The Darfur Consortium

An African and International
Civil Society Action for Darfur

 
 
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Members' Publications

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August 16

Source: Al Ahram (government-friendly, Egyptian daily with over 1 million in circulation)
Headline: Ban Ki-Moon to Visit Sudan in September and Minnawi Faction Accuses African Union of Abandoning Abuja Agreement
By: Tareq Fathi

Ban Ki-Moon told journalists during a luncheon with 15 Security Council members that:

  • He will visit Sudan soon
  • He wants to speed up the deployment of hybrid force
  • He considers the Darfur hybrid force a top priority in the upcoming months
  • He promised to oversee the negotiations personally
  • He will also visit Chad and Libya during his trip to Sudan

Meanwhile, Sudan Liberation Movement – Minnawi faction accused AU of abandoning Abuja agreement after Saeed Djinnit considered the agreement an obstacle to peace.

Source: Al Rai (Government-friendly, Jordanian daily enjoys wide circulation)
Headline: British Advertising Regulator Says Darfur Deaths in Ads Campaign not Factual

British advertising regulator criticized the Save Darfur Coalition for claiming 400,000 have died in Darfur.  Matt Wilson said:

  • The number is unsubstantiated, as there is no reliable information to back it up
  • It is unfortunate when one is dealing with atrocities because they did occur, but
  • For advertising, you cannot state something as a fact when it is not

Meanwhile, the Sudanese government claims that only 9,000 died since the start of the conflict in 2003, but most experts put the number at 200,000 people.
At the same time, Ban Ki-Moon announced:

  • He will visit Sudan soon
  • He wants to speed up the deployment of hybrid force
  • He considers the Darfur hybrid force a top priority in the upcoming months
  • He promised to oversee the negotiations personally

Source: Addustour (Government-friendly, Jordanian daily enjoys wide circulation)
Headline: Rebel Leader Wants Troops from Western Countries and Ban Ki-Moon to Visit Sudan

Ban Ki-Moon told journalists during a luncheon with 15 Security Council members that:

  • He will visit Sudan soon
  • He wants to speed up the deployment of hybrid force
  • He considers the Darfur hybrid force a top priority in the upcoming months
  • He promised to oversee the negotiations personally

Meanwhile, Sudan Liberation Movement leader Abdul Wahid Mohamed Nour said:

  • The hybrid force must have Western troops too
  • Nour seems to have dropped two of his previous conditions:
  • A no-fly zone over Darfur
  • The creation of an oil-for-food program for Darfur
  • Nour now wants the hybrid force to disarm the militia and chase squatters from land abandoned by its owner who fled for their lives after repeated militia attacks

Read the above in Arabic.