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08/01/2004:
"Sudan is a Foothold on the Continent"
US forces hunt down al-Qa'eda in SudanUK Telegraph
American special forces teams have been sent to Sudan to hunt down Saudi Arabian terrorists who have re-established secret al-Qa'eda training camps in remote mountain ranges in the north-eastern quarter of the country.full article
British soldiers on standby to avert humanitarian disaster in Darfur
Independent UK
British soldiers are being put on standby this weekend for possible deployment to Sudan as aid agencies warned that hundreds of thousands of lives could be at risk in the western region of Darfur. full article
France Ferries Aid in Chad, Soldiers to Deploy
Reuters
ABECHE, Chad (Reuters) - France on Saturday flew a planeload of United Nations aid into eastern Chad where French soldiers prepared to deploy from their base in Abeche toward the border with Sudan's Darfur region. full article
Mandelson rented flat from oil tycoon in coup claim
Guardian UK
Peter Mandelson, the twice-sacked minister who is to be Britain's new European Commissioner, rented a luxury London home from the Lebanese millionaire now accused of funding an illegal African coup.
Mandelson's links to Ely Calil - the British-basedtycoon who was Lord Archer's financial adviser - will once again raise questions about the former minister's links to rich businessmen.
Mandelson was forced to resign as Northern Ireland secretary in 2001 after he was accused of helping one of the Hinduja brothers obtain a British passport.
Calil, who made his fortune trading oil in Africa, is being sued in Britain for allegedly funding a coup to overthrow the president of the oil-rich west African state of Equatorial Guinea. full article
Pardon me for my scepticism as to the 'humanitarian motives' of the US, Britain, and France in Sudan. 'Hunting terrorists' is a great pretext for protecting US and European oil and natural gas interests from the Middle East all the way down the West African coast. Darfur Sudan comes at a very convenient time. Here is the 'coalition effort' Kerry and others are clamouring for, with capitalists cops deployed from Afghanistan to Angola.
