African Media Coverage

August 1-15, 2009

Kenya: Daily Nation
US Special Envoy Vows to Step Up Dialogue to End Darfur Conflict
Published: August 7, 2009

The US special envoy to Sudan has vowed to step up engagement with both Khartoum and rebels to help bring peace to Darfur, a strategy the commanding peacekeeper says has already won over some of the rebels.

The results of a US government policy review on Sudan are expected to be released later this month. One of the key elements of the review is how to end the crisis in Darfur where the UN says up to 300,000 people have died since 2003, compared to Khartoum’s official death toll of 10,000.

Read the article here.

South Africa: Cape Argus
Helicopter Shortages Hamper Peacekeeping Efforts in Darfur
Published: August 7, 2009

For nearly two years, the UN has appealed to its 192 member nations to provide 18 transport helicopters so that the peacekeeping force in Darfur can quickly get troops to trouble spots. But not a single country has pledged a chopper.

The outgoing commander of the joint UN-African Union (AU) force said yesterday that he put such utility helicopters at the top of the list of equipment needed to help protect civilians and transport peacekeepers in the vast western region of Sudan, where there were few roads.

General Martin Luther Agwai was asked at a news conference if offers of helicopters from the US, Britain or France would be acceptable to the Sudanese government, or whether Khartoum had rejected aircraft from the three Western military powers, compounding the difficulty of finding the 18 choppers.

Read the article here.

Uganda: New Vision
China Opposes Kony Arrest
Published: August 5, 2009

The indictment of Sudan President Omar el-Bashir and LRA chief Joseph Kony is a stumbling block to peace in Africa, according to China.

Addressing journalists at the Chinese embassy in Kampala, Ambassador Liu Guijin, who also in charge of African affairs, said the warrants of arrest had only complicated matters.

Liu Guijin, who is also China’s special representative on Darfur, is scheduled to meet Vice-President Dr. Gilbert Bukenya and foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa today.

China, he said, fully supports the stand taken by the AU on both the Bashir indictments and the Darfur crisis, which call for a political resolution to the problems.

Both Bashir and Kony are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Liu Guijin said the indictments had become counter-productive to the attainment of peace in the Sudan, the volatile Darfur region inclusive.

Read the article here.