The following is an email exchange with a friend of mine who has been in Sudan over a year.

Me: Can you give your comments on the following as someone on the ground.
Mr. Bashir said that there is,
No humanitarian disaster
No famine
No epidemics
No 4 m needing emergency aid
No rearming of janjaweed militia by khartourm government
No 300,000 killed in three years of violence
Cheers
Paul


Friend: I think he is full of crap.

Me: See you are spending all your time on the internet!!!


Friend: Yesterday evening heavy fighting broke out between
SPLA and SAF affiliated militia 500 yards from our UN
office. For about half an hour there were thousands of
rounds of AK47 and 6-7 rockets were fired and it was
complete meyhem. All staff were evacuated to a far
away hotel. I with other teamleaders had to stay
behind at the Office and sleep here.

We will spend a second night at the office until the
tesion dies.