U.S. and European media

March 30, 2023

Agence France-Presse: Obama's envoy due in Sudan this week: officials. US President Barack Obama's special envoy to Sudan, retired air force general Scott Gration, is to arrive this week on his first visit to the country, local officials said on Monday. "Gration will arrive in the middle of the week on his first official visit" since Obama named him to the post earlier this month, one official said, adding that Gration will visit Khartoum, Darfur and south Sudan and leave on April 11. Gration was nominated as the United States ratcheted up pressure on Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir following his expulsion of international aid groups from Darfur that worsened the humanitarian crisis.

Associated Press: Sudan's Leader Arrives in Qatar. Qatar's leader embraced Sudan's president in a red-carpet welcome Sunday as he arrived to attend an Arab summit in his most brazen act of defiance against an international arrest warrant on charges of war crimes in Darfur. For host Qatar -- a key U.S. ally that is home to American warplanes and more than 5,000 U.S. troops -- the Arab League meeting beginning Monday also showcases the nation's desire to stake out a prominent role in regional affairs even at the risk of angering the West. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said that Bashir should be arrested once he leaves Sudanese airspace, but it was unclear whether any military forces were monitoring his flight. The Sudanese government's battle against rebels in the western Darfur region has killed up to 300,000 people and driven 2.7 million from their homes since 2003, according to the United Nations.

Voice of America: Darfur Advocates Mobilize to Counter Bashir Snub of Hague Indictment. With moves underway at this week's Arab League summit in Doha, Qatar to stifle the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, government officials and anti-genocide groups around the world are urging nations to abide by court's directive and try to overturn Sudan's expulsion of international aid organizations to avert a deeper humanitarian disaster. "The indictment itself didn't force him to expel these aid organizations or force him to go on a tour to try to recruit people to support him getting a deferral of the indictment or dropping the indictment completely," [Genocide Intervention Network executive director Mark Hanis] said. As for the consequences of Sudan's expulsion of nongovernmental aid agencies (NGOs) that administered relief aid to millions of internally displaced Sudanese in regions throughout the country, Hanis says the international assessment of proportions of the aid deficit are going to change over time.

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