The Heart of Darfur

Aljazeera correspondent, Mohamed Vall has been to Darfur recently, his excellent reports and interviews from the region are now available on Youtube. In the reports, titled the heart of Darfur, he visits villages and refugees camps never been seen on TV screens before. He also interviews rebels and their commanders, ethnic Darfurians and Arab nomads.

This type in depth reporting is much needed in the face of sensationalist reporting in the Western media, that often neglects to delve into the intricacies of this complex crisis, of course there are exceptions (this is an example). Here are the reports available online so far:

Exclusive Darfur rebel leader interview: Vall interviews the commander of the Liberation of Sudan Movement. This rebel group boycotted the recent meeting of Darfur factions in Arusha. They insist the Sudanese government implements some conditions before they can sit and negotiate with them.

Rebels' story: Vall meets the rebels fighting the government. It's interesting how determined the young fighters are to gain their autonomy, a step further from what the rebel commanders a are demanding, social equality.

Fleeing the fighting: A remote refugee camp in the mountains completely controlled by rebels. There are no aid agencies in this camp but they receive medical supplies from Red Cross and the doctors are the rebels themselves.

Fur Tribe: Vall visits the Fur tribe, living in a rich land controlled by the rebels, but remain poor. They are thankful that they are at least better off than most other people in Darfur.

On the trail of Darfur's Nomads: Arab nomads, on of the most marginalized groups in this entire conflict, demonized and without a rebel group of their own. Because these nomads are roaming, they don't have villages of their own so they're often portrait as comers from elsewhere when in reality they've been in the region for centuries.

Exclusive interview with Musa Hilal: interview with the man United States is accusing of war crimes.