Trial of Khmer Rouge prison chief resumes

The trial of a former prison chief with the Khmer Rouge movement resumed inside a packed Cambodian courtroom Monday, with prosecutors painting a grim picture of inmates who were electrocuted, whipped and beaten to death.

Kaing Guek Eav, a former math teacher and a born-again Christian, displayed no emotion as the U.N.-backed tribunal accused him not just of overseeing the torture and killing of more than 15,000 men, women and children three decades ago — but of actively taking part in some of them.

The trial of the 66-year-old man, better known as Duch, resumed Monday just outside the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

Filed under: Asia, Aid, Cambodia, Civil war, Darfur, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, United Nations, War, War Crimes, World

Fighting kills at least 14 in Somalia

Fighting between Somali police and Islamist gunmen killed eight people in Mogadishu on Monday, witnesses said, raising the stakes as a new president tries to bring stability to the failed Horn of Africa state.

Clashes between hardline Islamists from the al Shabaab group and a rival militia also killed six people in the central Bay region, but officials from all factions declined to comment.

Residents said the latest battles in the capital broke out on the road linking the strategic K4 junction with the hilltop presidential palace, Villa Somalia.

Filed under: Africa, African Union, Aid, Civil war, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, Somalia, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, United Nations, War, War Crimes, World

Sudan leader in Qatar for summit

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has arrived in Qatar for an Arab summit due to discuss an indictment against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

He has already visited Egypt, Eritrea and Libya over the past week to drum up support from his neighbours.

Qatar has not signed the ICC charter, which obliges member states to arrest indictees on their territory, but clerics have urged Mr Bashir not to go.

Libya’s leader earlier said the ICC was a “new form of world terrorism”.

Filed under: Africa, African Union, Aid, Barack Obama, Civil war, Darfur, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, United Nations, United States, War, War Crimes, World

UNSC urges Sudan rethink on aid

The United Nations Security Council has called on Sudan to reconsider its decision to expel foreign aid agencies from the troubled Darfur region.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir gave the order after an international arrest warrant was issued against him.

Correspondents say the council’s move is significant as they had previously been unable to agree on a statement.

Sudan has said the humanitarian situation is under control and its decision is irreversible.

Filed under: Africa, African Union, Aid, Barack Obama, Civil war, Darfur, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, United Nations, United States, War, War Crimes, World

Mystery over Sudan air strike

A Sudanese government minister has confirmed reports of an air raid in eastern Sudan earlier this year.

The minister, Mabrook Mubarak Saleem, told an Arabic news channel that many people had been killed in the strike, said to have taken place last month.

Israeli officials have not commented publicly on reports that their planes may have been involved.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, did not confirm any raid but said Israel hit everywhere to stop terror.

Filed under: Africa, African Union, Aid, Barack Obama, Civil war, Darfur, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, United Nations, United States, War, War Crimes, World

Sudan’s defiant Bashir arrives in Egypt

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has ended talks in Egypt on his second trip abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest.

Egypt is not a signatory of the ICC’s charter, which obliges member states to arrest those indicted if they enter their territory.

Mr Bashir – who made a short trip to Eritrea on Monday – is to hold talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Sudan’s leader is accused of war crimes in his country’s Darfur region.

Filed under: Africa, African Union, Aid, Barack Obama, Civil war, Darfur, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, United Nations, United States, War, War Crimes, World

One million people at risk in Darfur – U.N.

More than one million people in Darfur are at risk of losing food, water and shelter in coming months, following the expulsion of international aid groups by Sudan’s government, the United Nations’ chief humanitarian coordinator said Tuesday.

The statement by coordinator John Holmes comes after a joint U.N.-Sudanese assessment of the situation.

The information was gathered from March 11-18 in hopes of stemming further troubles in Darfur after Sudan’s government expelled 13 international relief organizations from the wartorn region.

The announcement came on the same day that President Omar al-Bashir, now an indicted war criminal, ignored the threat of arrest by traveling abroad to Eritrea. Also Tuesday, a Sudanese staffer working for a Canadian relief group was shot dead in Darfur.

Filed under: Report, African Union, Aid, Barack Obama, Civil war, Darfur, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, United Nations, United States, War, War Crimes, World

Aid worker killed in Sudan

A Sudanese aid worker was shot dead in front of his family on Monday night in the war-ravaged region of Darfur, according to aid officials.

Mark Simmons, Sudan country director of Fellowship for African Relief, an aid and development agency that focuses on Sudan, said the aid worker may have been killed for refusing to hand over his satellite phone.

Filed under: Africa, African Union, Aid, Barack Obama, Civil war, Darfur, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, United Nations, United States, War, War Crimes, World

Sudan bombs Darfur rebels and civilians

Ache Ali has lost four children and a husband.

A Sudanese cattle herder, she rides on a donkey cart with her youngest child, a daughter, wedged between hundreds of other fleeing Sudanese, herds of bleating goats, and other livestock.

“They [the children] ran away three days ago when our village, Buhera, was bombed.” she calls out over the din, hoping for some help.

Filed under: Africa, African Union, Aid, Barack Obama, Civil war, Darfur, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, United Nations, United States, War, War Crimes, World

Joseph Mpambara guilty of torture in Rwandan genocide

A court in the Netherlands has found a Rwandan Hutu, Joseph Mpambara, guilty of torture during the Rwandan genocide in 1994 but not of war crimes.

He was given 20 years in prison for, the judges said, robbing “two women and at least four children of their most valuable possession: their lives”.

He had ordered them to be pulled out of an ambulance and hacked to death.

Filed under: Africa, African Union, Aid, Civil war, Congo, Genocide, Hutu, International, International Criminal Court, Rebels, Rwanda, Terror, The Terror Journal, U.N, Uganda, War, War Crimes, World