KHARTOUM, Sudan – Chinese engineers arrived on Saturday in Sudan as part of the UN peacekeepers to work alongside the African Union peacekeepers to continue security in Darfur.  The 135 engineers are supposed to implement building bridges and roads, as well as digging wells.  However, the rebel group, Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), wants the Chinese to leave Sudan and have accused the Chinese of being a culprit of the Darfur conflict.  According to Reuters, Jem leader Khalil Ibrahim stated that “we oppose them coming because China is not interested in human rights.  It is just interested in Sudan’s resources.  We are calling on them to quit Sudan, especially the petroleum areas.”  When asked about whether Jem would target the engineers, Ibrahim stated, “I am not saying I will attack them.  I will not say I will not attack them, what I am saying is that they are taking our oil for blood.”  The rebel group has stated that they will accept peacekeepers from any other country except for China.  The President of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has stated otherwise.  The President announced that China and Pakistan were the only non-African countries he would accept.  According to the BBC, one month ago Jem attacked the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, a Chinese-controlled consortium in Sudan’s oilfields.  At that time, Jem stated that the Chinese company had one week to leave Sudan.  This conflict continues to add to the struggles in Sudan, and according to AFP “since February 2003, more than 200,000 people have died from the combined effects of the war, famine, and disease in western Sudan’s Darfur region, while 2.2 million others have been left homeless.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – China peacekeepers arrive in Darfur – 24 November 2007

BBC – Darfur rebels spurn Chinese force – 24 November 2007

Reuters – Darfur rebels reject new Chinese peacekeepers – 24 November 2007