U.S. and European media

November 6, 2022

AFP: China's Africa investments under harsh spotlight.  As Chinese firms pour billions of dollars into mining, energy and infrastructure deals in Africa, Beijing is turning a blind eye to rogue regimes that stand to reap the benefits, observers say.  From oil in Sudan, Angola and Nigeria to bauxite in Guinea, China has been pouring money into natural resources not only in Africa but also around the globe, with other investments in Peruvian iron and Mongolian copper.  Barry Sautman, an associate professor of social science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said China did not deserve to be singled out for investments made with controversial regimes.  In Sudan, "China is certainly not alone in developing the oil industry", Sautman said, noting that it was linked to projects in which India's ONGC and Malaysia's Petronas, both state-owned firms, held major stakes.  Both firms, in addition to China's PetroChina and Sinopec, have been accused by US non-profit organisation Investors Against Genocide of "helping to fund the genocide in Darfur" in western Sudan.

Wall Street Journal: Turkey Set to Host President of Sudan. Turkey will receive Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir next week and has no plans to arrest him despite his indictment by an international court for war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region, senior Turkish officials said Thursday.  Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, will be the most Western country Mr. Bashir has been able to visit since the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued a warrant for his arrest in March. The senior Turkish officials, who declined to be identified, said the warrant wasn't binding on Turkey as it isn't a signatory to the ICC. They also said an arrest could upset the peace process in Darfur.  Mr. Bashir has visited Turkey twice in the past three years, triggering debate within Turkey over the propriety of hosting him each time.

Reuters: Sudan leader's planned visit sparks Turkey-EU row.  Turkey's President Abdullah Gul accused the European Union on Friday of "interfering" after the bloc asked Ankara to reconsider a decision to invite indicted Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to an Islamic summit.  The exchange underscores the risk for EU candidate Turkey that Bashir's plans to attend Monday's summit in Istanbul of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), in defiance of a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), could escalate into a diplomatic crisis with Brussels.  Muslim Turkey has not ratified the 2002 Rome Statute that established the ICC, but it is under pressure to do so to bring it closer to EU standards.  Turkey, which has deepened commercial and energy ties with Sudan, has announced it has no plans to arrest Bashir, who was indicted by the ICC in March for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region.  In a diplomatic note seen by Reuters, Brussels asked Turkey to reconsider its invitation to Bashir to attend the OIC summit.

Reuters: President Bashir Tests New Obama Policy on Sudan.  With the news that President Omar al-Bashir plans to travel to Turkey and Egypt in the coming days, President Obama faces the first test of his recently announced Sudan policy. The Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, the Save Darfur Coalition, and the Genocide Intervention Network jointly released the following statement in reaction:  If President Obama and Secretary Clinton are unwilling to engage in personal diplomacy at the highest level to ensure that a wanted war criminal does not continue to travel with impunity to the capitals of key U.S. allies, it will send a powerful message that the administration isn't serious about implementing the Sudan strategy it just announced.  Jerry Fowler, President of the Save Darfur Coalition, added, "President Bashir's travel is a test of the administration's resolve on Sudan. If the President and Secretary of State let it happen without objection, Khartoum will get the message that the newly stated commitment to multilateral leadership is hollow. And for Turkey, it's an opportunity to align itself with the E.U., most Latin American countries, and the emerging practice in sub-Saharan Africa: Convey to Bashir that he shouldn't come unless he wants to risk arrest upon landing."