U.S. and European media

August 4, 2023

Reuters: Aid groups say Sudan took millions during expulsions. Aid groups on Tuesday said Sudan had taken millions of dollars from them in seized assets and enforced redundancy payments after expelling them in retaliation for a war crimes case against the president. The Sudanese humanitarian affairs ministry said it had acted within regulations. Sudan ousted 13 foreign aid groups and closed three local organizations in March, after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir to face charges of masterminding atrocities in Darfur. Three of the expelled groups told Reuters Sudanese authorities had taken about $5.2 million of their assets -- including computers, vehicles, stock and equipment -- and more than $9 million in payments to local staff who lost their jobs because of the government shut-down.

AP: Official: Tribesmen kill 185 in Sudan village. Armed tribesmen attacked a fishing village in southeast Sudan where hundreds of displaced people were camped near a river, leaving at least 185 people, most of them women and children, dead in the worst violence in three months, a southern Sudan official said Monday. A flare-up of tribal clashes in south Sudan over cattle and territory has left more 1,000 people killed so far this year. The violence is separate from the six-year-old conflict between rebels and government forces in Darfur, the vast western region of Sudan. U.N. and local officials expressed concern that the violence in the south, which has increasingly targeted women and children, could hamper preparation for national and presidential elections scheduled for April 2010.

BBC: Khartoum 'arming Sudan militias.' Maj-Gen Kuol Deim Kuol said his SPLA army was trying to disarm the local population but was being hampered by the continuing supply of weapons. At least 185 Lou Nuer people were killed in Jonglei state when reportedly attacked by Murle fighters on Sunday. Several hundred people have died in such clashes this year. Analysts say the violence comes at a critical time for Sudan, as tensions grow in the north-south unity government.

AFP: Rights groups urge scrutiny of Obama pick over Sudan role. Two human rights groups on Monday expressed concern about US President Barack Obama's nominee to a senior diplomatic post because of his links to a Chinese oil company with ties to Sudan's government. Genocide Intervention Network and Investors Against Genocide urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to question Robert Hormats closely about his relationship, as vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International, with PetroChina. "We are concerned about the instrumental role that Mr Hormats played in reassuring the public and the financial markets about PetroChina in preparation for that company's initial public offering," said Sam Bell of the Genocide Intervention Network and Eric Cohen of Investors Against Genocide.

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