Went
to Nyala, capital of Southern Darfur yesterday. Took 3 1/2 hours of
flying each way. Went with UK and EU Ambassadors to highlight our
concern over the conflict there. The Wali (governor), a tough
military man (and possible war criminal) had stopped the UK
ambassador and me from making previous tries to get there. He was
absent yesterday.
We
met with state government officials, NGOs and then with a group of
tribal leaders. The Wali had tried to stop us from meeting them but
we insisted. The leaders of the two main Darfur opponents -- Arab nomad
tribes and the Fur tribe (African farmers) -- both gave us their
sides. We encouraged them to make peace. (The Arab nomads have been
trying to drive the African farmers from their land. Both are
Moslem.)
Some
of our group went to a camp of people displaced by the war. They are
in bad shape. Darfur from the air looks absolutely barren and it
we'd call it desert.* But Greater Darfur has 6 million people and as
the Sahara spreads south, they have less good space and thus fight
for it. I find it hard when I am in such a place to grasp how the
people who live there and the people who live in the First World,
North America or Europe, could possibly be on the same planet. The
distance between realities is so great.
*2014 Note: Darfur does look very arid to an outsider. But it gets just enough rain when the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone moves north. The Jebel Marra region sticks up into the clouds and can get enough rain for agriculture and pasture. It's thus worth having.
