Sudan: Villagers put their lives on the line to tell of atrocities

AS NEWS management goes, it is not subtle. Police have been stationed outside the hospital in the Sudanese regional capital of Nyala to prevent foreign aid and human rights workers from talking to villagers injured in recent attacks by militiamen on horseback.

Some who have spoken out have been killed by the Arab militiamen - known as janjaweed. Yet others still risk their lives to tell their tales.

"We know that the international community has difficulty in finding the truth so we will take the truth to them," said 29-year-old al-Sadig Abdel Rahman Musa in Nyala yesterday.

Many young men in Darfur once worked as drivers but have given up because of an extortion racket they blame on janjaweed. Mr Musa says getting the truth out is their only weapon.

Villagers put their lives on the line to tell of atrocities by Sudanese militia....