U.S. and European media

January 21, 2023

Associated Press: Few protesters show up for Obama's inauguration. Huge crowds attended Barack Obama's inauguration, but one contingent common at most large Washington events was mostly absent - protesters. A smattering of groups with a wide range of issues lined the inaugural parade route Tuesday but most said they were there only to send messages to Obama, not to demonstrate. The group Coalition to Save Darfur [sic] circulated petitions at Metro stations asking Obama to make the troubled African region a top priority.

San Francisco Chronicle: U.S. expected to change course at U.N. The likelihood that Rice, an advocate of muscular diplomacy and a defender of human rights, will represent the United States at the United Nations has excited advocates of multilateralism who have felt shut out for eight years - especially veterans of the years-long campaign to bring international action to end the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, said the community of Darfur activists has long seen Rice in a positive light. "She's been tenacious and outspoken on Darfur," he said. "The U.N. has a role that it can play. And having an effective voice who cares deeply about Darfur at the U.N. is all to the good." On Thursday, Rice stood firm, calling the United Nations' half-strength mission in Darfur "patently unacceptable" and pledging the Obama administration would take an "early, close look" at Sudan.

Reuters: Thousands at risk as Darfur fighters prepare attack: UN. Darfur fighters who signed a peace deal with Sudan's government are poised to attack a strategic town, putting the lives of 30,000 civilians at risk, peacekeepers said on Sunday. Forces loyal to Minni Arcua Minnawi, a former rebel leader who is now a presidential assistant, were preparing a counter-attack on Muhajiriya after losing it to rival rebels last week, said the joint U.N./African Union mission (UNAMID). The threat of a new wave of violence raised tensions ahead of a decision by the International Criminal Court on whether to issue an arrest warrant against Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Associated Press: Sudan: Peacekeeping Force to Grow. A joint peacekeeping mission for the Darfur region in western Sudan will expand to its full strength of 26,000 soldiers and police officers by June, a top African Union official said Monday. The official, Ramtane Lamamra, said the increase would nearly double the mission's present strength. But United Nations officials said that in addition to adequate troop numbers, the mission desperately needed logistical help and a peace agreement. "There is no peace for us to keep," said Noureddine al-Mezni, a United Nations spokesman.

Reuters: Sudan opposition leader accused of Darfur rebel links. A detained Sudanese opposition leader could be tried over accusations of supporting a Darfur rebel movement, state media reported Monday. Hassan al-Turabi, an influential Islamist, was arrested last week after calling on Sudan's president to surrender himself to the International Criminal Court to face charges of orchestrating genocide in Darfur. The Sudanese Media Center quoted an unnamed security source as saying Turabi and his aides were supporting Darfur's insurgent Justice and Equality Movement financially and logistically.

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].