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This International Dateline episode includes four segments: Darfur's Dirty War, Gareth Evans Interview, Redeployment to Afghanistan, and Ahmed Rashid Interview.

Darfur's Dirty War  
In June, when the world's attention was on Africa, British film maker Philip Cox returned to Darfur to absorb the changes since his trip last year.  In 2004, Philip was the first film maker to enter Darfur and report on the atrocities there.  He went on to win a prestigious Rory Peck award. His story raised awareness of the plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the war between rebel armies and the Sudanese military.

In this journey, Phil searches for two of the women he filmed last year. He finds them trapped in a refugee camp just inside the Chad border.  Fatima and Fatna remember him well and the village Sheikh organizes a viewing of their debut in last year's Dateline story.  Amidst amazing sandstorms, Phil finds that a strange kind of ceasefire has occurred and that the almost ineffectual African Union troops are unable to communicate with the Sudanese, adding to the confusion.

Gareth Evans Interview  
While Phil's story captures the human aspect of the war and the fate of the people who seem to have fallen through the cracks, for a more clinical aspect George Negus speaks with International Crisis Group President, Gareth Evans.  Evans has been an outspoken campaigner on Darfur and recently wrote a strong letter to the G8 and the African Union advising how to end the crisis.  Evans presents another perspective on this protracted human tragedy.

Redeployment to Afghanistan  
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Howard confirmed that 150 Australian military personnel would be sent to Afghanistan to work alongside US forces.  Is the Howard government making a smart decision to send Australian troops back to Afghanistan, a place described by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley as "terrorism central?"   

Ahmed Rashid Interview 
Dateline's George Negus speaks to the world's leading authority on the Taliban and Al Qaeda, author and journalist Ahmed Rashid, to explore questions of Australia's new troop redeployment to Afghanistan.
 

About International Dateline 

SBS Dateline, which began in 1984, is Australia's longest-running international current affairs program. It has a well-earned reputation for authoritative and incisive reporting. Dateline has taken the traditional way of producing TV current affairs and turned it on its head. Reporters who used to travel with a cameraperson and sound recordist now travel alone and have the responsibility of both filming and reporting their stories. The reporters became video-journalists, gaining access to people and places that the conventional camera crews cannot.