U.N. Council Deplores Crushing of Myanmar Protests

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11 (Reuters) - China joined Western powers for the first time to deplore Myanmar's crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations and call for political dialogue there in a statement by the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. The hard-fought statement urged the military junta that has ruled Myanmar for 45 years to free all political prisoners and detained protesters soon and prepare for a "genuine dialogue" with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The official policy statement is not legally binding, but because -- unlike a resolution -- it required the consent of all 15 council members, it left the Myanmar government isolated, Western diplomats said.

It was the first time the council had taken official action on Myanmar and marked a shift of position by China, a neighbor and key trading partner of Myanmar that had previously used its veto to prevent criticism of the country's authorities. The United Nations said special envoy Ibrahim Gambari would leave over the weekend for an Asian tour expected to culminate in his second visit to Myanmar since the junta cracked down on the demonstrations led by Buddhist monks last month. Myanmar authorities admit 10 people were killed, but Western governments say the toll is likely much higher. In an interview on Thursday on PBS's "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations would continue to use its "moral voice" to pursue change in Myanmar. "We have been mobilizing all possible political influences of leaders in the region and in the world," he said. "The Security Council strongly deplores the use of violence against peaceful demonstrations in Myanmar," said the statement read by council president Leslie Kojo Christian of Ghana after the West and China haggled for six days over the text. The council "emphasizes the importance of the early release of all political prisoners and remaining detainees," it added. "The Security Council stresses the need for the government of Myanmar to create the necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all concerned parties and ethnic groups, in order to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation." "I think it is significant ... because it makes absolutely clear that the government of Burma is isolated from all world opinion in its actions of recent weeks," said Britain's U.N. ambassador, John Sawers, using Myanmar's former name.

The United States, Britain and France, who initiated the statement, said the junta must act soon or they would pressure the council to return to the issue. "The regime's commitments to work with the U.N. and Mr. Gambari must be followed by action," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said if nothing happened, "we will be back" in the council, possibly in two weeks. "We will not relent. We will persist," Khalilzad told journalists. France's deputy U.N. ambassador, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said all restrictions imposed on Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, had to be lifted.

China's deputy U.N. ambassador, Liu Zhenmin, limited his comments to hoping the statement would help Gambari's visit and did not respond to questions on further council action. He said it was up to Myanmar's government and people "to resolve this issue." Gambari will hold talks in Thailand on Monday, then visit Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan "with a view to returning to Myanmar shortly thereafter," a U.N. statement said. Gambari, who returned from a four-day visit to Myanmar last week, originally planned a second trip in mid-November. Western diplomats said they hoped he would be in Myanmar before the end of October to push for implementation of the statement's demands. The statement was substantially rewritten several times and its final version dropped demands for a full accounting of what happened to the demonstrators as well as direct calls for a transition to democracy in Myanmar. Khalilzad said if he had had his way, the statement would have been stronger, "but you have to bring 15 countries together with different views and different interests." Rights groups gave it a cautious welcome. "This is a first step when what Burma needs is a concrete measure," said Aung Din, director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma. "We hope the council follows this move by implementing an arms embargo."
By Patrick Worsnip

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The Devastating Cost of Africa's Wars: £150bn & Millions of Lives

· Loss is equivalent to total foreign aid since 1990
· Economies, health and human rights all suffer

Conflicts in Africa since the end of the cold war have cost the continent £150bn, equivalent to all the foreign aid it has received over the same period, according to a report released by Oxfam today. The study, Africa's Missing Billions, says that almost half of the countries on the continent have been involved in some form of conflict since 1990 at a substantial cost to lives and development. The report compares African countries afflicted by conflict with those at peace and says nations at war have, on average, 50% more infant deaths, 15% more undernourished people and life expectancy reduced by five years. Indirect deaths are 14 times higher than deaths in combat.

