U.S. and European Media

August 14, 2023

Associated Press: 6 African Nations Pledge Darfur Troops. Six African countries have given written pledges to contribute more than 12,000 troops to an African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur, a senior African Union official said Monday. Pledges received from Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Malawi and Senegal amount to 12,800 troops, said Mahmoud Kane, head of the African Union's Darfur Integrated Task Force. ''We believe it is a positive response from Africa,'' said Kane. Tanzania, Cameroon and Uganda, also pledged troops but they did not indicate exactly how many soldiers they planned to contribute, Kane said. Kane said that the six countries will also provide support services for their troops, including mechanics and medical staff. Ethiopia has also said it can provide a field hospital with 60 staff members, Kane said. African countries had given enough pledges to make up the joint U.N.-African Union operation of 20,000 peacekeepers and 6,000 civilian police for Darfur that the U.N. Security Council authorized on July 31, African Union Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said Sunday.

Reuters: Darfur Arab rebels say captured 12 Sudan soldiers. An obscure mostly Arab Darfur rebel group said on Monday it had kidnapped 12 Sudanese soldiers and challenged the government to stop mobilising militias to counter the four-year-old revolt in western Sudan. The Democratic Popular Front Army (DPFA) said in a statement sent to Reuters that among the captured was officer Ali Mohamed. By way of proof they offered his military I.D. number, 44206. "This is the first time we have captured government soldiers," DPFA Secretary-General Osama Mohamed al-Hassan told Reuters. "We have been marginalised by the government. The government took advantage of our sons and paid them and gave them arms and used them to fight against others," he said. He was referring to the Popular Defence Forces, mobilised by the government to quell revolts in Darfur and during decades of civil war in the south. "We want them to stop the PDF, to leave people to live their lives and be able to farm and feed their cattle and eat and live in peace," he said, adding the group would continue to fight the government. Darfur experts called the DPFA stance significant. "This group is vitally important because it represents a young generation of Darfurian Arabs who refuse to die for a government 1,000 miles away that has always neglected all Darfurians -- Arab and non-Arabs," said Julie Flint, co-author of a book on Darfur, who has met the group's leader. Sudan expert Alex De Waal said the government may be worried by this development. "It's very significant. Without the Arab militia the government cannot remain in Darfur." But he cautioned not all Arab tribes in Darfur were now anti-government.

Associated Press: China Is Becoming an Issue in 2008 Race. When Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said in a recent debate that ''the center of gravity in this world is shifting to Asia,'' he had one nation clearly in mind. ''China is rising and it's not going away,'' said the senator from Illinois. ''They're neither our enemy nor our friend. They're competitors.'' Candidates have been raising, in debates and campaign stops, what they see as China's failure to live up to its duties as an emerging global superpower. Bashing China might win votes, the reasoning goes, but newly elected presidents soon realize that a more careful tone is needed to deal with the complex U.S.-China relationship. Still, as the 2008 campaign heats up, criticism has outweighed calls for engagement. A recurring theme has been that China must do more to use its oil-buying leverage with Sudan to end rape and murder in Darfur.

Los Angeles Times: Romney portfolio has link to Sudan. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney divested from companies doing business in Iran, but he still holds stock in an oil company that does business in Sudan -- where the government is accused of sponsoring genocide -- his financial disclosure report filed Monday shows. Romney, the wealthiest presidential contender, is worth $190 million to $250 million, with investments spread among stocks, treasuries and high-end funds. According to the report, Romney holds stock in China Petroleum and Chemical (also known as SinoPec), an oil supply company that has dealings in Sudan, according to an organization dedicated to ending the genocide in the African nation's Darfur region. President Bush has denounced the killings of tens of thousands of civilians in Darfur and declared that genocide is being committed. California and early-voting Iowa are among the states where officials have urged divestment. Romney's stock in the company is valued at $50,000 to $100,000, and generated income of no more than $15,000 -- a tiny fraction of his portfolio. (The federal reports give ranges rather than specific values of holdings.) The Washington-based Genocide Intervention Network has said the Chinese company has major operations in Sudan and is one of the companies from which people should divest if they are concerned about genocide in Darfur. "Citizens have to do everything to take a stand against this genocide, and presidential candidates have to take a leading role," said Adam Sterling of the Genocide Intervention Network.

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