1:      PRIMARY INFORMATION SOURCES

AboutSudan.com
"A not-for-profit provider of news relating to Sudan and Africa... one of the largest directories of news on Sudan in the world". Contains some interesting news and documents, but is associated with the controversial Lyndon LaRouche, the US Labour Party and "Executive Intelligence Review".
http://www.aboutsudan.com/

Africa Action
"[A] national [United States] organisation that works for political, economic and social justice in Africa. Through the provision of accessible information and analysis combined with the mobilisation of public pressure we work to change the policies and policy-making processes of US and multinational institutions toward Africa". Although partisan this organisation is a particularly good source of public documents, reports, peace agreements etc. Use their search engine to locate material on Sudan.
http://www.africaaction.org

ReliefWeb
"A project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and is acknowledged as the premier online source of information on natural disasters and complex emergencies". Provides an ongoing selection of press coverage on relief and related topics, as well as background details on Sudan. Go to the country index to locate the Sudan pages.
http://reliefweb.int
http://reliefweb.int/ South Sudan Development and Relief Association


Sudan Foundation, The
"Our aim is to further good relations between the British and Sudanese peoples, and to provide comprehensive information about the political, economic and social , and religious situation in Sudan. Since our founding, in July 1996, we have published upwards of a hundred documents. Some of these are republished from various Sudanese sources. Others are entirely original". An independent and privately funded group which is an excellent source of objective material.
http://sufo.demon.co.uk

SudanNet
Probably the best general internet resource on Sudan. Provides a constant source of news agency, press and media coverage on Sudan, as well as information on Sudanese government, education, weather, society and culture, travel and tourism, geographical and statistical facts, and a general discussion forum.
http://www.sudan.net/

Sudan Resources
A new website set up by Joe Clawson intended as "a complex regional resource containing news, books, pictures and links". As of writing the site contains links sections devoted to "Catering", "Hotel", "News", " Restaurant" and "Khartoum", a number of book reviews, and picture resources.
http://www.iaqi.com/sudan/

Sudan Update
"Provides an information and referral service for individuals and organisations seeking a politically non-aligned briefing on the situation in Sudan ... an independent media review ... an information and referral service for individuals and organisations seeking a politically non-aligned briefing on the situation in Sudan." Founded and edited by Peter Verney, this regular publication, together with its briefings and special reports, is, however, not quite as "non-aligned" as it professes.

Verney worked in Sudan until shortly after the 1989 coup d'etat. For some time he was a staff writer with 'Sudanow', a publication of the Sudanese Ministry of Culture and Information. Verney has been a bitter, public opponent of the present Sudanese government since 1989, signing anti-government statements as early as March 1990.

Despite claims on the 'Sudan Update' website that the publication is required "to maintain an objective, non-partisan stance" and that it cannot "promote...particular political, religious or other ideological viewpoints", 'Sudan Update' has nevertheless forwarded rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) press releases as well as statements by anti-government groups such as the New Sudan Council of Churches and Nuba Mountains Solidarity Abroad. In February 2002 'Sudan Update' "urgently" circulated details of a protest against the Chinese national petroleum corporation - the company being involved in the Sudanese oil industry. This hardly constitutes a "politically non-aligned" stance.

'Sudan Update''s claim to be independent, "objective" and "non-partisan" is also difficult to sustain given that it was specifically set up as an anti-government publication by Emma McCune, a British aid worker who subsequently married SPLA leader Riek Machar. In her biography of her daughter, Maggie McCune states that Emma and others "set up a four-page newsletter called 'Sudan Update' which attempted to disseminate information coming from the front lines, and whose sympathies ran counter to the official government in Khartoum...'Sudan Update' survives to this day."

In any event Verney has constantly projected questionable images of Sudan and seen fit to repeat a wide variety of subsequently discredited claims about Sudan, including allegations that Iraq had moved weapons of mass destruction technology to Sudan, that black southern children were being drained of their blood in return for sweet lemon juice, that the Sudanese President kept four slaves in his household, and that Osama bin-Laden was using Ugandan child slaves as labour in his marijuana plantations in Sudan. Verney has also alluded to alleged Sudanese
government involvement in the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. This sort of claim was comprehensively contradicted in 1996 by Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox Jr., the Department of State's Coordinator for Counterterrorism.
http://www.sudanupdate.org/

And also see:
"How Objective a Source?: Peter Verney and Sudan Update"
http://www.espac.org/media_pages/how_objective.html
Dr. Sean Gabb, "Allegations of Slavery in Sudan: An Open Letter to Peter Verney of Sudan Update, October 1997", Debate File No. 6, The Sudan Foundation, 1997
http://www.sufo.demon.co.uk/deb006.htm

Sudanese American Society
"Information and news about Sudan from American media and sources...[and]
discussions of current Sudan issues". Material here is generally critical and corrective of the propaganda emanating from partisan campaigners. Includes such sections as "Facts About Sudan" and a "Chronology of Major Events in Sudan Since 1920".
http://www.sasociety.com/

Wisdom Fund, The
"The mission of The Wisdom Fund is to advance social justice and interfaith understanding by presenting The Truth About Islam". Has taken a largely objective stance on Sudanese issues. Use their search engine to locate material about Sudan.
http://www.twf.org