U.S. and European media

September 11, 2023

Agence France-Presse: Darfur rebels spurn Arab peace initiative. Darfur rebel groups dismissed on Thursday an Arab League initiative aimed at bringing peace to the war-ravaged western Sudanese region, saying the move came five years too late. Arab League foreign ministers decided on Monday to establish a committee headed by Qatar and including Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Syria, Libya and Egypt to sponsor peace talks between rebels and Khartoum. However, the rebel Justice and Equality Movement dismissed the committee, saying it would rather see Arab condemnation of Khartoum's "atrocities" in Darfur.

SUNA (Sudan): Tanzania and Nigeria to lead AU bid to block Sudan charges. The chairman of the African Union, Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete, has declared that the AU Peace and Security Council will take the responsibility of handling attempts to halt the International Criminal Court's dispute with Sudan at the UN. In a joint press conference he held with Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir yesterday in conclusion of his talks in Khartoum, President Kikwete said that Nigerian and Tanzanian ambassadors in New York, are currently seeking ways to halt the ICC's plans to charge President Bashir.

Reuters: Sudanese elections could be delayed: southern minister. National elections in Sudan may be delayed by at least six months, a senior southern official said, a development that could push back other elements of a peace accord between the country's north and south. Luka Biong, the southern Minister for Presidential Affairs, told Reuters it would not be feasible to hold the elections before the agreed cut-off point of July 2009 because of heavy rains and logistical problems.

The following is an excerpt of an op-ed by Philip Bobbit and John C. Danforth that appeared in today's New York Times. 

Questions of Security

John McCain and Barack Obama are two of the most remarkable Americans to enter public life. Both men are extraordinarily capable and their campaigns -- which began against great odds -- reflect that fact. And yet with respect to national security, neither campaign has articulated the fundamental points of view that will allow people to make an informed choice in November. [...]

Here, then, on the anniversary of 9/11, a day when both candidates have chosen to put politics aside and appear together at ground zero, are a dozen questions we would like to see them address. We know both candidates differ on Iraq and agree on closing the Guantánamo prison camp. We also know that both are for change, that they are patriotic and that they are cautious. But we hope they will not be too cautious to give us clear answers, even when these might alienate some voters. It is our hope that these answers will be published on this page. [...]

2. For some years now, the world has watched while ethnic cleansing -- even genocide -- has gripped Darfur. Are you prepared to announce the rules for American intervention for humanitarian purposes and, if so, what would those rules be? Would you be willing to organize a coalition of states to intervene? Or should the United States defer to the United Nations or regional organizations -- even when they are deadlocked and unable to act? [...]

Philip Bobbitt, the author of "Terror and Consent: The Wars for the 21st Century," is a law professor at Columbia and a fellow at the University of Texas. John C. Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri, was the United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2004 to 2005.

The Darfur Daily News is a service of the Save Darfur Coalition. To subscribe to the Daily News, please email [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Roberts at (202) 478-6181, or [email protected].