U.S. and European media

August 13, 2023

BBC: Khartoum denies arming militias. Officials in the north of Sudan have rejected accusations they armed militias who killed dozens in recent ethnic clashes in the south. Humanitarian minister Abdelbagi Gailani described the clashes as a "war between tribes" and said Khartoum was committed to stopping the violence. At least 185 Lou Nuer people were killed in Jonglei state when reportedly attacked by Murle fighters last week.

Time: Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's Wanted Man. Sudan's President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, reckons that being on the run is easy. In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the conflict in Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have died since 2003 in a campaign that the Bush Administration described as government-sponsored genocide. The ICC indictments, the first to be handed down against a sitting head of state, obligate the world's nations to arrest Bashir on sight. And yet, he points out, he has attended summits and meetings in seven African and Arab countries over the past few months. "I have not felt [any] restrictions of movement," Bashir told TIME in an interview which took place in the colonial-era presidential palace in Khartoum in early August.

Reuters: US vows to embrace UN in break with Bush-era policy. The Obama administration will work with the United Nations to fight terrorism and other major world challenges, U.S. envoy Susan Rice said on Wednesday, marking a clear shift from the Bush administration's disregard for the world body. Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said in a speech at New York University Washington must lead by example, acknowledge its mistakes, change its policies and strategies when necessary and treat others with respect. Among the problems at the United Nations, she said, are a Security Council that remains divided on the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region, Zimbabwe's reconstruction efforts, the military government in Myanmar and other issues.

Reuters: U.S. leadership alone won't solve world crises: Rice. The United States cannot solve world problems alone and will work with the United Nations to fight terrorism, poverty and other major challenges, the U.S. envoy to the international body said on Wednesday. "The global challenges we face cannot be tackled without U.S. leadership," Rice said. "(But) while U.S. leadership is necessary, it is rarely sufficient. We need the effective cooperation of a broad range of friends and partners."

Reuters: U.N. says violence, hunger threatens south Sudanese. The lives of at least 40 percent of southern Sudanese are at risk because of escalating tribal fighting, food shortages and a cash-starved regional government, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday. "Southern Sudan is facing an almost unmanageable set of problems. We just can't keep up," Lise Grande, the U.N. Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Southern Sudan said.

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].