The report has been released ahead of a UN conference on a proposed arms trade treaty as part of a campaign by Oxfam and other NGOs for a ban on weapons sales and transfers where they are likely to be used to commit serious human rights violations. About 95% of Kalashnikov rifles in Africa - the most common weapon there - come from outside the continent. The research by Oxfam, Saferworld and the International Action Network on Small Arms, a London-based international network of NGOs working to curb weapons proliferation, estimates that conflict shrinks economies by 15% on average.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, for instance, has suffered more than a decade of foreign invasion and civil war that, besides causing the deaths of about 4 million people, has cost it £9bn, or 29% of its gross domestic product, according to the report. Eritrea, Burundi and Rwanda are among the other worst hit countries. "This is a massive waste of resources - roughly equivalent to total international aid to Africa from major donors during the same period," the report says. "It is also roughly equivalent to the additional funds estimated to be necessary to address the problems of HIV and Aids in Africa, or to address Africa's needs in education, clean water and sanitation, and help prevent the spread of TB and malaria." The report says that besides the impact of increased military expenditure and destruction of infrastructure, war creates inflation, debt and high unemployment. "The indirect costs from lost opportunities are even higher. Economic activity falters or grinds to a halt. Income from valuable natural resources ends up lining individual pockets rather than benefiting the country. The country suffers from inflation, debt and reduced investment, while people suffer from unemployment, lack of public services and trauma. More people, especially women and children, die from the fallout of conflict than die in conflict itself," the report says. "For conflicts, the greater part of the human cost results not from deaths and injuries due to combat but indirectly from the loss of health and livelihoods caused by the disruption of economy and society. Across nine African conflicts, indirect deaths were 14 times greater than deaths occurring in combat."

The report says that the medical impact of combat injuries is dwarfed by the broader consequences, including higher rates of disease and infection caused by large movements of people, poorer nutrition, difficulties in finding clean water and higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases. "Studies show that although women are often not targeted in combat as directly as men, women experience as much or more mortality in the long run. Women suffer seriously and exclusively from lack of maternal health services, as well as facing extremely high levels of rape and HIV infection. During the conflict in Sierra Leone more than half of women experienced some type of sexual violence." Ethnic conflict in particular erodes the ties of family and community, entrenching hatreds and distrust. The impact on children can be particularly severe, forcing many out of school and some into fighting. The report says its figures are almost certainly an underestimate of the true cost of conflict because they do not take into account the economic impact on neighbouring countries, which are frequently affected by political insecurity or an influx of refugees.

One spillover from conflict is the vast numbers of small arms washing around the continent, which has contributed to violent crime. Armed robberies, murders, cattle rustling and gang violence have risen in several regions. The report says that combating poverty would be a big contribution to ending conflict but that other measures, including curbing the small arms trade, particularly the supply of ammunition, would also have a significant impact. "Economic growth and the lives and livelihoods of people in Africa are being held back by armed violence. In failing to control the arms trade the international community has let Africa down," it says.
Chris McGreal, Africa correspondent The Guardian
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Sudan Red Tape Delaying UN Force

Shops in Muhajiriya market were burned to the ground on Monday

The United Nations has criticised the Sudanese government's use of red tape to delay the deployment of the hybrid UN-African Union force to Darfur.

In a highly critical report, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused Khartoum of failing to approve a list of troop-contributing countries. He also said the UN was being prevented from obtaining land for offices and accommodation in Darfur. Mr Ban said there was an unacceptable upsurge of violence in Darfur.

Some two million have been displaced and at least 200,000 have died during the four-year conflict and there is growing pessimism about the prospects for peace talks later this month. "The ongoing loss of life and displacement of civilians is unacceptable and is not contributing to an atmosphere conducive for the peace talks in Libya," he said. He adds that it is of critical importance that the Sudanese government extend the support and co-operation necessary to resolve issues pertaining to land, landing rights for UN aircraft and finalises the list of countries contributing troops.

Earlier this week, the UN issued a list of 15 nations, most of them African, as proposed troop contributors to the proposed 26,000-strong peacekeeping force. But the UN is finding it difficult to obtain Khartoum's consent. The timetable for getting the force up and running by the end of this year appears to be slipping, and the full force will not be in operation until well into 2008, observers say.

