U.S. and European media

February 25, 2023

Associated Press: Officials: US plans new Darfur envoy. The Obama administration intends to name a special envoy to tackle the ongoing crisis in Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur, according to officials and human rights activists. The timing of the appointment has not yet been determined, but at least two experts on Darfur and a former senator have emerged as leading candidates for the job. The post would also encompass coordinating U.S. policy on larger issues in Sudan, including a fragile 4-year-old peace deal that ended the country's long-running North-South civil war, they said.

Politico: Clooney announces Darfur envoy. Advocates for U.S. intervention in the Darfur conflict, angered by what they saw as Bush administration foot-dragging in a case of genocide, have pressed for stronger leadership from the White House for a long time. So imagine their glee when leading man George Clooney, twice named People magazine's sexiest man alive, announced this week that the administration would appoint a special envoy to tackle the issue. Alex Meixner, a spokesman for Save Darfur, said the country now is in a "critical hour," with the International Criminal Court reportedly set to issue an arrest warrant next week for the country's leader, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. "I don't want to sit around for six months waiting for the perfect résumé -- this needs to happen now," Meixner said.  "If we are still having this conversation in June, we're in trouble."

Reuters: Sudan minister says ICC indictment could slow FDI. Foreign direct investment in Sudan could retreat in 2009 compared to the previous year on concerns over a possible indictment against the country's president, Sudan's Investment Minister said on Wednesday. "Investors shied away because of the spectre of indictment that has created a slowdown of enthusiasm," George Bureng Nyombe told reporters at a conference in Cairo. He said foreign investment in 2008 was between $2.3 billion and $3 billion, with about 80 percent of that from Asian countries including China. He added most of that investment was in the oil and gas and infrastructure sectors.

Reuters: South Sudan accuses army of trying to restart war. South Sudan has accused the northern army of trying to reignite civil war after heavy fighting between southern soldiers and a pro-government militia in a region potentially rich in oil. A north-south peace deal in 2005 ended two decades of civil war in Africa's biggest country, but fighting has flared on several occasions since then and census results and elections due this year are potential points of friction. Soldiers from the semi-autonomous south clashed in Malakal on Tuesday with forces loyal to Gabriel Tang, a former warlord now serving in the northern army. The town is capital of the Upper Nile region, which may hold significant oil reserves.

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].