Mission to Afghanistan

I get a call from Craig Andrews, my Task Team Leader for a project in Nigeria. Well, THAT project is on hold until after the elections. Don't I want to do a quick mission in Afghanistan? Why not, anything, even Afghanistan to change the scenery of Juba. I get there after I offer myself a treat, a day in Dubai.

Kabul…An interesting city, struggling between its tortured history and the desire to become modern. It is also struggling between trying to approach normality and the overwhelming presence of security concerns or relics of the Taliban past: armored cars, armed military and civilian personnel, in incredible numbers, the ruins of buildings destroyed by war or Taliban fury, and the WALLS. The walls in Kabul are no ordinary Walls, separating properties from each other and from the streets. They are fortress walls, made of huge sand bags, aimed to stop blasts, shrapnel or bullets, suicide cars, you name it. The poor city is trying to become normal…it is partly succeeding: there are shops and restaurants doing a flourishing business…there is a huge traffic problem, with road blockages of hours sometimes…

The project I work on is interesting: a huge copper mine, in Aynak, to be developed by the Chinese, and whose benefits for Afghanistan would allow it to finance its security and development for quite a while. The Government wants to develop the mine the right way because of future mining and other economic ventures where they want good investors to come in. So they ask the Bank how to communicate about it. The question is in fact how to manage the risks associated. And this is where I come in.

The Aynak site is just great! About 40 km South of Kabul, on the Logar Valley, it was first discovered by Buddhists monks which used to mine the deposit until the 5^th century. It was re-discovered by the Russians in the 70's which started some sort of mining camp there used to house the exploration miners. After the Russians left, the place was taken over by Al –Qaeda as a training base. It is probably the place which gives Al-Qaeda (The Base) its name. The villages around the valley are empty of men. It is believed these were all Al –Qaeda members, which have started families here. And the whole area is known to have an increased level of "activity" compared with the rest of the region.

The big issue here are the Buddhist temples, on the footprint of the mine, and which need to be excavated and moved as much as possible, to a museum. And of course , the jackals are here, smelling blood and a good slanderous article. Here on the Aynak site the security remains the concern number one. The 'defenses' nearly remind us tautologically that the Chinese ARE the authors of the Chinese walls as you will see in the pictures…But also that he Buddhist temple and the finds here are remarkable and that this strong security also guards the site from looting.

In the ten days I spent in Afghanistan, whether in Kabul or on the site I never felt threatened. But then, people that get in trouble seldom do…

Nimule pictures 4.

Please see my story about Nimule lower down

Alte poze din Nimule

poze nimule 2

Nimule pictures

 
 
 
 

Visit to Nimule National Park

I have wanted to visit Nimule since I first heard of it, soon after I arrived in Juba. I was stimulated to do this by Sabin Muresan who told me interesting stories about it. My first attempt was dismal failure. I put up a sign-up sheet in the WB Office with the question: who wants to come to Nimule Park. In two hours nearly all the secretaries (girls) and one driver had signed. After the first "management" meeting, when they understood this was not a paid vacation but they were supposed to pay for the trip and sleep in a tent, I was left alone. The second attempt was with my group who had joined me in Uganda, in Jinja. They said OK, but when? Timing was not right for anyone. Third attempt, with Bill Kosar and the Egyptian Consul and the Honorable William started promising. I went to the Ministry, got the info, when to pay for the entrance fee, nobody could come: Bill because thre was no armed escort with us and his babysitters wouldn't let him, William was out, the Consul wanted more people, etc, etc. Alone I could not afford 500 dollars for the car…But I tried, and I got a good car for 300 for two days, no driver! In the bargain with the Ministry of Wildlife also came Louis, a public servant there, who joined for the ride, and in the end was more useful than a hindrace and proved a good companion who knew when to be silent, although not in the wild, where he had absolutely not a clue how to move or how to behave.

Nimule is a great place. Not because it has an incredible number of semi-tame animals, ready on display, because it hasn't. Neither does it boast of good accommodation - it has a series of new buildings, "the lodge", which are closed because of lack of management capacity or lack of resources, most probably both - the "Park office " is a chair under a tree, where a ranger was expecting us. Neither does it have many tourists - I was the only one that week. Nor amenities for visiting: you just use your feet, walking and stalking and you have to rent a boat from a private boatman for an astronomic (by Sudanese standards) price. But it has REAL, UNSPOILED NATURE! And the contact between the nature and you as direct as it can ever be! In my stalking of elephants I was stopped only when the ranger got nervous…and the elephants! When looking for the hippos, one just "popped up" near us! And I could have stayed there for days watching them, nobody to tell me we have to go…On one of our trips we crossed the track of "John" a famous very large, and very wild, unpredictable elephant. We tracked him and saw him as he was uprooting trees about two hundred meters away but couldn't approach him because of swamp and vegetation…Not because of insurance issues! And the term "nature trail" has a different meaning: it is the track of a hippopotamus, who makes good tracks between their feeding grounds and the river- that' how we could get across in the western part of the park. And there, in more than 100 skm , wildlife abounds: in one hour of stalking I saw four distinct groups of game! Not alarmed, I could stalk an impala until I was 20 meters away, a warthog stopped and challenged me from 20 – 25 meters away…

I also saw Fula Falls, an incredible show of energy! Nearby I tried to fish, and a monster just walked way with my lure. I felt it maybe ten seconds in my rod who bent like grass, and then everything went loose. The locals then showed me how it's done. See the pictures! A hook no 1, about ten cm long and chain for 50 cm and the bait is a fish of about ½ kg.

