Arabic Media

July 16, 2023

Source:Al Ahram (government-friendly, Egyptian daily with over 1 million in circulation)

Headline: Darfur Forces: Conflicting Statements and Unclear Future

By: Tariq Fathi

United Nations Security Council’s decision to delay deployment of Darfur hybrid force added to doubt about the much awaited peace and Sudan’s unconditional acceptance:

• Who will protect the civilian population for the next six months
• What nationalities will the force be: only Africans or from other parts of the world
• Who will lead the force
• Who is right: President Omar Al Bashir who continues to state his opposition to United Nations leadership of the hybrid force publicly or United Nations officials who continue to say that he accepted the deployment unconditionally

Source:Addustour (Government-friendly, Jordanian daily enjoys wide circulation)

Headline: Sudan Defends Its Human Rights Record at UN Human Rights Commission

Abdul Dayem Zamrawi, Sudan’s representative at United Nations Human Rights Commission maintains:

• Central government in Sudan protects civilian population in Darfur
• Darfur population that lives in areas controlled by government forces enjoy many rights such as higher education and free press
• Those who live in rebel controlled areas endure lack of basic rights because of continued fighting and violence, which prevents the government from:
• Providing the basic rights to the population
• He blamed foreign intervention on continued violence, and
• Rebels’ violence and presence, but
• Ignored government support of brutal militia

Source:Al Riyadh (Government-friendly Saudi daily with wide circulation)

Headline: Washington Insists on Resolving Darfur Crisis as Condition to Normalizing Relations with Khartoum

By: Khaled Saad

United States envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios announced that US:

• Will fund 26% of hybrid force expenses
• Will pressure rebel groups to join peace negotiations, but
• Will support African Union and United Nations peace road map in Darfur, but
• Insists on resolving Darfur crisis before improving relations with Khartoum

Source:Al Jazeera (Leading Arabic News Channel, headquartered in Qatar)

Headline: Natsios Accused Sudan of Bombing Civilian Targets in Darfur

During a press conference, United States envoy Andrew Natsios:

• Acknowledged progress made in facilitating the work of humanitarian aid groups in Darfur
• But added that US will not table sanction threat till hybrid forces are deployed
• He accused the Sudanese government of bombing civilian populations in Darfur and urged it to stop it immediately

Meanwhile international conference on Darfur will be held in Libya on Sunday and Monday and will be headed by African Union and United Nations:

• It will evaluate peace progress
• It will not include rebel groups, but
• It will assess the possibility of starting peace negotiations between the rebel groups and Sudan’s central government

Source:Al Masry Al Youm (Independent Egyptian Daily with Increasing circulation)

Headline: Cooperation between Egypt and Sudan to Prevent Illegal Immigration to Israel

By: Juma Hamdallah and Nuha Al Hannawi

Sudanese government acknowledged that it does not have much control over illegal immigration into Israel; nevertheless it indicated that it is working with Egypt to stop it. It stated that:

• Most of those who entered into Israel have lived in Egypt for while
• Central government has little control over those who left the country to go to Egypt
• Human trafficking mafia is taking advantage of these desperate illegal immigrants
• Israel is using these illegal immigrants as cheap labor
• The UN refugee commission of failing to come to the aid of these immigrant

Source:Al Ahram (government-friendly, Egyptian daily with over 1 million in circulation)

OpEd Piece: Darfur Crisis Awaits International Commitment

Despite efforts by international community and Sudan’s neighboring countries, such as Egypt and Libya, to resolve Darfur crisis, this crisis seems destined to continue spiraling out of control because of splintering rebel groups and their inability to unite or present a common platform to start peace talks with the central government in Khartoum. Libya International Conference, which will be attended by 18 countries and international organizations, is another example of the international attention to the crisis but the absence of influential rebel groups will have serious impact on its success.

Source:Addustour (Government-friendly, Jordanian daily enjoys wide circulation)

Headline: Sudanese Refugees Protest against Their Possible Deportation from Israel

Tens of Sudanese refugees held demonstrations in front of prime minister’s office to:

• Protest their deportation from Israel
• Urged the prime minister to reconsider decision to send them back to Egypt
• They held signs saying “Sudanese refugees are not criminal” and “no deportation”

Source:Al Riyadh (Government-friendly Saudi daily with wide circulation)

Headline: International Conference on Darfur Starts

African Union and United Nations co-chair the international conference on Darfur, which is held in Libya and is attended by main western powers and Sudan’s neighboring countries. It will look into:

• Ending the political process and regional efforts to convince different rebel groups to choose peace
• Launching peace negotiation between rebel groups and Sudan’s central government

Source:Al Jazeera (Leading Arabic News Channel, headquartered in Qatar)

Headline: International Conference on Darfur Continues and Justice and Equality Faction Signs Agreement with Khartoum in Cairo

A faction of Justice and Equality Movement signed an agreement with the government that:

• Will enable faction leadership to return to Sudan
• Will enable refugees to return to their villages

The agreement was signed by Mutraf Sidiq from the government and Ibrahim Yahia Abdul Rahman from the group. The main Justice and Equality group, which headed by Khalil Ibrahim criticized the agreement as another case of government bad faith. Meanwhile, Libya International Conference started on Sunday and will look into:

• Ending the political process and regional efforts to convince different rebel groups to choose peace
• Launching peace negotiation between rebel groups and Sudan’s central government

Read the above in Arabic.