I was truly fascinated by Izzadine Abdul Rasoul’s article “Janjaweeds in US State Department“ published in the Sudan Tribune on October 25, 2009.

Mr. Abdul Rasoul is said to be a stringer for the [New York] Times but seems to have a less than convincing command of the English language.

Intrigued by this situation I began to Google Izzadine Abdul Rasoul’s name and began to look at some of his articles. The writing in the articles that I examined seemed to vary curiously, so I tried an experiment. I selected one article: “Libyan leader and Pan Arab agenda in Africa” published by the Sudan Tribune on September 4, 2009; and then I began to Google strings of text from that article. What I found answered my questions about Izzadine Abdul Rasoul’s writing ability.

The first six paragraphs of the article appear to come from a Wikipedia post on the African Union and – if I understand correctly from reading the Wikipedia notes, – attributed to a Willy Turner.

The text of a large portion of the latter part of the article can also be found in an article entitled: “Ghaddafi calls for resolving African conflicts by self“ published by Xinhua on September 1, 2009 and attributed to an Editor: Mu Xuequan.

I did not find other strings of text from my Google search that matched strings of text from that article, but in those sections that did not match it appeared to me that the level of writing was distinctly inferior to the text of those portions of the article that could be found elsewhere on the web.

I have posted below, the text of Izzadine Abdul Rasoul’s article as well as the matching text from Wikipedia and Xinhua with accompanying links.

I also found an article by Abdullahi Osman El-Tom entitled “Abdul Rasoul’s Personal Vendetta against President of JEM” and originally posted by “sudaneseonline.com” on Jun 9, 2009. In this article Osman El-Tom accuses Abdul Rasoul of trying “to drive a wedge between JEM on the one hand and the Fur people, the SPLM and the international community on the other” [for the benefit of the SLM]. Osman El-Tom also says that: “Although Abdu Rasoul signed himself as Managing Editor of the Citizen Newspaper- Sudan, the article is steeped in amateur journalism that bedevils many of Sudanese newspapers.”

I certainly do not mean to disparage Izzadine Abdul Rasoul as a journalist, but I intrigued by the inconsistencies that I have mentioned here and I am hoping that perhaps Izzadine Abdul Rasoul will join our discussion and comment on those things that I have said here.

The various text mentioned above, follow below.

Libyan leader and Pan Arab agenda in Africa
By Izzadine Abdul Rasoul

September 3, 2009 “” The African Union is intended to be a geo-political entity covering the entirety of the African continent. Its origins originated in the Union of African States, an early confederation that was established by Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s, as well as subsequent attempts to unite Africa, including the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was established on May 25, 1963, and the African Economic Community in 1981. Critics argued that the OAU in particular did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it the “Dictators’ Club”.

The idea of creating the AU was revived in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Libyan head of state Muammar al-Gaddafi: the heads of state and government of the OAU issued the Sirte Declaration (named after Sirte, in Libya) on September 9, 1999, calling for the establishment of an African Union. The Declaration was followed by summits at Lomé in 2000, when the Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted, and at Lusaka in 2001, when the plan for the implementation of the African Union was adopted.

The first attempts to create a politically unified state encompassing the whole of the African continent were made by European colonial powers in the nineteenth century, intent on harnessing the vast natural resources and huge amount of manpower the continent had to offer to their Empires. However the strong rivalry between European powers such as Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and Spain and Portugal, meant the reality soon dawned that no one nation was powerful enough to outdo all the others, and take complete control of the continent.

Instead, they carved the continent up between them, scrambling for control of as much territory as possible, and attempting to prevent their rivals from obtaining favorable regions. The European powers essentially maintained control of their territories as colonies until the second half of the twentieth century, when changes in European policy and thinking, led to releasing of control over their African colonies, and the creation of independent nations across the continent took place between the 1950s and 1970s.

The Union of African States, was a short lasting union of three West African states, in the 1960s – Mali, Ghana, and Guinea. This union was Marxist politically, and was lead by such African revolutionaries as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Sékou Touré of Guinea, who was president of Guinea.

On 1958-11-23, a Ghana-Guinea Union was formed with a flag like that of Ghana but with two black stars. In May 1959 it was announced that the Union would be renamed Union of African States with a flag like that of Ghana “with as many black stars as there were members”.[citation needed] In April, 1961 Mali joined this union, so the flag then had three stars. The Union fell apart in 1962, when Guinea started to reach out to the United States, against the acquaintance of their Socialist partner, the U.S.S.R..

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“History of the African Union”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The African Union is intended to be a geo-political entity covering the entirety of the African continent.

Its origins originated in the Union of African States, an early confederation that was established by Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s, as well as subsequent attempts to unite Africa, including the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was established on May 25, 1963, and the African Economic Community in 1981. Critics argued that the OAU in particular did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it the “Dictators’ Club”.[1]

The idea of creating the AU was revived in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Libyan head of state Muammar al-Gaddafi: the heads of state and government of the OAU issued the Sirte Declaration (named after Sirte, in Libya) on September 9, 1999, calling for the establishment of an African Union. The Declaration was followed by summits at Lomé in 2000, when the Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted, and at Lusaka in 2001, when the plan for the implementation of the African Union was adopted. During the same period, the initiative for the establishment of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), was also established.

