South of West

• Taking the G-Word out of Darfur

  Posted: March 31, 2010, 1:00 pm by Rob Crilly

  Interesting developments at Save Darfur. Robert B Lawrence, director of policy and government relations at the Save Darfur Coalition, has railed against commentators who accuse the lobby group of being stuck in the past and not helping the cause of millions of Darfuris stuck in miserable aid camps. He argues that the coalition has actually [...]

• Centrifugal Forces in Sudan

  Posted: March 30, 2010, 2:29 pm by Rob Crilly

  Debate about potential delay to Sudanese elections continues, with some opposition parties wanting the ballot postponed to ensure a fairer process. Hassan al-Turabi’s centrifugal forces, though, are a valid concern and less than perfect elections may be the best we can hope for. But should we settle for that? One of my colleagues in Nairobi [...]

• City Uni and Islam

  Posted: March 29, 2010, 1:36 am by Rob Crilly

  Blimey. City University is already at the centre of a row over the role of Islam on campuses, having entertained extremist clerics and been the scene of violence against Muslims. So you’d imagine that Rosie Waterhouse, head of the MA course in investigative journalism, knew what she was doing by writing a piece in the Indy urging [...]

• Bits and bobs

  Posted: March 26, 2010, 10:58 pm by Rob Crilly

  Here’s some stuff on Sudan and Darfur that I’ve been reading recently… In Darfur – Winter Miller travelled to Chad with Nick Kristof and used the trip as the basis for a play. Anyone going to see it? I’d love to. Have an African play idea myself that is destined to remain forever just an idea Terror [...]

• A Lesson in Expenses

  Posted: March 25, 2010, 12:40 pm by Rob Crilly

  I know no-one will believe me when I say this, but I’ve never been very creative with my expenses. In fact my first ever claim, at The Press and Journal, was returned by my news editor for “letting the side down”. A swift tutorial in high teas, good dinners and elevenses followed. A new claim [...]

• Shifting Sands in Somalia

  Posted: March 24, 2010, 8:46 pm by Rob Crilly

  Jeffrey Gettleman has an interesting dispatch from Mogadishu in The New York Times about how Somalis may be turning against the Shabaab – the militant Islamist movement that controls chunks of the country The best example of that backlash is already happening in Medina, a neighborhood a few miles from the center of Mogadishu. Just past [...]

• Eight Myths About Darfur

  Posted: March 17, 2010, 2:19 am by Rob Crilly

  Despite my best efforts, there is still plenty of guff being written about Sudan and Darfur. Some is written through simple ignorance. Never has so much been written about a place by so many people who have never been there. At the same time, there are lots of campaigners who should know better. For anyone [...]

• Little Patience for Abdulwahid

  Posted: March 14, 2010, 7:09 pm by Rob Crilly

  Darfur’s rebel leaders have long been indulged by Darfur activists – and indeed journalists.  A stumbling block to peace, their cause has been taken up repeatedly by campaigners whose interests appear not to be peace, more a victory for the rebels. A couple of weeks ago I was invited on a radio programme to discuss Darfur. Excited producers [...]

• Mr World Service

  Posted: March 11, 2010, 3:31 pm by Rob Crilly

  I don’t know why Bob Geldof got his knickers in a twist over the BBC’s report on aid to Ethiopia. Surely anyone who knows anything about Africa knows that in dealing with emergencies, aid agencies will have to deal with unsavoury characters. Today it is the UN’s World Food Programme that’s in the firing line. [...]

• Nice Work If You Can Get It

  Posted: March 9, 2010, 2:48 pm by Rob Crilly

  One day I fancy I might make the transition from journalism to PR. And I know what sort of thing I’d do. It wouldn’t be an aid agency, a fluffy animal zoo or a chocolate company. That would be too easy. No, if you are going to do anything then I reckon it’s good to [...]

• Search Terms

  Posted: March 7, 2010, 10:43 pm by Rob Crilly

  Here are the search terms that brought people to my blog today. Maybe I should blog more often about food to increase my hits… sudan food sudanese food rob crilly jordan food bucket of rubber sap joseph kony dreadlocks اكلات سودانية women riding on donkeys teddy bears and islam african smell [...]

• Save Darfur Goes to Darfur

  Posted: March 5, 2010, 3:18 pm by Rob Crilly

  Jerry Fowler, the soon-to-depart head of the Save Darfur Coalition, thinks I have been unfair to his campaign. His point is that I have misrepresented its case and have based my criticism on things they used to say, years ago. All of which strikes me as a little unfair when his press releases carry the [...]

• New Travelling Companion Needed

  Posted: March 4, 2010, 11:22 am by Rob Crilly

  My travelling companion for the past four years is slowing down. Sluggish in the mornings and quick to tire in the afternoons, my Sony Vaio is not the machine it was. Not even a new battery has put a spring in its step. So it’s time to find a new laptop. I want a 13.3in [...]

• Crilly’s Laws

  Posted: March 2, 2010, 9:55 pm by Rob Crilly

  As I prepare to head for yet newer shores, it strikes me (not for the first time) that with one or two basic principles the journalist can turn his hand to writing about any fragile/failed state in the world. Having developed the following laws during the past five years (mostly in Sudan and Somalia), I’ll [...]

• UN Calls for Less Foreign Interference in Somalia

  Posted: March 1, 2010, 3:16 pm by Rob Crilly

  The United Nations Political Office for Somalia continues to put out some of the more bizarre and inconsistent press releases, in a region of the world not short on, erm, idiosyncratic politics. But this is possibly my favourite. At first, I welcomed the release, headed as it is: “SRSG calls for end to external meddling in [...]

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes