sorry if i ruin your day
...to be edited further...
excerpts taken from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003888293_sudan17.html
Monday, September 17, 2007 - Page updated at 02:07 AM
... the village of Farig described the tensions with an old Nubian saying: "One who is sinking in the Nile will reach for any branch to survive."
First, southern Sudan erupted in a 20-year civil war, followed by the east and, most recently, the western region of Darfur. Now many fear that Sudan's northern territory of Nubia will be the next to explode over the fight for resources and all-too-familiar accusations of ethnic cleansing...
--
In 1964, construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt forced the relocation of 50,000 Sudanese Nubians in the Wadi Halfa region near the Egyptian border and nearly 800,000 Nubians in Egypt.
Also at risk are some of the world's richest archaeological ruins, notably those around the ancient city of Kerma, the first Nubian capital - settled at least 8,000 years ago - and lying just downstream from where the proposed 200-megawatt Kajbar dam would be built. The site is home to the oldest known man-made structure in sub-Saharan Africa: a 50-foot, 3,500-year-old mud-brick temple known as the Deffufa. ...it is the duty of the international community to preserve the region's archaeological sites, which include temples and pyramids built when Nubian kings briefly reigned over Egypt's pharaohs around 730 B.C.
The proposals come on top of another controversial project, the 1,250-megawatt Merowe Dam, which is already under construction about 150 miles to the east. Flooding from that project will displace 70,000 Arab farmers and engulf several hundred miles of unexplored Nubian archaeological sites.
--
Some years the region found itself entirely left out of the federal budget, which is evident by the lack of paved roads and electricity. Nubians built their own hospitals and schools, though they are still prohibited by law from teaching in their native language.
On a recent morning, nearly 400 government soldiers marched and drilled at a new military camp set up on the edge of Sebu to protect the Chinese workers. On hills overlooking the village, uniformed lookouts with rifles over their shoulders positioned themselves behind rocks.
"It's become very tense," said one villager, who was afraid to be identified. "Many eyes are watching."
--
Witnesses said soldiers teargassed the noisy but peaceful demonstrators, forcing many to jump into the river to escape the smoke. When protesters began to regroup, soldiers opened fire without warning. "It was a murder, an assassination," said Ahmed Abdullahi Ameen, 63, whose son, 28, was one of the four killed. The young man, Sheik Adeen Haj Ahmed, was shot in the back of the head as he climbed out of the river.
"That's the lesson of Darfur," said one Western diplomat in Khartoum. "The government will only listen to you when you pick up a gun."
Officials at Sudan's Dams Implementation Unit declined to comment.
excerpts taken from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003888293_sudan17.html
Monday, September 17, 2007 - Page updated at 02:07 AM
... the village of Farig described the tensions with an old Nubian saying: "One who is sinking in the Nile will reach for any branch to survive."
First, southern Sudan erupted in a 20-year civil war, followed by the east and, most recently, the western region of Darfur. Now many fear that Sudan's northern territory of Nubia will be the next to explode over the fight for resources and all-too-familiar accusations of ethnic cleansing...
--
In 1964, construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt forced the relocation of 50,000 Sudanese Nubians in the Wadi Halfa region near the Egyptian border and nearly 800,000 Nubians in Egypt.
Also at risk are some of the world's richest archaeological ruins, notably those around the ancient city of Kerma, the first Nubian capital - settled at least 8,000 years ago - and lying just downstream from where the proposed 200-megawatt Kajbar dam would be built. The site is home to the oldest known man-made structure in sub-Saharan Africa: a 50-foot, 3,500-year-old mud-brick temple known as the Deffufa. ...it is the duty of the international community to preserve the region's archaeological sites, which include temples and pyramids built when Nubian kings briefly reigned over Egypt's pharaohs around 730 B.C.
The proposals come on top of another controversial project, the 1,250-megawatt Merowe Dam, which is already under construction about 150 miles to the east. Flooding from that project will displace 70,000 Arab farmers and engulf several hundred miles of unexplored Nubian archaeological sites.
--
Some years the region found itself entirely left out of the federal budget, which is evident by the lack of paved roads and electricity. Nubians built their own hospitals and schools, though they are still prohibited by law from teaching in their native language.
On a recent morning, nearly 400 government soldiers marched and drilled at a new military camp set up on the edge of Sebu to protect the Chinese workers. On hills overlooking the village, uniformed lookouts with rifles over their shoulders positioned themselves behind rocks.
"It's become very tense," said one villager, who was afraid to be identified. "Many eyes are watching."
--
Witnesses said soldiers teargassed the noisy but peaceful demonstrators, forcing many to jump into the river to escape the smoke. When protesters began to regroup, soldiers opened fire without warning. "It was a murder, an assassination," said Ahmed Abdullahi Ameen, 63, whose son, 28, was one of the four killed. The young man, Sheik Adeen Haj Ahmed, was shot in the back of the head as he climbed out of the river.
"That's the lesson of Darfur," said one Western diplomat in Khartoum. "The government will only listen to you when you pick up a gun."
Officials at Sudan's Dams Implementation Unit declined to comment.