The first attempts to create a politically unified state encompassing the whole of the African continent were made by European colonial powers in the nineteenth century, intent on harnessing the vast natural resources and huge amount of manpower the continent had to offer to their Empires. However the strong rivalry between European powers such as Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and Spain and Portugal, meant the reality soon dawned that no one nation was powerful enough to outdo all the others, and take complete control of the continent.

Instead, they carved the continent up between them, scrambling for control of as much territory as possible, and attempting to prevent their rivals from obtaining favourable regions. The European powers essentially maintained control of their territories as colonies until the second half of the twentieth century, when changes in European policy and thinking, led to releasing of control over their African colonies, and the creation of independent nations across the continent took place between the 1950s and 1970s.

The Union of African States, was a short lasting union of three West African states, in the 1960s – Mali, Ghana, and Guinea. This union was Marxist politically, and was lead by such African revolutionaries as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Sékou Touré of Guinea, who was president of Guinea.

On 1958-11-23, a Ghana-Guinea Union was formed with a flag like that of Ghana but with two black stars. In May 1959 it was announced that the Union would be renamed Union of African States with a flag like that of Ghana “with as many black stars as there were members”.[citation needed] In April, 1961 Mali joined this union, so the flag then had three stars. The Union fell apart in 1962, when Guinea started to reach out to the United States, against the acquaintance of their Socialist partner, the U.S.S.R.

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Libyan Leader and Pan Arab Agenda in Africa
By Izzadine Abdul Rasoul

On Aug. 31 Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi told a special summit of the African Union (AU) that African countries should face regional challenges and resolve the conflicts plaguing the African continent by themselves.

The Libyan leader said Israel stands behind all of Africa’s conflicts, calling for expelling Israeli embassies out of African countries because Israel seeks to stir up sedition as a pretext to protect minorities.

Gadhafi held Israel responsible for fueling the conflict in Darfur, saying that Israel’s hosting to an office of Sudan Liberation movement of Abdel -Wahid Mohamed Nur is a proof. He also expressed his regret that France hosts Abdel-Wahid Mohammed Nur while claiming its commitment to world peace and security. Touching on Sudan, Gadhafi, the current chairman of the 53-nation bloc, said the Darfur crisis can be solved by Sudanese hands, noting that international interference deepened Darfur crisis.

Gadhafi stressed the need for Africa both current and future generations that there are no African conflicts and wars especially now that the continent is heading towards establishing the United States of Africa.

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“Ghaddafi calls for resolving African conflicts by self“ published by Xinhua on September 1, 2009 and attributed to an Editor: Mu Xuequan. [Matching text in brackets]

[Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi told a special summit of the African Union (AU) that African countries should face regional challenges and resolve the conflicts plaguing the African continent by themselves.]

In his opening speech, Ghaddafi stressed the importance of solving the conflicts facing Africa as they threaten the peace and security of the whole world.

He said, “We should find solutions to conflicts among the African brothers and move forward to stop the superpowers pillaging Africa’s resources,” according to Libya’s official Jamahiriya News Agency.

[The Libyan leader said Israel stands behind all of Africa’s conflicts, calling for expelling Israeli embassies out of African countries because Israel seeks to stir up sedition as a pretext to protect minorities.

Touching on Sudan, Ghaddafi, the current chairman of the 53-nation bloc, said the Darfur crisis can be solved by Sudanese hands, noting hat international interference deepened Darfur crisis.]

The Libyan leader described the relations between Sudan and Chad as a reflection to the internal conflict that the two nations suffer due to the increasing of rebel groups in the two nations.

Meanwhile, he called on leaders and governments of Africa not to give any value to the national borders, saying that the borders created by occupation would disappear to give away to one African space, one common market, one currency, one central bank, one defensive power, one interior security and one identity.

He said this is happening not just in Africa, but the entire world is turning into bigger entities with full potential of competing with each other in a way that the national state no longer able to do.

[Ghaddafi stressed the need for Africa both current and future generations that there are no African conflicts and wars especially now that the continent is heading towards establishing the United States of Africa.]

The AU kicked off the special summit in Libya earlier in the day to tackle regional conflicts, especially situations in Somalia, Sudan’s Darfur and the Great Lakes region.

About 30 African leaders attended the special summit, which is held on the eve of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Libyan Revolution, which brought Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi to power after overthrowing Western-backed King Idriss on Sept. 1, 1969.

It is AU’s third summit this year. The 53-member organization normally holds two summits a year.

At its 13th summit held in Libya’s Sirte city in July, the AU accepted its current chairman Ghaddafi’s proposal to hold a special session on the consideration and resolution of conflicts in Africa.

The AU, established in 2002 to replace the Organization of African Unity that was founded in 1963, aims at preserving and promoting peace and stability in the African continent, carrying out the strategy of reform and poverty reduction and realizing the development and renewal of Africa.