- Title: MALI: Drummers in Mali join round the world "drum for peace" Sudan campaign
- Date: 10th January 2010
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAKAN KONÈ, PRESIDENT OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL MALI, SAYING: "We think that with the existing relations between Mali and Sudan, the Malian government can influence the Sudanese government so that peace can be maintained side by side."
- Embargoed: 25th January 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mali
- Country: Mali
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA451ITI4SS1NBSPS8PO3ST1NYI
- Story Text: Drummers in Mali join a global "drum the peace" campaign for Sudan, as aid group and activists warn the country is sliding back into war.
Drummers in Mali joined a "beat for peace" world-wide campaign on Saturday (January 9) to mark the fifth anniversary of Sudan's faltering peace deal that ended the civil war between North and Southern Sudan, as aid groups and activists warned the country was sliding back into war.
Sudan on Saturday (January 9) dismissed the warnings and prepared for two divisive votes.
Activists beating their drums - literally - were also joined by demonstrators around the world at events in 15 countries to call on governments to take action to prevent worsening violence in Sudan.
As well as the drumming and demonstrations, a film of the global "beat for peace," featuring drummers from five continents, was released to coincide with the launch of the campaign Drummers from Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Corrs and The Police appear in the film, drumming together across 5 continents, to mark the five year anniversary of the Peace Agreement - and to begin a one year campaign to urge world powers to prevent more bloodshed in the oil-producing state.
"We think that with the existing relations between Mali and Sudan, the Malian government can influence the Sudanese government so that peace can be maintained side by side," said Makan Konè, the President of Amnesty International in Mali, speaking at the drumming event in Bamako.
The 365 day campaign coincides with the one year left until the referendum on whether the south of Sudan should split off as an independent country, due in January 2011.
Sudan ended more than two decades of north-south civil war with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, but relations between the two sides have remained tense.
Aid groups and campaigners issued a series of reports in recent days warning there was a risk of fresh conflict as Sudan counted down the days to national elections in April and a referendum on whether the south should split off as an independent country, due in January 2011.
Saturday's "drum for peace" film, organised by Amnesty International and other pressure groups, featured Nick Mason from Pink Floyd performing a mass drum roll with percussionists from across the world.
At least 139 people were killed in tribal clashes in the south's remote Warrap state last week, the latest in a surge of tribal violence, officials said on Friday.
Two million people were killed and 4 million fled their homes between 1983 and 2005 when Sudan's north and south fought over differences in ideology, ethnicity and religion. The fighting destabilised large parts of east Africa.
Saturday's "drum for peace" film, organised by Amnesty International and other pressure groups, featured Nick Mason from Pink Floyd performing a mass drum roll with percussionists from across the world.
Oxfam and nine other aid groups warned on Thursday that "a lethal cocktail of rising violence, chronic poverty and political tensions has left the peace deal on the brink of collapse." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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