Jake Robinson / Current Event 14/ April 25, 12:06 2008
95 killed in Sudan ethnic clash
Around 95 people were killed in ethnic clashes around southern Sudan that have also targeted equipment and facilities used in a historic nationwide census, local press said on Friday.
Clashes broke out on Tuesday in the Southern Lakes State between two rival branches of the Dinka tribe after a dispute over cattle, the daily Al-Sahafa reported, added that dozens were left dead in the street.
Tribal clashes, often provoked by cattle theft, are frequent in southern Sudan but rarely reach such intensity in the semi-autonomous part of Africa’s largest country.
Sudan on Tuesday began its first census in 15 years, a milestone in the peace deal that ended Africa’s longest civil war, but it has been overshadowed by disputes.
The two-week census is crucial to prepare constituencies for national elections and confirm or adjust the wealth and power sharing ratios in central government.
Sudan’s undeveloped south has refused to be bound by the results and Darfur rebels have boycotted the count, as both accuse the Arab north of manipulating the census to maximize its control and marginalize the African majority.
This came off to me as another setback in the struggle, with this kind of behavior I see no end in sight if these different tribes will never “agree to disagree”. The census seems like a notable step in the right direction in terms of formalities but even the facilities being used for that were burned in this struggle.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080425/wl_afp/sudansouthconflict;_ylt=Al7QJ9VjTJjx9O0SjokjlBu96Q8F
1 comment:
I agree with you, until the tribes agree to disagree...it doesn't look good for an end for the region's problems. These things seem to just be cases of people not wanting to compromise..."my way or the highway" mentality.
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