Back in Khartoum

I managed to catch a flight back to Khartoum for a pow-wow with the admin and program heads about the way forward in the current climate.

El Fasher is in good shape with the rumors of an imminent attack falling away shortly after UN declared the immediate crisis to be over and lifting the curfew. Hard to make sense of it all. But at least life in the city is returning to a cautious normal state. The market reopened today and the tensions have dropped considerably. Was all this tension caused by the UN report of an imminent attack? Really hard to say. But increasingly, the public is very sensitive to reports coming from international organizations. The market is a very volatile place and I am sure that it picked up on United Nations Peacekeeping chatter as much as anyone.

Still, we are watching the situation carefully to determine whether it is safe to return to the field. The government maintains restrictions on any UN flight to Fasher, to keep UN staff safe given the UN prediction of an imminent attack.

I am just happy that there was no attack and that everyone is okay there. No one wants to see an attack on any Sudan cities. Urban warfare just takes too many innocent lives. All of us want the fighting to stop period. No matter which side is at fault.

I hope to get a clearer picture of my potential return to the field soon. In the meantime, we are not going to make any rash decisions based on posturing between the UN and the government.

Peace to you all.