U.S. and European media

January 16, 2023

The Guardian: Sudan fears US military intervention over Darfur. Sudan's government is increasingly fearful that the incoming US administration will resort to military intervention to end the six-year-old crisis in Darfur that has killed up to 200,000 people and left 2.7 million homeless, diplomatic sources in Khartoum say. Clinton said the Obama administration, which takes office on Tuesday, was examining a wide range of options, including direct intervention in support of a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force, known as Unamid, which has struggled to make an impact after beginning operations last year. Influential US-based pressure groups such as the Save Darfur Coalition and Enough are meanwhile demanding that US president-elect Barack Obama act swiftly to fulfil campaign pledges to take more robust action. "I will make ending the genocide in Darfur a priority from day one," Obama said in April. He has also previously backed a toughening of sanctions and said the US might help enforce a no-fly zone.

Agence France-Presse: Obama's UN pick vows to confront Mugabe. At her Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Rice pledged to confront the regime of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, urging China, Russia and southern African countries to join the Obama administration in isolating the veteran strongman. While promising new US leadership at the UN on climate change, nuclear proliferation and human rights, Rice also vowed to strengthen UN members' ability to train and equip peacekeepers for global hotspots. "The fact that more than one year after the force was established, the crucial UN mission in Darfur is only at half its authorised strength is patently unacceptable," she said. Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, welcomed what he called Rice's "continued commitment to end the Darfur genocide" in a statement released by his group. "We recognise that the UNAMID (UN-African Union) civilian protection force is a critical component to providing on-the-ground security for the millions of internally-displaced persons in Darfur," Fowler said. "UNAMID alone, however, will not deliver a just and lasting peace for the people of Sudan. The United States should pursue other options to bring peace to the region, including a sustained diplomatic initiative."

New York Times: Gentle Questioning for U.N. Nominee. Susan E. Rice, the former senior Clinton State Department official for Africa, seemed assured of being confirmed as the next American ambassador to the United Nations after her Senate hearing on Thursday.  Ms. Rice said the costs of no action or unilateral action in many crises was too high, so the answer was to make peacekeeping more effective. The previous administration intervened periodically she said, but had not pursued it in a sustained or collective fashion. "This is not a challenge for the United States alone," she said. Ms. Rice called it "patently unacceptable" that the United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur had only just reached half its strength, more than a year after it was formed, largely by underequipped units from the African Union.

NPR: Obama's U.N. Pick Pledges To Work For Reform. A top foreign-policy adviser to President-elect Barack Obama promised a Senate panel on Thursday that she will work for international support and consensus on key challenges if she is confirmed as the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She told senators that one of her priorities will be to do more to stop what she called an "ongoing genocide" in Darfur, Sudan. She made it clear that her past experience with Rwanda has taught her some powerful lessons -- that preventing genocide requires consensus and concerted action from the international community.

CNN: U.S. begins Darfur supply flights. The U.S. Air Force has begun flying equipment into Darfur to support a United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in the war-ravaged Sudanese province, the military announced Wednesday. Two giant C-17 Globemaster III aircraft made the trip from Kigali in Rwanda to Darfur, the statement said, each carrying about 30 tons of Rwandan equipment. The Air Force will transport more than 150 tons of equipment and supplies including nine oversized vehicles, water purification systems, water trailers, tents and spare parts, the Pentagon's new African command, Africom, said in the statement.

Reuters: Sudan opposition leader in solitary confinement. An influential Sudanese opposition leader is being held in solitary confinement after calling on the president to hand himself in to the International Criminal Court, family members said on Friday. Hassan al-Turabi was arrested on Wednesday days after urging President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to surrender to the Hague-based global court, whose judges are considering whether to indict him on charges of orchestrating war crimes in Darfur. Family members said they had not managed to see or speak to Turabi, 76, and were increasingly worried about his health. They said officials told them Turabi and another top member of his Popular Congress Party were in Khartoum's Kober prison.

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].