All relief operations for Darfur are headquartered in El Fasher, over a 1000 km from Khartoum, Sudan’s capital. From El Fasher — once the capital of Darfur— aid, NGOs, peacekeepers, African Union (AU) military observers, fan out to more dramatic trouble spots — the camps for internally displaced persons. These include Nyala in the south, Al Junaynah in the west, Tine in the north and Kebkebya, 60 km to the west of Al Fasher. Logistical problems can be understood from the fact that it takes a full day to drive from El Fasher to Kebkebya. There is one more sector but this is outside Sudan, in Chad, a place named Abeche. Major Richard George Washira, from Nigeria — a born-again Christian — makes all the arrangements from Khartoum for me to be briefed at the AU field office in El Fasher. The office resembles a dak bungalow in an Indian district town. I expected to meet Africans, at the AU office. Instead, I am greeted by Col George D’vione, a Frenchman, who straightened himself with a sort of nonchalant authority. “Indians interested in Darfur?” he asks. It’s an awkward question. Do I tell him that we’re falling over each other to find out what is happening in Darfur? Or do I admit the truth that our collective curiosity about world affairs has two terminals: Islamabad and Washington. I opt for the counterpunch. “What is a white Frenchman doing in the AU office?” It turns out he represents the European Union on the AU’s ceasefire commission for Darfur, as its vice-chairman. The chairman happens to be Gen Festus Gokunko, a Nigerian. The composition of these AU observer units which go out to investigate acts of violence is cosmopolitan: a representative each of the AU, EU, the Chad and Sudan governments, the Justice and Equality Party (armed wing) and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army. Additionally, every unit has a representative of the US. But who represents the Janjawid, the Arab militia who are supposed to have terrorised the African Muslim tribes like Fur, Zaghawa and Maseelat? Sudan’s government, explains William Molokwane, the military information officer. Molokwane’s briefing is overseen by Maj Eric Pekker, a Swede from the EU. “How many US officers and their names?” I ask. “This is not part of my briefing,” he says with a sheepish smile. Clearly, the AU has been tied hand and foot in this project. I get their message. I should be asking about the conflict in Darfur. Instead I am prying into the composition of AU units investigating the continuing mayhem, what the western media regularly informs us is the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis”. The phrase came about as a result of investigations undertaken by a UN coordinator in Khartoum — Mukesh Kapila. He now works in Geneva for the WHO. Kapila is not the only Indian link with Sudan. In Khartoum’s Riyadh street is a fancy building called the ‘Complex’, which has a full length swimming pool and tennis court. Thirty senior officers of ONGC-Videsh occupy it. The substantial Indian interest in Sudan’s considerable oil findings has a background. Initially, the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating company had four partners — China (40 per cent), Malaysia’s Petronas (30 per cent), Canada’s Talisman (25 per cent) and Sudan’s Sudapet (5 per cent). Two sets of pressures operated on the Canadians to withdraw. Sudan was in exceptional bad odour with the US after Bill Clinton had ordered the bombing of a Khartoum pharmaceutical company under the mistaken notion that it was manufacturing more menacing material. Suspicions were fed by the hospitality accorded briefly by the now jailed leader, Hasan Turabi, to Osama bin Laden. Some NGOs had also filed a case against Talisman, the Canadian company, for some human rights violations in Southern Sudan, a conflict area with oil wells. In brief, the Canadians sold out to ONGC. Ever since Indians bought the shares, Sudan’s oil potential has multiplied. Indian investments are already $2 billion which includes drilling, a pipeline and refinery. As for the trouble in Darfur, the truth is transparent. Of course, the Sudan government lent a helping hand by arming the Arab herdsmen who had come into conflict with farmers — African Muslims — leading to a bloody conflict. It’s just as well the international community has taken note. But even groups like Medicins Sans Frontieres say there has been no genocide. Americans should be the first to understand the genesis of the Darfur conflict. Remember how the cowboys overran farms, subcontracting their work to hired gunmen? The Janjawid bear a resemblance to those surly men of yore. Now that Khartoum has admitted its mistake, the problem is a political one between the African-Muslim rebels and the ruling elite in Khartoum which exaggerates its Arab content, like a Mulatto who believes he is white.