Government blamed

Meanwhile, the UN said dozens of people were killed in Monday's attack on the town of Muhajiriya in south Darfur. In a statement, the UN said a large number of houses in the town were burnt to the ground, as were shops in the market. The former rebels who signed last year's Darfur peace agreement accused the government of being behind the incident. The government denies this. An estimated 6,000 villagers fled to the north while thousands more have dispersed to other nearby areas. Reports from the town said dead bodies were strewn across the streets. The attack came just days after armed men attacked the African Union base in nearby Haskanita - killing 10 AU soldiers.
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"You are no longer Monks," Myanmar Prisoners Told

YANGON, Myanmar Oct 11 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Buddhist monks rounded up by Myanmar's junta were beaten and kept in animal-like conditions without toilets or drinking water during days of interrogation, one of those freed said on Thursday. "At the beginning it was very, very bad," one recently released monk told Reuters, requesting anonymity because of the threat of repercussions against those who speak out against the regime, the latest face of 45 years of unbroken military rule. Caged for more than a week at a former Government Technical Institute compound in north Yangon, the monks -- revered figures in the devoutly Buddhist nation -- were stripped of their maroon monastic robes and treated like common criminals. "When one of us used a pronoun refering to himself as a monk, he was slapped," the monk said. "Then an interrogator said: 'You are no longer a monk. You are just an ordinary man with a shaven head.'"

The monks, mostly young men whom the army sees as the biggest threat to its iron grip on power because of their moral authority, were packed into rooms so tightly they could not lie down, let alone sleep, in the sweltering monsoon season heat. "We had no spoons or forks so we had to eat with our fingers," said the monk, who spent 10 days in the makeshift detention centre. "The food was horrible." At times during the relentless barrage of questioning to identify ringleaders of the biggest anti-junta protests in 20 years, the monks were forced to put their hands on their heads and squat while their inquisitors remained seated on chairs. Those who gave wrong or inadequate answers were hit about the head or kicked, the monk said. There was no medical treatment, he added, for those hurt during interrogation or during the nocturnal raids on Yangon monasteries in the final week of September, the first wave of a ruthless and clinical response to the demonstrations.

Through its rigidly controlled state media, the junta admits 10 people were killed in the crackdown, although Western governments say the toll is likely to be much higher. The monk's testimony tallies with other accounts of abuse of detainees, including the reported death in custody of a member of the opposition near the former Burma's second city of Mandalay. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPPB), a group of former detainees with extensive contacts, said on Wednesday 42-year-old Win Shwe had died "as a result of torture during interrogation". As the junta continued to arrest dissidents, official papers accused foreign governments -- essentially the United States and Britain -- and media of stirring up the protests, which started in mid-August against shock increases in fuel prices. "Stooges of foreign countries, neglecting the national prestige and integrity, put on a play written by their foreign masters," the official New Light of Myanmar said.
Reuters By Aung Hla Tun

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Bono In the Pulpit - Feb. 2006

Washington, Feb. 2006: If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex. Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation. Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural… something unseemly… about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the South of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert… but this is really weird, isn't it? You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind. . Mr. President, are you sure about this? It's very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned—I'm Irish.

I'd like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I'd like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws… but of course, they don't always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you're here. I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here—Muslims, Jews, Christians—all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God. I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too. Yes, it's odd, having a rock star here—but maybe it's odder for me than for you. You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was… well, a little blurry, and hard to see.

I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays… and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God. For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land… and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash… in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment…I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV. Even though I was a believer. Perhaps because I was a believer. I was cynical… not about God, but about God's politics. (There you are, Jim.) Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick—my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the Millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world's poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord's call—and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic's point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.

'Jubilee'—why 'Jubilee'? What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lords favor? I'd always read the Scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35)… 'If your brother becomes poor,' the Scriptures say, 'and cannot maintain himself… you shall maintain him… You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.' It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he's met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he's a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn't done much… yet. He hasn't spoken in public before…When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,' he says, 'because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.' And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee. (Luke 4:18) What he was really talking about was an era of grace—and we're still in it.

So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate—in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club… it wasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions… making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people. But then my cynicism got another helping hand. It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called A.I.D.S. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The one's that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children… Even fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women. Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself Judgmentalism is back!

