U.S. and European media

October 15, 2023

Agence France-Presse: Top UN Peacekeeper Says World Has Prolonged Darfur Conflict. The commander of the U.N.-led peacekeeping force in Darfur says mistakes by the international community have prolonged the conflict and that there is no immediate prospect for peace. General Martin Agwai's comments come as the Sudanese government is set to launch an initiative on resolving the war, hoping to defer possible international legal proceedings against President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes. "Honestly, I do not see any prospects for immediate peace in Darfur because there are too many interests," Agwai told AFP in an interview at the headquarters of the U.N.-African Union mission in El-Fasher.

Reuters: Sudan completes probe into Darfur militia leader. Sudanese prosecutors have completed an investigation into a militia leader accused of war crimes in Darfur and two other men, the country's justice undersecretary said on Tuesday. Abdel Daim Zumrawi told Reuters lawyers had finished gathering evidence against Ali Kushayb and the other men, linked to "killing and looting" in Sudan's violent west, but said it was still unclear whether or when they might stand trial.

Reuters: Iran, Russia supplying arms to Sudan -rights group. Iran and Russia joined China and nine other states as direct weapons suppliers for Sudan after a U.N. embargo was imposed in 2004, a human rights group said in a report published on Tuesday. China's position as Khartoum's top arms supplier is well known and has long been criticized by human rights activists and Western governments. Other suspected weapons suppliers, such as Iran, are rarely mentioned. In a report dismissed by Sudan, the New York- and Washington-based activist group Human Rights First said it used public databases to compile data on weapons transfers to Sudan.

Reuters: Qatar says Darfur mediators will meet in Doha. A Qatari minister said on Tuesday that Arab and African ministers would meet in the Qatari capital to decide their next steps in mediating a peace agreement for Sudan's western Darfur region. Ahmad al-Mahmood, minister of state for foreign affairs, told reporters after a trip to Sudan that the Sudanese government had given positive indications, but the mediators had not yet spoken to any of the Darfur rebel groups. The Arab League has asked Qatar to arrange a Sudanese peace conference in Doha, bringing together the government and the rebels who took up arms against Khartoum in 2003.

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