Arabic Media

October 24, 2022

Source: Addustour (Government-friendly, Jordanian daily enjoys wide circulation)
Headline: Al Qaddhafi Says Powerful Countries Responsible for Darfur Escalation

• Libyan leader told students at Cambridge University that the international community made a mistake by “politicizing” Darfur crisis
• He also accused powerful countries of seeking to control the region’s oil resources by escalating Darfur crisis
• The Libyan leader indicated that Darfur crisis is a “tribal, not a political, social, economic, or racist problem” and added it could have been resolved had the tribal system been allowed to work

Source: Al Khaleej (UAE daily, with over 80,000 in circulation)
Headline: Provisional Authorities in Darfur Accuse Government Forces of Taking Part in Attacks

• Provisional authorities in Darfur warned against a “likely” attack on Muhajiria area, as it monitored militia fighters gathering in South Sudan in recent days
• The secretary general of the provisional authorities indicated during a press conference in Khartoum that a government team that investigated attacks on Haskanita and Muhajiria saw signs of government forces participation in the violence in the two towns
• The official denied Sudan Liberation Movement – Minnawi groups made a decision to suspend working within Abuja agreement or to withdraw from the government

Source: Al Jazeera (Leading Arabic News Channel, headquartered in Qatar)
Headline: 6 Darfur Rebel Factions to Boycott Peace Talks in Libya

• Ahmed Abdul Shaffi, field leader of Sudan Liberation Movement, announced that his faction and 5 others that split from it decided to boycott peace talks in Libya because international intermediaries did not give the rebels enough time to form a united front and a common strategy
• He also objected to Libya as the meeting place saying that Libya is “directly involved in Darfur crisis”
• In addition to these groups, Abdul Wahid Nour had previously announced he would not attend the talks

Source: Al Jazeera (Leading Arabic News Channel, headquartered in Qatar)
Headline: Chad Rebels Declare Recently Signed Agreement Void and Announce a Return to War

• Change Forces Coalition, rebel group in eastern Chad, announced that recently signed agreement with Chadian government was void, but did not close the door at new negotiations
• It also criticized all the peace meetings in Libya as a charade to benefit Libyan and Sudanese regimes
• The Chadian rebel groups signed an preliminary peace agreement with the central government on October 3, 2023 but a follow up meeting on October 20 to finalize the agreement was postponed giving observers a reasons to worry about peace in eastern Chad especially after the recent deadly clashes there

Source: Asharq Al Awsat (Saudi-owned Pan-Arab daily with wide circulation)
Headline: Khartoum Protests UN Awarding of Construction Contract in Darfur to US Company
By: Salah Awwad and Khaled Mohmoud

• Sudanese government criticized UN award of a $250 million no-bid construction contract in Darfur to a US company ties to Lockheed Martin company
• Sudanese UN Ambassador Abdul Mahmoud Abdul Haleem told Asharq Al Awsat that Sudan was surprised at the UN failure to follow its own procedures and warned against another “oil for food” scandal
• Other countries also expressed surprise at the speed with which the contract was awarded to the American construction company
• UN spokesperson said upcoming contracts will respect UN procedure to avoid similar uproar

Read the above in Arabic.