"Ever since summer, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has been making fools of world leaders who want to stop the genocide in Darfur", says the Chicago Tribune. If you take that view, you'd probably say he was still doing that for International Human Rights Day yesterday, marked by campaigners' calls for peace in Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur is spilling over into neighbouring Chad, where the government is fighting off rebels it claims are supported by the Sudanese government. Significantly, and unlike Sudan, Chad's government is willing to have U.N. troops on its side of the border with Sudan. The United Nations should take this offer up quickly, says the Tribune editorial, since other options to do something about the conflict in Darfur aren't looking too promising. Deployment in Chad wouldn't halt violence in Darfur, but it might at least help contain it, the paper concludes.

Some aid agencies are getting a bit fed up with "leaders who want to stop the genocide in Darfur". The secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which was expelled from Darfur last month, complains in Britain's Independent that they don't seem be speaking out about humanitarian access to Darfur being squeezed, making it harder and harder to provide "life-saving relief".

NRC's Tomas Archer says relief agencies are still being hounded by the government, some aid organisations' permits have been withdrawn, aid workers are barred from accessing the area and their work is constantly being obstructed.

Meanwhile, there are 4 million people in need of protection and emergency relief in the coming months, and "...the international community cannot continue to mince words, pretending that the hostage-taking of humanitarian operations in Darfur is not happening on its watch," Archer continues. " (It's) time for the international community to break its code of silence, and act," he concludes.

The Economist agrees with the Chicago Tribune about the deployment of U.N. troops in Chad on the border with Sudan, but also warns about the link between Darfur and Sudan's south:

"...if Darfur remains a killing field, the chance of the south staying peaceful is small," it cautions.

Julie Flint, co-author of "Darfur: A Short History of a Long War", complains in the Lebanese Daily Star about the end-of-year deadline the United States has given to the Sudanese government to change its mind about allowing in international peacekeepers. Otherwise, the threat goes, the United States will resort to "Plan B ".

But it's probably an empty threat, Flint says. And anyway, she asks: "What was - is - Plan A?"

There has hardly been any marginally comprehensive plan beyond a few weeks, let alone Plan B, she complains, and we can be sure "Khartoum knows a red herring when it sees one. 'Plan B' is not keeping it awake at night."

But she knows what she thinks should be done: appoint a joint African Union-United Nations special representative for Sudan, get a cease-fire deal, support a meeting of rebel commanders who haven't signed the peace deal, go back to the peace deal and let the International Criminal Court do its job.

Those suggestions don't sound too radical, but Flint's got one important point that you don't often see on a "wish list" like this - she's arguing that more attention should be paid to Darfur's Arabs. Flint argues that the Arab camel nomad group called Abbala in northern Darfur have been consistently neglected as a community and it's no wonder it's so easy to recruit them into the ranks of the janjaweed. They need the job in order to survive, and this one comes with a monthly wage. Instead, Flint argues, woo them with development projects and livelihood strategies.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres weighs in on the debate. Writing in Britain's Observer, he predicts the U.N. refugee agency will probably only get pledges for one-third of the money it needs when it launches its annual appeal today.

He argues that it's a sorry state of affairs when no one's willing to help the world's refugees. Darfur is one of the regions where the U.N. refugee agency is most active, and Guterres welcomes the spotlight on it for International Human Rights Day. But, he says, it's high time "to go beyond angst to action".

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