Sudan in Flames! (Prayers for Steve)

[Guest guest]

Hello my family. This is indeed an incredible time in the world. I just caught word from a wonderful

personal friend of mine, and the voice of Humanity Healing, Steve Gooch that

the capital of Sudan is under attack right now! Steve is living in Khartoum directly in the middle of all of this. PLEASE send prayers to keep him safe,

and all the innocent citizens during this time. This is Steve's myspace page if you would like to send him some words of encouragement:www.myspace.com/reiki_jin_kei_do

Love always and in deep gratitude,

Stefanie

Here is a message from Steve:

As I type this, safe in my cosey little apartment, outside I

can hear the sound of helicopter gunships...Not far down the road from me, just

past the UN compound, the sound of heavy artillery can be heard.. A sole voice

is now calling out something over a tanoy from a nearby mosque. Khartoum is

under attack.. A couple of hours ago my local shopkeeper told me as best he

could in very broken English and much rapid-fire Arabic, that there was gun

fire in the city of Omdurman. City, yes it is, but in reality a suburb of

Khartoum. It is the old Mahdi capital of Sudan which has just, it is being said

on Reuters, been taken by the Darfuri rebel force JEM (Justice and Equality

Movement). Never before has a Darfuri rebel force managed to enter the capital.

Never before has the city been under attack by thousands of men drawn from the

disgruntled masses of opressed Darfur. Taking Omdurman gives them control of

all of the Nile bridges and thus access to the seat of government. If the

palace falls, Sudan falls. President Beshir's palace sits just across the river

from Omdurman. You could shooot the windows out from the other bank I would

have thought. It is in the very heart of modern Khartoum.

This is a dark time in Khartoum. For years, the muslim

government has battered and mutilitated a part of its own country and now it

looks as if that government is going to reap that which it has sown. The

inevitable has arisen.

A neighbour from Bristol in the UK, married to a Sudanese

woman just informed me that as far as the military are concerned, this is the

start of a full on war. He should know - his father-in-law is a Sudanese

military commander.

What will happen over the next few hours, no one knows.

Perhaps the rebels will be driven back. Perhaps the government will simply

relinquish power...who knows? It is not a good time to be in

Sudan..Khartoum...the army is in disarray as many of them, are in fact

Darfuri's themselves and may join forces with the rebels. The rest? There is

nothing worse than an army in retreat through civilian areas...

The people of Sudan are beautiful, peaceful and generous

people. They have been villified by the world for a very long time. Now they

must it seem suffer through another tragedy of massive proportions...

So, my friends on myspace...send your blessings, your good

wishes, your prayers, your hopes and you love for the people of Sudan and

Darfur and all of the impoverished people outside my window as I type

this...they need your thoughts and your love now......this is a country that

may be about to go up in flames...the next few hours will tell. I may not have

the opportunity to post a follow up to this. Right now I am sitting tight in

the knowledge that I have a British passport, access to a bus and my embassy

and a UN compound not far away....

Blessings,Steve