Close-up: Blood on the Nile

BBC Arabic

Kajbar is a tiny village on the river Nile, selected by Sudan as the site for a £100m dam which will flood dozens of surrounding villages. The government thinks hydroelectric power is necessary to industrialise the country and help eliminate poverty. It appears a worthy aim for a country where the average income is under £1 per day, but it may be coming at a high cost. On 13 June last year, Sudanese security forces opened fire on a demonstration against the plans. The facts about the incident are hard to obtain but protestors say four people were killed, and more than 20 seriously wounded. Opposition to the dams from ethnic Nubians who live in the area has hardened into active political resistance. “In the name of God, we will not keep quiet, even for a moment,” says Osman Ibrahim, a local leader of the campaign, who witnessed the events. “We will resist and resist until the last drop of blood in our veins.”

30/04/2008