Prison. She has seen no one from outside the prison during this time: not her mother, not her family, not her lawyer, and not the ICRC or any independent international body. Any statements she may make without having had access to her lawyer would be coerced and have no legitimacy or standing, said Lee H. Hamilton, president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. This reprehensible pattern of activity by interrogators in Iran has occurred before: jailing innocent people, confining them, and then producing a framed or cobbled statement or confession. This is not a fair judicial process at work.
The reported charges against Haleh are ludicrous, said Hamilton. Haleh is a scholar who has tried only to promote dialogue and understanding between the U.S. and the Middle East region, to include Iran. We are extremely concerned about Haleh and her mental and physical well-being. I again ask the Iranian government to end this ordeal and stop making totally false allegations against Haleh. Let Haleh and the other detained Iranian-Americans return safely to their families.
For up-to-date information regarding the situation of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, please visit the Wilson Centers media update center at www.wilsoncenter.org/halehnews. To get involved in the campaign to free Haleh, go to www.freehaleh.org.
Seventy-one days of solitary confinement. That’s sickening enough. But add to that the whole story: A 67-year-old woman goes home to visit her 93-year-old mother. She happens to go at a time when two stupid, reckless men are in the middle of a high-stakes cockfight. So she gets thrown in solitary confinement until she cracks and confesses to being a traitor to her country on television. Seems like the least I could do is sign a petition.
365 Rule of Law, Pshaw
A word of caution to all those (including, now, Ramsey Clark?) calling for the rule of law in Egypt and elsewhere across the Middle East: if the laws were evenly applied, every opposition figure, every human rights activist, every independent journalist, and every political blogger would be in jail right now. Friend and esteemed colleague Moataz El Fegiery, of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, reports in Carnegie’s Arab Reform Bulletin (follow the link for the English; Arabic version after the break).
Speaking of terrible laws, Al-Mesryoon reports that a distinguished cast of characters has met in Tanta to call for a new law on political parties. The current law gives the president and the ruling party broad authority to determine who may compete against them and under what terms.
364 A U.S. Ambassador to Libya
I’m following negotiations over Bush‘s decision to send an ambassador to Libya for the first time in nearly 35 years. Not clear how related European countries’ efforts to buy the lives of Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death on charges of infecting children with HIV are to the deal. The Sofia Echo is reporting that the children’s families have accepted the blood money. Libya’s Supreme Judicial Council is expected to rule today. It’s not clear whether such a deal would appease four Democratic senators in the United States who say they will delay the appointment until Qadhafi agrees to pay blood money for two U.S. soldiers killed in a 1986 bomb attack at a disco in Berlin.
In this instance, Bush‘s first mistake is sending Gene Cretz, the DCM at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. While Cretz’s experience maintaining ties with a pariah state will serve him and his country well in Tripoli, I think the United States needs someone closer to the Colonel’s temperament for this job:
363 That’s the Power of Love
Late to this, and I certainly don’t want to slag off on Reuters Journalist of the Year Opheera McDoom (I understand she is the true ruler of Sudan, so best not cross her). Her articles from Darfur in 2004, before it was the trendiest spot in Africa, were a vital source of information for those of us following the conflict from afar. So ’nuff respect, Ms. McDoom. Congratulations on your wedding. I too am feeling the power of love.
362 Old Letters to New Princes
Since I’m now officially on leave from my job, I’m bringing the blog back… at least until I start another contract.
First, happy birthday (and Bastille Day) to Hossam. Second, welcome to Abu Muqawama and to Conflictblotter, two excellent new (well, in the past seven months) blogs on the Middle East by good friends who once lived in Cairo and Baghdad. Abu Muqawama has moved on to Morocco (smart man). Conflictblotter has moved on to Gaza, Jerusalem, and now (smart man) a Greek Island.
***
Now that I’m free again, I have time to read. Books and stuff. A few interesting scraps for today:
???? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ????? ????
“The best form of jihad is a word of truth to a tyrannical ruler.” (Hadith no. 4011 from the Sunan Ibn Majah)
And Abu Bakr‘s great inaugural address:
“Oh people, I have been entrusted with authority over you, but I am not the best of you. Help me if I am right and correct me if I am wrong.” (recounted by Abd al-Malik Ibn Hashim in his Sirah al-Nabawiyya)
I too want my rulers to be that modest.
359 ??? ????
???? ??????
???? ???? ???? ???????
??? ????
?????? ??? ???? ????? ?? ??????? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ???? ??????? ?????. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??????? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ????? ???????? ????????? ?? ??????? ?? ??? ??????. ???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ??????? ????? ?????? ??? ?????? ????? ????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ??????. ???? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ??????? ????? ????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ????? ??? ???????. ????? ?? ??? ???? ????? ??? ????? ????????? ????????.
??? ?? ????? ???????? ?? ???? ????? ???????? ?????? ?? ?????? ??? ?????? ?????? ?? ????? ???????. ???? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ????? ???? ??? ????? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ????? ?? ??? ????. ?????? ??? ?????? ????? ?? ????? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ??????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ?????? ?????? ???? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ?????? ??? ??????? ?? ???????.
???? ????? ??????? ??????? ??? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ????. ????? ??? ???????.
36 queries. 0.106 seconds. CMS: WordPress. Design: modified Hiperminimalist Theme.
RSS for posts and comments.
Valid XHTML and CSS.