U.S. and European media

July 9, 2023

Reuters: Kidnappers demand ransom for Darfur aid staff: minister. Armed "bandits" have demanded a ransom for the release of two female aid workers kidnapped in Sudan's Darfur region and are negotiating with government officials, a minister said on Thursday. One of the abducted women, Sharon Commins, 32, from Ireland, has managed to phone officials in Dublin and North Darfur, and has confirmed she and her Ugandan colleague are in good health, said state minister for humanitarian affairs Abdel Baqi al-Jailani. It was the first confirmation that officials are negotiating with the armed men who seized the workers for Irish aid group GOAL from their compound in the north Darfur town of Kutum on Friday -- the third kidnapping of foreigners in the remote western region in four months. "They want money and negotiations are ongoing," al-Jailani told Reuters. "We now know the names of the people and their tribes."

VOA: Ghana Backs Blocking Arrest Warrant Against Sudanese President. Ghanian President John Atta Mills says African leaders are refusing to cooperate with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir because it is best for Africa. President Mills says last week's decision by the African Union to ignore the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for the Sudanese leader was hotly debated at the alliance meeting in Libya. "At the end, we arrived at a decision by consensus," he said. "And let me say that when you belong to a group where you believe in democracy, the decision taken by the group is binding on you, not that I dissented." The human rights group Amnesty International says the African Union decision undermines its credibility and shows disdain for those in Darfur who have suffered. By supporting a person facing an international arrest warrant for war crimes, the group says the African Union is making a mockery of itself as an international body.

CNN: Al-Bashir prosecutor pushes for genocide charge. The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court says he has evidence to prove Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is guilty of genocide, even though he is not charged with the crime.Luis Moreno-Ocampo spoke to CNN on Wednesday, two days after he appealed to the court to add genocide to the existing arrest warrant for al-Bashir. The court issued the warrant in March on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to his five-year campaign of violence in western Sudan's Darfur region. "The evidence shows it is genocide," Moreno-Ocampo said. It includes five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape. It also includes two charges of war crimes for intentionally directing attacks against civilians and for pillaging.

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