But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age. Love was on the move. Mercy was on the move. God was on the move. Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet… Conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS… Soccer moms and quarterbacks… hip-hop stars and country stars… This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens! Popes were seen wearing sunglasses! Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster! Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit. It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks. When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened—and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even—that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying… on AIDS and global health, governments listened—and acted.

I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world. Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives. Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone. I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill… I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff… maybe, maybe not… But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor. God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. "If you remove the yolk from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places"

It's not a coincidence that in the Scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. [You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.] 'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.' (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor. Here's some good news for the President. After 9-11 we were told America would have no time for the World's poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it's true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors. In fact, you have double aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund—you and Congress—have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria. Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.

But here's the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There's is much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response. And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice. Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice. And that's too bad. Because you're good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it. But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment. 6,500 Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drugstore. This is not about charity, this is about Justice and Equality. Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the Tsunami. 150, 000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature". In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain. You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, "Equal?" A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, "Yeah, 'equal,' that's what it says here in this book. We're all made in the image of God." And eventually the Pharaoh says, "OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews—but not the blacks." "Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man." So on we go with our journey of equality. On we go in the pursuit of justice. We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than two million Americans… left and right together… united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live. We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King—mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas. Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market… that's a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents… That's a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents… that's a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject. That's why I say there's the law of the land… and then there is a higher standard. There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living? As the laws of man are written, that's what they say. God will not accept that. Mine won't, at least. Will yours?

I close this morning on … very… thin… ice. This is a dangerous idea I've put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God… vs. no God. It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity. And this is a town—Washington—that knows something of division. But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the Scriptures call the least of these. This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith. Do to others as you would have them do to you.' (Luke 6:30) Jesus says that. 'Righteousness is this: that one should… give away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that. (2.177) Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.

That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds like a good deal to me, right now. A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it… I have a family, please look after them… I have this crazy idea… And this wise man said: stop. He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing. Get involved in what God is doing—because it's already blessed. Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing. And that is what He's calling us to do.

I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to ten percent of the family budget. Well, how does that compare the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family? How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world? Less than one percent. Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America: I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing…. Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional one percent of the federal budget tithed to the poor. What is one percent? One percent is not merely a number on a balance sheet.

One percent is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you. One percent is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you. One percent is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you. One percent is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole. This one percent is digging waterholes to provide clean water. One percent is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism towards Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description. America gives less than one percent now. Were asking for an extra one percent to change the world. to transform millions of lives—but not just that and I say this to the military men now – to transform the way that they see us. One percent is national security, enlightened economic self interest, and a better safer world rolled into one. Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, one percent is the best bargain around. These goals—clean water for all; school for every child; medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty—these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports. And they are more than that. They are the Beatitudes for a Globalised World.

Now, I'm very lucky. I don't have to sit on any budget committees. And I certainly don't have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don't have to make the tough choices. But I can tell you this: To give one percent more is right. It's smart. And it's blessed. There is a continent, Africa, being consumed by flames. I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did—or did not to—to put the fire out in Africa. History, like God, is watching what we do.
Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all.
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UN Seeks to End Human Trafficking

Delhi, India: Many South Asian children end up in indentured labour. A UN initiative to fight human trafficking has been launched in the Indian capital, Delhi. The global campaign is aimed at achieving a turning point in the fight against trafficking. Millions of people around the world are victims of sexual exploitation and forced labour, many of them children. The UN estimates the annual trade is worth $32bn. South Asia is second only to South East Asia as the region with the highest prevalence of trafficking.

Every day in South Asia children and young women are lured or taken from their homes with promises of a job, marriage or a place in the entertainment industry. Instead, they end up in the sex trade or as forced labour. India is the hub of this trade, with organised crime syndicates trafficking women and children both within the country and from across the border in Nepal or Bangladesh.

