Free Bedouin Soundclash concert in Toronto

NEWS RELEASE

KAIROS

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Senator Roméo Dallaire, Bedouin Soundclash and Justin Trudeau headline major rally for Darfur in Toronto Sunday

TORONTO, September 14 - Senator Roméo Dallaire, Justin Trudeau, Juno winners Bedouin Soundclash, and the Muhtadi Drummers will headline a rally and free concert in Toronto on September 17, 2006 to highlight the plight of millions of people in Darfur where ethnic cleansing is underway.

The rally and concert are part of a series of events being held across Canada and around the world to urge governments to do more to end the crisis.

Senator Dallaire and Justin Trudeau will hold a news conference prior to the rally where members of the local Darfur community will be among the featured speakers.

The event has been organized by Senator Dallaire's office along with a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that have been active on this issue for some time including KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, the Canadian Jewish Congress, and War Child Canada.

Worldwide events are planned in nearly 50 cities from Cape Town to London, Moscow to New York, and Phnom Penh to Paris as part of the Global Day for Darfur.

Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver are among the other Canadian cities marking the day.

The news conference will be held at 1:30 p.m. followed by the rally and free concert from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 17, 2006 at Ramsden Park, Yonge Street across from the Rosedale subway station.

Justin Trudeau, son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and chair of the national youth service organization, Katimavik, will host the event where the speakers will be:

- LGen (ret.) Senator Roméo Dallaire who was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross for exceptional leadership as Commander of the United Nations forces in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.

- Ben Fine, executive director of Students Taking Action Now Darfur (STAND).

- Mohamed Haroun, president of the Darfur Association of Canada

- Tragi Mustafa, a refugee from Darfur and founder of Save Women - Darfur

Other organizers of the event are Canadians Against Slavery and Torture in Sudan, Canadian Young Judaea, Hillel Toronto, the Muslim Canadian Congress, Project Equity, Project Ploughshares, and World Federalist Movement Canada.

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