Word: bashir
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Dates: during 2010-2010
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...expected April re-election to the presidency of Sudan of an indicted war criminal, Omar al-Bashir, does not sit well with the world's pro-democracy campaigners. Sudan has not had a meaningful election since 1986 - elections in 2000 were boycotted by the vast majority of the country, according to the U.N. Commission of Human Rights - and so holding one is seen as a rare sign of reform from Bashir's military regime. That's until you remember that an election is meant to be about freedom and not endorsing the rule of an autocrat whom the International Criminal...
...details of the deal still have to be hammered out at ongoing peace talks in Doha, Qatar. But on state television, Bashir outlined the broad brushstrokes, announcing that in return for peace he would cancel death sentences hanging over 100 captured fighters from the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and free a third of them. "Today ... we heal the war in Darfur," Bashir said. A JEM spokesman, speaking to al-Jazeera, said Bashir's government sought a cease-fire so as to ensure a peaceful vote in western Sudan. (See pictures of China's investments in Africa...
...world's most repressive regimes on trying to produce at least the appearance of a credible process, and so inspiring progress on a whole range of issues. Few people will risk their lives to vote and a low turnout, particularly one due to insecurity, would reflect badly on Bashir. So suddenly, after seven years of fighting that killed tens of thousands and made refugees of 2.5 million, because of an election in Sudan there could soon be peace in Darfur...