... sometimes described as
The Liberatress of Libyaand at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another Elihu Root...
on Wednesday accused Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to
ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
of trying to undermine newly independent South Sudan, adding Washington would consider increasing pressure on Bashir to reverse course.
Clinton told US politicians that "what we've got with Bashir is a very determined effort to try to undo the results of the comprehensive peace agreement," which led to the creation last July of a separate state in South Sudan.
She recalled "the United States played a very important role in negotiating that agreement," a 2005 deal that ended more than two decades of war between the Islamic government in Khartoum and rebels representing the mainly Christian and animist south.
"The people of South Sudan voted for independence and ever since, despite Bashir going to Salva Kiir's inauguration, there has been a steady effort to undermine this new state," Clinton said, referring to the new southern president.
"We will certainly look at trying to up the pressure on Khartoum and on Bashir personally," the chief US diplomat told a House of Representatives committee.
On February 3, Bashir said on national television that Sudan is closer to war than peace with the breakaway state of South Sudan, with a dispute over oil and other issues stoking tensions.
Bashir spoke after Kiir warned that renewed conflict could erupt if oil negotiations with Khartoum do not include a deal on other key issues, including the contested Abyei region.
Tensions have also been raised by the still undemarcated border, parts of which cut through oilfields, as well as mutual allegations that each side backs rebel forces against the other.
"We also believe there has to be an agreement to finish out the comprehensive peace agreement and try to finalize all of the border issues, the oil issues, and that's going to be very difficult, too," Clinton said.
"We support the process that the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
is running in Addis Ababa but it doesn't seem to be making a lot of progress yet," she said.