These are the findings of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime which is at the centre of the new global initiative to combat trafficking. It brings together government officials, law enforcement agencies, business leaders and representatives from the media and entertainment industry. The idea is both to share best practices and raise funds in the hope that it can help turn a corner in the fight against trafficking. The two-day conference is expected to draw up a timeframe and also set goals to be achieved over the next few years.
By Sanjoy Majumder BBC News, Delhi

People Trafficked into Ireland can receive advice and assistance by calling 087 0639783 / 086 2524046 /085 1344262
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Millenium Goals

Stand Up and Speak Out on October 17th. for the elimination of injustice and inequality in our world, so that the Millenium Goals may be realised by our world leaders.
Stand Up Speak Out against Poverty & Injustice

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U.N. Advises Nonessential Staff to leave Darfur

Violence spreads to Nyala, long-considered region's safest town
Attacks by Arab militia have spread to neighboring Chad, where Darfurians were seeking refuge.

KHARTOUM, Sudan Oct. 8th: - Government allied troops launched a new attack on a key rebel-held zone in southern Darfur as the U.N. and aid groups on Monday advised some workers to leave the regional capital temporarily because of insecurity. Rebels said the Sudanese army and its allied janjaweed militia unleashed a large offensive on the South Darfur town of Muhajeria. The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum also said Monday that violence appeared to be spreading to Muhajeria. The town was considered neutral because it is a base for fighters from the Sudan Liberation Army faction belonging to Minni Minawi, the sole Darfur rebel chief who signed a peace agreement with the government last year.

Minawi’s leadership was not immediately available for comment, but other splinter SLA chiefs said a large clash was taking place. “There are heavy aerial bombings happening right now,” said Suleiman Jamous, a leader of the faction known as SLA-Unity. Sudan’s government denies widespread international accusations it backs the janjaweed, who are blamed for the worst atrocities in the more than four-year-old conflict that has killed some 200,000 people and chased 2.5 million from their homes. The office of the Sudanese military spokesman did not answer calls from The Associated Press on Monday, but the army regularly denies it conducts military flights, which are banned over Darfur by several U.N. resolutions.

The attack in Muhajeria comes about a week after a separate rebel attack at an African Union base near the town of Haskanita that left 10 AU peacekeepers dead. Jamous’ SLA-Unity faction, which has not agreed to peace with the government, was suspected in the Sept. 30 attack near Haskanita, which is located about 35 miles east of Muhajeria. Jamous on Monday denied his group was involved but said his rebels were nearby when it took place. Since the attack at the AU base, about 15,000 civilians have fled from around Haskanita, which was burned to the ground since coming under government control last week.

U.S. urges 'end the cycle of violence
In a statement Monday, the U.S. Embassy condemned the destruction of Haskanita and pressed for all parties to “immediately end the cycle of violence” in Darfur and commit to a cease-fire ahead of peace talks between the government and rebel groups scheduled to take place later this month in Libya. Humanitarian groups and U.N. aid agencies advised nonessential staff to leave the South Darfur capital of Nyala temporarily. “The situation isn’t good,” said Michael Arunga, the spokesman in Nyala for the U.S.-based Christian aid group World Vision, which was the largest humanitarian group operating around the town.
Associated Press
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South Sudan Peace in ‘Jeopardy’

Nairobi, Oct. 7th: A peace agreement that put an end to decades of civil war between north and south Sudan is in jeopardy because relations between the two sides have become “poisonous”, the US envoy to Sudan has warned. The comments from Andrew Natsios were a reminder that while international attention has focused on violence in the western province of Darfur, the animosities behind a conflict that has killed more people have been rising to the surface once more. Referring to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 by the Khartoum government and southern rebels, Mr Natsios said at the weekend: “We are deeply concerned about the health of the CPA . . . Tensions are rising. This is dangerous.”

Officials from the north and from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, a non-Muslim group running the southern government, accuse each other of holding up the implementation of key provisions of the CPA. Disputes between the two sides centre on the demarcation of the north-south border and the sharing of revenues from oil reserves, which have been found close to the border area. Mr Natsios, speaking at the end of a 10-day visit to Sudan, said the risk of clashes between the two sides was high and stressed the importance of Sudan holding an election in 2009, as envisaged in the CPA. That is set to be followed in 2011 by a referendum on independence for the south.