Two things threw a shadow over this trip. The fact that my zoom broke down and I could only take pictures with my regular objective, which is why I always wanted to get closer than the safe distance and secondly the guest house where I stayed, who proved to be one of the two places in town where there was television. And in the evening it filled up with young bucks, full of beer and hormones who watched soccer and became aggressive, I was ready to leave and go spend the night in the ranger's tukul, but they left in the end. Anyway it was a fabulous weekend!!

The Third Sudanese War?

There is a funny feeling in the air these days in Juba. Initially there was growing tension. The separation rallies were more frequent and more energetic, the mass-media was focused and still is only on the separation related issues and the negotiations on oil revenue, the consultations and negotiations on the future of the oil rich Abiey region and related to that, the Dinka – Mysereia tribal relations.
Then things started getting more serious: the North, the Sudanese Armed Forces deploys 70,000 troops along the North Sudan – Southern Sudan border and concentrates them around the oil rich and strategic region of Abyei. The SPLA moves an alleged 50,000 in response and an unknown number of armored units, anti aircraft units, etc.
Then the provocations start all over the spectrum: Warlike declarations by Al Bashir and his puppets and an intransigent position by GOSS President Salva Kiir, who in a very smart political move, pardons all armed rebel groups, who now are becoming integrated in the regular army or disbanded, freeing his back from a potential second front to be fueled by the North, according to an old and tried tradition.
Bashir offers to buy the Southerners with promises of wealth and development, in the 12th hour. Kiir calls all political forces in a three day marathon congress and makes them declare publicly full and total support for referendum and eventual war.
Some observers, me included, think that Al Bashir is fighting for his life here, or at least for his liberty. So he will never let the referendum, at least in Abiey, to take place, whatever it takes, but he will try the negotiation and political maneuvering first. However, at this game, unexpectedly, Salva Kiir seems to best him. The latest bombshell is the “defection” of one of the most popular and successful soldier of the Northern Sudanese Army, general Tanginya, a South Sudanese Dinka by birth, who arrived today from Khartoum to join the South.
But the most impressive fact is the casual, calm manner of the Abiey traditional leaders the chiefs of the various clans of the Dinka tribe. In a private interview, they confessed that in the past they were fooled with false promises by the Northern, Arab leaders to remain in an united Sudan. Now, no more. They are adamant they don’t need anybody to organize the referendum, they will organize it themselves and show the world they are part of the Southern Sudan. And if anybody will try to stop them, they will fight. In the past they have always fought the Arabs. For centuries. And since the independence in 56, for 40 years in two wars. It is a traditional past time, fighting a war is something expected of every man, it is as normal, more normal even than peace. In the past they used to fight with spears, now they have graduated to Kalashnikovs and whatever else the Government of Southern Sudan will provide.
UN peace keeping forces have made a timid show of bravery until now saying they will take positions in the hotspots to prevent conflicts and avoid civilian casualties. The Security Council has made all the right noises, but…I doubt the UN troops will move, if they move I doubt they will fight. It would be a first!
Making bets when the war will start has become a favorite topic here in Juba. Less and less people believe the South will get out of it without either giving away Abiey or fight for it.

Security issues in Juba, Sudan

Dear friends,

I have just returned from Kabul in Afghanistan. Friends, colleagues ask me how dangerous is Kabul compared to Juba. Well, the email alert I just received I think explains it all. In Afghanistan, the Taliban, will choose a target and then shoot it or send a suicide bomber (although I understand they are getting to be a scarce resource). Here in Juba two Sudanese soldiers get into an argument and chose to decide who is right by employing their government issued Kalashnikovs. Their training being what it is, they chose as dueling ground the busiest market place in Juba, Jebel Market, (in the picture) and they kill four people and wound nine others but don't manage to shoot each other...Now I can explain the difference between security issues in Afghanistan and in Sudan...
"Hello All

Violence in Juba continues to escalate. All staff should exercise extreme caution.

02 October Four people (foreigners) were shot dead on spot and 9 others were critically injured at the JEBEL market, Juba at the afternoon hrs between 100 -200pm. The gunshots were between the 2 armed Sudanese military men engaged in a personal issue. The victims who perished in a bloody crossfire are confirmed to be 2 Ugandans and 2 Congolese citizens. The remaining casualties were Sudanese and Kenyans. The gunshot victims were transferred to Juba Teaching Hospital."