U.S. and European Media

September 20, 2023

Agence France Presse: UN will be 'vigilant' over Sudan's compliance on Darfur: Ban. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in an interview aired Thursday that the United Nations would be "vigilant" in ensuring Sudan complies with Security Council demands to allow humanitarian assistance to get to Darfur's refugees. Speaking on CNN television, Ban said he had been assured by Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir that the aid for the millions of suffering people in the war-torn region would flow smoothly. "He will faithfully comply with all of the Security Council resolutions and his government's own commitment," Ban said. "We will be very vigilant in urging him and in monitoring the implementation of his commitment." Ban also said that the deployment of a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping force in the region has made "credible progress.

Los Angeles Times: Darfur shows limits of diplomacy. Here on the territorial edge of one of the world's most intractable crises, U.N. peacemaker Jan Eliasson looks a gray-bearded tribal leader in the eye and tells him that there are moments in history that can make the difference between peace and more war. Talks are taking place aimed at solving the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, and the elder, called the makhtoum of Nyala, needs to persuade a rebel leader from his tribe to join in, Eliasson says. "If we miss this opportunity now, your people will languish in the camps, your land will be grabbed, your problems will continue," the tall Swedish diplomat says. "Take the chance now! The whole world wants peace in Darfur!" The makhtoum clutches his bamboo cane and lets Eliasson's plea hang in the dirt-floored room. A fly buzzes, then lands. "We are ready to speak to our sons," he finally says.

Associated Press: China Credited With Progress on Darfur A U.S. diplomat on Wednesday reported significant progress in Darfur peace talks and credited China with playing an important role. Andrew Natsios, President Bush's envoy to help solve the 4 1/2-year-old conflict in Sudan, said neighboring Libya also has begun to cooperate. The primary obstacles to peace talks now, he said, are some of the dozens of rebel groups, rather than President Omar al-Bashir's Sudanese government. Due to Chinese influence, Natsios said, Sudan's government has accepted a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in July to authorize a 26,000-member military and civilian peacekeeping operation. China has come under widespread criticism by aid groups for ignoring atrocities by the Sudanese government while spending billions on Sudanese oil. Natsios told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, that such behavior has changed. "I think the Chinese are like a locomotive that is speeding up," he said. "They are even doing things we didn't ask them to do."

Wall Street Journal: Berkshire Hathaway Cuts Petrochina Stake Again Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. further cut its stake in PetroChina Co., but remains the second-largest shareholder in China's biggest listed oil and gas producer by market capitalization. Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake to 8.93% from 9.07%, according to a filing by the U.S. company to the Hong Kong stock exchange Thursday. It was the third time the Omaha company has publicly disclosed a sale of PetroChina shares over the past two months. Berkshire Hathaway sold 28.0 million PetroChina H shares at an average price of 11.47 Hong Kong dollars each Sept. 6. According to a Dow Jones Newswires calculation, the shares were worth around 321.2 million Hong Kong dollars (US$41 million). Berkshire Hathaway didn't say who bought the shares.

International Herald Tribune:  U.N. peacekeeping chief tells French daily European support lacking for Darfur mission. The head of U.N. peacekeeping operations said in an interview published Wednesday that he fears a shortage of helicopters, trucks and other transport equipment for a new U.N. force in Darfur. Jean-Marie Guehenno also criticized a shortage of support from Europe for a 26,000-strong force for the troubled Sudanese region, and said the U.N. will have trouble mustering the police force it wants. "It's true that there aren't a lot of offers from Europe at the moment," Guehenno told Le Monde newspaper. "The Nordics are ready to commit, but we don't have concrete proposals for high-level engineering units — to dig wells, for example — or for transportation." The United Nations and the African Union have led months of difficult talks with Sudan's government on deployment of the joint AU-U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur, which was finally approved July 31. "We've received offers for most of its elements," Guehenno said. "But we'll have to see if these troops will have the needed equipment, especially for the first important waves to set up the mission without delay."

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