Reuters AlertNet - SUDAN: AU condemns rebel attack against nomads in Darfur

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The Janaweed's core gets a taste of their own medicine. The AU doesn't like it one bit:

The head of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, condemned the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) on Friday for its lack of cooperation in restoring calm to the strife-torn western region of Darfur.

"Kingibe expressed disappointment that one week after the intervention of the AMIS to diffuse the tense situation between the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Arab nomads in the village of Malam, 50 km north of Nyala [the capital of South Darfur State], the SLM/A remains intransigent," the African Union (AU) said in a statement.

The SLM/A attacked the nomads on 25 August, killing a number of them and abducting seven nomads and 3,100 camels.

Kingibe urged the nomads to continue to resist the temptation of taking the law into their hands, warning it would only lead to the further deterioration of the security situation on the ground. He demanded that the SLA/A immediately release the abducted persons and camels.

Only more boots on the ground will prevent a further deterioration of peace in Darfur. Perhaps if the AU requested NATO support, the West would be less willing to hold back. The AU had better not take too much longer to consider where to acquire additional support. The rebels in Darfur won't wait for Sudan in order to receive justice. If the peacekeepers want a peace to keep, they need help now.