Arabic Media

August 28, 2023

Source: Addustour (Government-friendly, Jordanian daily enjoys wide circulation)
Headline: Darfur People Pessimistic about Peace Prospects

Thousands of Darfur refugees held demonstrations at Zalengei – birthplace of Abdul Wahid Nour - when AU envoy Salim Ahmed Salim arrived to meet with the residents.

• Salim went to the birth place of Abdul Wahid Nour to meet with the community’s leaders and the residents in an effort to gain their trust and support for upcoming peace negotiations
• But despite the demonstrations, the meeting was positive as the residents and leaders expressed their desire for peace and for Nour to join the peace negotiations
• The residents also demanded that an effective peacekeeping force be put in place to protect the civilian population, and that all militias and rebel groups be disarmed
• Haja Assenoussi said that weapons are now in everyone hands including children who keep us all up at night…nobody can rest anymore

Source: Al Khaleej (UAE daily, with over 80,000 in circulation)
Headline: Canada Will not Apologize to Sudan

• Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Bernier said his country refuses to apologize to Sudan in order for its Charge d’Affaires to be allowed to stay
• Bernier described Sudan’s decision to expel Nuala Lawlor – the Charge d’Affaires - as “totally unjustified” and added that he ordered her to leave Sudan after his efforts to get the decision to expel her reversed failed
• Sudan announced that the Canadian diplomat and European Union representative were “no longer welcome in Sudan” but changed its decision regarding EU official when it received a phone call from the Union it considered to be an “apology.”

Source: Al Hayat (Saudi-owned Pan-Arab daily with wide circulation)
Headline: Sudan Expels CARE Director for “Spying Activities”
By: Annour Ahmed Annour

• Sudanese authorities gave Paul Barker, CARE country director, 72 hours to leave the country and accused him of “spying activities”
• Sudanese official said that Barker’s activities were being watched for a long time, and that he was involved for writing fabricated security reports, adding that the decision was final
• Barker acknowledged receiving the order, which he described as a “big surprise”, and added that he was hugely disappointed about the order because it was a result of misunderstanding and information taken out of context
• Barker explained that the expulsion must have been a result of an email he sent that discussed the safety of CARE workers and that it was taken out of context to justify his expulsion
• Barker is the third Westerner to be expelled by the Sudanese government in the past few days.  Parker worked in Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, and was expelled from Ethiopia too

Read the above in Arabic.