Darfur Sudan

As rebels in Chad fought for a second day to take control of the nation's capital, analysts said Sunday that the outcome of the attempted coup could have far-reaching implications for the Darfur conflict in neighboring Sudan.

The White House on Monday unveiled a Sudan policy that seeks a middle ground between punishing the country for its actions in Darfur and appeasing it, a step away from the get-tough policy advocated by President Obama during his election campaign. The announcement of the new policy came after seven months of debate within the administration. It was cautiously welcomed by advocates of stringent measures to end the violence in Darfur, who expressed relief that the White House did not adopt a more conciliatory approach.

What if the conflict many call the "first genocide of the 21st century" weren't one at all? In the United States, many see the six-year war in Darfur as a bloody campaign by a Sudanese Arab-dominated government against rebellious "African" tribes in western Sudan. Two consecutive American presidents and several activist groups have defined it as genocide. But others, while acknowledging the severity of the violence, question whether it meets the legal definition of genocide.

What if the conflict many call the "first genocide of the 21st century" weren't one at all? In the United States, many see the six-year war in Darfur as a bloody campaign by a Sudanese Arab-dominated government against rebellious "African" tribes in western Sudan. Two consecutive American presidents and several activist groups have defined it as genocide. But others, while acknowledging the severity of the violence, question whether it meets the legal definition of genocide.

Armed men killed at least 10 African Union soldiers and seriously wounded seven others in the deadliest strike against peacekeeping troops in Darfur since they deployed in 2004. A faction of Darfur rebels was believed responsible for the assault, which began shortly after sunset Saturday. Rebel groups had been fighting Sudanese government troops nearby in recent days. But AU officials said they could not comment on the suspected identity of the gunmen until a formal investigation was concluded.

The United Nations high commissioner for refugees proposed autonomy for the troubled Darfur region of Sudan -- a solution the government has resisted but said Friday it was willing to discuss in an effort to end violence that has killed an estimated 50,000 people. "There has to be some clear partition of power in Darfur," Commissioner Ruud Lubbers said in Chad, whose eastern territory borders Darfur.

A top Sudanese government official colluded with militias to commit atrocities against civilians in the Darfur region, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Tuesday.

Something remarkable happened this year at a clinic for malnourished infants in this West Darfur village: It ran out of patients. And physicians at the Doctors Without Borders clinic haven't seen a single gunshot wound since last year. Now they're thinking about closing down because there is a hospital next door run by another aid agency, and a third center is under construction. "It's getting a bit crowded here," said Sewnet Mekonnen, the clinic's field coordinator.

The African Union on Saturday accused Sudanese government forces of attacking civilians in the country's Darfur region and committing acts of "calculated and wanton destruction" that have killed at least 44 people and displaced thousands over two weeks.

The Bush administration has offered Air Force transport planes and crews to airlift thousands of additional African peacekeeping troops into Sudan's war-torn Darfur region this summer, State Department officials say. The airlift proposal is part of a larger effort, including at least $50 million in U.S.

More than a million people in Darfur will not get their food rations starting in May if Sudan and the United Nations can't fill gaps left by the expulsion of more than a dozen foreign aid groups, a joint U.N.-Sudanese assessment team said Tuesday. Even if other relief organizations in the region help, those are "Band-Aid solutions, not long-term solutions," said John Holmes, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official.

Three foreign staff members of Doctors Without Borders were freed two days after they were abducted in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, the Italian Foreign Ministry said Friday. An official of the aid organization's Belgian branch, for which the three work, Erwin Van't Land, also said the group had been told by the kidnappers and by Sudanese authorities that the abductees had been released. "But we have not been able to talk to them ourselves. We need our own independent confirmation," he said.

He's accused of torturing enemies, cozying up to Osama bin Laden in the 1990s and plotting to assassinate Egypt's president. But presidential advisor Nafie Ali Nafie says his moderation and pragmatism won him his latest assignment: overseeing the Sudanese government's response to the conflict in Darfur. "I was picked for this because I'm a mild person," said Nafie, maintaining a wary smile and unflappable demeanor throughout an 80-minute interview in his office here.

This overcrowded Darfur displacement camp is preparing for battle. Men have dug trenches and dragged tree trunks across dirt roads. Young lookouts, some armed with sticks and axes, scan the horizon for invaders. Even aid workers and United Nations peacekeepers are increasingly wary of Kalma's besieged and, at times, belligerent population.

When Jan Eliasson agreed to be a U.N. envoy to Darfur, he believed peace for the beleaguered region of Sudan was within reach. But after 18 months of shuttle diplomacy, rebel groups are more fractured and violent than ever and the Sudanese government is again engaged in brutal attacks on villages, he told the Security Council on Tuesday. The chance for peace has slipped away for now, he told the council "with much regret," and the focus must revert to restoring security.

Dozens of men on horseback armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades ambushed Nigerian peacekeepers serving with the U.N.-African Union force in Darfur. No casualties were reported, but the attackers stole rifles, ammunition, telephones and cash. The U.N. peacekeeping chief warned last week of an alarming increase in violence.

Here on the territorial edge of one of the world's most intractable crises, U.N. peacemaker Jan Eliasson looks a gray-bearded tribal leader in the eye and tells him that there are moments in history that can make the difference between peace and more war. Talks are taking place aimed at solving the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, and the elder, called the makhtoum of Nyala, needs to persuade a rebel leader from his tribe to join in, Eliasson says.

Wells at this giant Darfur refugee camp are drying up. Women wait as long as three days for water, using jerrycans to save their places in perpetual lines that snake around pumps. A year ago, residents could fill a 5-gallon plastic can in a few minutes, but lately the flow is so slow it takes half an hour. "The water is running out," said a breathless Mariam Ahmed Mohammed, 35, sweating at the pump with an infant strapped to her back.

The faces haunt Ira Newble, their silent anguish sometimes drowning out the joyous noise of a Staples Center crowd, their looming presence a jarring reminder that genuine do-or-die struggles in life don't occur on a basketball court. Newble, 33, is usually stuck on the Lakers' bench, but he has plenty of positives to focus on.

BEIJING -- Crisis. Disarray. Sadness. Four months before the opening of what was supposed to be the grandest Olympics in history, the head of the International Olympic Committee was using words Thursday that convey anything but a sense of joyous enthusiasm.