In Khartoum, the hardline National Congress party and the SPLM are part of a government of national unity. The US played a key role in forging the CPA after the Islamist NCP, fearing a US backlash following the September 11 terrorist attacks, began to accept the idea of talks to end the civil war.
By Barney Jopson for the The Financial Times
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Myanmar Junta Names Liaison to Aung San Suu Kyi

BANGKOK Oct 8th: The military junta in Myanmar has named its deputy labor minister to act as a liaison with the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the government announced Monday. It said Deputy Labor Minister Aung Kyi, a retired general, would act as "liaison minister" but did not elaborate on what this liaison would involve. State television said the appointment followed a recommendation by a United Nations envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, during a visit to Myanmar last week.

Analysts have voiced concern that the junta would take cosmetic steps to try to deflect international concern over its violent suppression of huge pro-democracy protests. An unknown number of Burmese were killed during the peaceful uprising and hundreds were arrested. Since the demonstrations were crushed late last month, the government has been carrying out night-time searches and arrests, and state media said Monday that arrests were continuing. In an earlier concession to international demands, the junta's leader, Senior General Than Shwe, said last week that he would meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, but only if she renounced some of her demands, including her support for international sanctions against the regime.

It remained unclear whether the junta would open any real dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years. A commentary Monday in the government's English-language mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar, indicated that the government was not planning to release her from house arrest anytime soon, despite widespread demands from abroad. "The three demands of the protesters - lowering consumer prices, release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, and national reconciliation - cannot be satisfied through protest," the paper said, using an honorific it has avoided in commentaries over the years. "Now, those responsible are making arrangements to draft the state constitution and collect the list of voters," it added. "When the state constitution is approved, the fulfillment of the three demands will be within reach." "The drafting of a new constitution is one of the steps on a "road map" that the junta says will lead to a form of "disciplined democracy," but the constitutional guidelines it adopted in August assured that the military would play the dominant role in any future government. The completion of a constitution and its approval in a referendum could still take many months or years, analysts said.
International Herald Tribune
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CAFOD launches Campaign for Zimbabwe 'On Edge of Precipice'

London Oct. 8th: The Archbishop of Harare has issued an urgent appeal for help as Zimbabwe faces a spiralling food crisis. It is estimated that one in three people will soon be in need of food aid following a disastrous harvest. CAFOD launched a £4million appeal on Friday for Zimbabwe. The aid agency will run an emergency response programme providing over 120,000 people in some of the worst affected areas with food supplies and seeds and tools.

In his appeal the Archbishop of Harare, Robert Ndlovu, said: "The people of Zimbabwe are suffering. Our once bountiful nation is unable to feed its people and the coming months will bring yet deeper hunger and desperation for many. "Now the Zimbabwean people stand at the edge of a precipice. Our country is in deep crisis. Our harvest has failed, through a combination of severe drought, HIV and AIDS and the consequences of economic decline. "We have already lost too many of our children, friends, brothers and sisters to hunger and disease. Many more have fled the country, fleeing from lives that have become unbearable through poverty and hunger.

"Now the Zimbabwean people stand at the edge of a precipice. Our country is in deep crisis. Our harvest has failed, through a combination of severe drought, HIV and AIDS and the consequences of economic decline. "By March one in three people in Zimbabwe will have no food. Many will run out very soon. Our brothers and sisters face a struggle for survival at a time when many have nothing left, their possessions sold and their health gone. "On behalf of my Zimbabwean brothers and sisters living in hunger, I appeal to their fellow Christian brothers and sisters to walk alongside them during this difficult time in faith and Christian charity. "Our message of hope remains: 'God is always on the side of the Oppressed.'"

CAFOD director Chris Bain said: "CAFOD is one of the few aid agencies that is still able to reach people directly in Zimbabwe. The country is facing an immense crisis but unless we act quickly, the situation will spiral downwards and we will start to see loss of life on a large scale. "In response to this crisis, CAFOD has decided that all money raised from Friday's Fast Day will now go to helping the most vulnerable people in Zimbabwe. "CAFOD is asking its supporters to respond generously to the Archbishop's appeal."
Independent Catholic News

To donate now to CAFOD's Zimbabwe appeal, please visit www.cafod.org.uk/zimbabweappeal
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No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
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