While we're on the subject of the Sudan

Rebels to UN Peacekeepers: Stay the hell out!

Darfur rebels threatened on Sunday to not let a joint U.N.-African Union force enter areas of West Darfur attacked by the Sudanese government in one of their biggest offensives of recent months.

Rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim warned the new mission against moving into the burned towns, delaying an investigation by the peacekeepers.

"We are warning the hybrid troops forces that they should not enter these areas. We are coming back," Ibrahim said on Sunday.

The UNAMID force, which took charge of peacekeeping in Sudan's west on Dec. 31, has already come under fire by government troops in the volatile area north of West Darfur state capital el-Geneina, an area which has seen the fiercest battles in recent months.

"We will not accept them coming. We will attack anybody who comes into our areas," he added.
12,000 "terrified" refugees flee Darfur fighting for Chad. (which is having it's own problems)

And then there's this: Audit of UN's Sudan Mission finds Tens of Millions of waste.

U.N. officers in Sudan have squandered millions by renting warehouses that were never used, booking blocks of hotel rooms that were never filled, and losing thousands of food rations to theft and spoilage, according to several internal audits by the U.N. Office for International Oversight Services.

US to crack down on sanction violators.

The U.S. Treasury is preparing to launch a string of civil actions against companies it says have breached sanctions imposed on Sudan for abusing human rights and supporting terrorism, a senior official told Reuters on Thursday.

Agents had built up a "queue" of enforcement actions against violators that will be rolled out in as early as a month's time, said Adam Szubin, Director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

South Sudan Central Bank stops dollar payments.

The southern branch of Sudan's central bank has said it will no longer provide commercial banks with U.S. dollars, seeking to reduce black market trade and avoid potential shortages. The central bank was trying to stop landlords, businesses and non-governmental organizations from using dollars and to end black market trade in the greenback, Othom Rago Ajak, the bank's foreign exchange director, said late on Thursday.

Customers including foreign businesses and international non-governmental organisations will only be able to transfer out and withdraw dollars if they are travelling abroad, he said. Otherwise all customers could only be paid in Sudanese pounds.

You know it's bad when your Defense Minister breaks down in tears at a press conference.