U.S. and European media

February 9, 2023

Washington Post: Sudan Retains Clout While Charges Loom. In the coming weeks, judges from the International Criminal Court will decide whether to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of genocide and other war crimes in a military campaign that has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Darfur since 2003. But Bashir's government is hardly being treated like an international pariah. "It's a strange reality," Rice said in an interview, citing Sudan's diplomatic clout here. But Rice added that the diplomatic outreach to Sudan should not be seen as wavering on Darfur. "We are going to be very strong and energetic in an effort to deal effectively with this ongoing genocide and to make it very clear that the behavior of the government of Sudan is simply unacceptable and something we condemn," she said. "There is no ambiguity or gray in that. "

Reuters: Sudan govt to meet Darfur rebels next week-rebels. Darfur rebels on Saturday said they were preparing for talks with Sudan's government in Qatar on Monday, the first time both sides will have met officially since 2007, possibly paving the way for full peace negotiations. But talks between insurgent Justice and Equality Movement group (JEM) and government officials have fallen apart before, and the meeting will not involve other influential rebels who are refusing to talk to Khartoum.  Many observers said the government's initiative was a bid to deflect pressure from the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who has asked judges to issue an arrest warrant for Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accusing him of orchestrating genocide in Darfur. The global court's judges are expected to rule on his request within weeks.

MetroWest Daily News (Mass.): Marlborough couple honored as "Darfur Heroes". Millions of people with comfortable lives view the genocide in Darfur with mixed feelings of horror and helplessness. But in 2007, Luke and Jennifer Reynolds decided to get outside their comfort zone and commit to helping that troubled African region. With no outside backing and no connections, the Marlborough couple compiled an anthology of essays called "Dedicated to the People of Darfur: Writings on Fear, Risk and Hope." They encouraged 40 noted authors to contribute the essays, including Pulitzer Prize winners Frank McCourt, Jane Smiley and James McPherson and Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer. Rutgers University Press will publish the anthology in October, and its royalties will go to the Save Darfur Coalition, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the genocide and atrocities in Darfur.

Reuters: Sudan expels reporter over Darfur, arms: US. Sudan has expelled a foreign journalist for reporting on the country's Darfur crisis and arms industry, U.S. diplomats said on Monday. Canadian-Egyptian reporter Heba Aly, who wrote for U.S. news agency Bloomberg, the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor newspaper and the United Nations news service IRIN, left the country last week. She told colleagues that officers from Sudan's security service contacted her and ordered her to leave days after she made enquiries about a Khartoum-based arms manufacturer.

The Darfur Daily News is a service of the Save Darfur Coalition. To subscribe to the Daily News, please email [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Roberts at (202) 478-6181, or [email protected].