(SS) 

Seemingly, the entire local and international attempts to claim that Darfur region in western Sudan is still witnessing acts of violence and genocide have failed.

The Save Darfur groups and a number of its activists in New York, Paris and some other European capitals have tried to intensify their propaganda on Darfur genocide, ahead of the general elections, to be held in Sudan in April.

But, an article on the International Herald Tribune by Jeffery Gentleman has increased the disappointment of the lobby groups, which still speak about the alleged suffering in Darfur.

The US writer Jeffrey Gentleman said "the changes across the landscape here would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago". The US writer said the Darfur rebel groups  that started the war in 2003, almost seem to have gone into hibernation.

The writer said  this planting season, for the first time since 2003, officials say that tens of thousands of farmers who had been seeking refuge in displaced persons camps returned to their villages to plant crops.

The writer quoted Daniel Augstburger, the director of the -United Nations humanitarian liaison office in Darfur, as saying  “People need to update their perception of Darfur,”

The Writer also quoted Lt. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba, the Rwandan commander of the 20,000 peacekeepers in Darfur as saying " Frozen, that is a good word for the situation. It is calm, very calm at the moment.

The writer did not forget to mention the testimony of Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College and one of the leading academic voices on Darfur, that there is no doubt that violence has diminished significantly in the past two or three years.

He also referred to the statements of the UN officials that unlike the previous accusations, there is no sufficient evidence that the government is sponsoring ethnic violence in Darfur.