Darfur Hopes Lie in Hidden Lake

Huge underground lake, a hope for peace, emptied 5K years ago

(NEWSER) - Hopes for an enormous underground lake discovered recently in Darfur might supply enough water to end starvation and violence in the area were dimmed by a second opinion from a French geologist. The area receives too little rain and has the wrong type of rocks for water storage, said a specialist in mineral and water exploration: the lake probably dried up thousands of years ago. More»

Martin Peretz questions the Arab world's priorities

(NEWSER) - Israel's wrongs against Palestine are "minor" compared to other modern conflicts—yet Arab leaders continue to cry bloody murder over Palestine while ignoring and covering up atrocities in Darfur, writes Martin Peretz, editor-in-chief of The New Republic. Darfur "does not trouble the conscience of Islam," Peretz writes. "They are otherwise engaged in the hyper-drama of Palestine." More»

(NEWSER) - A top UN official has declared that the "real war" in Darfur is over, but that might come as a surprise to the 3 million or so refugees still living in fear of militia attacks, writes Andrew Meldrum for Global Post. He talks to relief officials who find the pronouncement "incredibly premature," in the words of one. It "directly contradicts what we see on the ground." More»

Jolie writes for Time magazine

(NEWSER) - Angelina Jolie argues in a Time essay that it's put-up-or-shut-up time for the UN on Darfur. The Security Council will receive a report today on the nation's genocide under the watch of Omar al Bashir, and its response will determine whether the idea of an "international standard of justice" is real or just talk. "The evidence the prosecutor has presented is clear and compelling," she writes. "Millions of people have been displaced; hundreds of thousands have been killed." More»

Says media claims are part of propaganda campaign

(NEWSER) - Sudan’s president says his military hasn’t attacked civilians in Darfur and challenges “anybody” to show evidence to the contrary. “What has been reported to have happened in Darfur did not actually happen at all,” Omar al Bashir told the BBC in his first interview since being charged with war crimes. “What happened in Darfur was an insurgency. The state has the responsibility to fight the rebels.” More»