U.S. and European media

October 8, 2023

Sudan Tribune: Save Darfur Coalition wants US to fight debt relief to Sudan.  The US-based Save Darfur Coalition is making a new push to deny debt relief to Sudan. The activists are aiming to counter lobbying by Sudan at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank held this past week in Istanbul, Turkey.  The effort comes after a string of diplomatic victories this year for Sudan's government, which include rallying support against the International Criminal Court, drawing the United States into a more open stance, and successful state visits to numerous African countries by Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. Last July, Japan wrote off $28 million of Sudan's debt.  Sudan's external debt--totalling some US$34 billion, according to an IMF estimate current to the end of 2008--is the second most in Africa. In a bid to reduce these obligations, Dr. Sabir Mohammed Hassan, Governor of the Central Bank, traveled with Dr. Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz, Minister of Finance, to meet with World Bank and IMF officials at the sidelines of the summit.

BBC: Mbeki to report on Darfur abuses. An African Union panel is due to hand over a report aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki led the inquiry and will deliver his findings to the AU in Ethiopia. The bloc set up a commission after a global arrest warrant was issued for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of war crimes in Darfur. The UN says fighting in the region since 2003 has led to 300,000 deaths.

People's Daily Online: UN official acknowledges reduction of violence and armed conflicts in Darfur. A UN official on Wednesday acknowledged reduction in the level of violence and armed conflicts in Sudan's western region of Darfur, which is suffering a civil war since 2003. "In Darfur, the reduction in opened armed conflicts is a welcome development and we remain hopeful that this trend will continue," said Peter De Clercq, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sudan, in a press conference at the headquarters of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on Wednesday. "However, it should not blind us to the continuing challenges faced by civilians who continue to live in displacement, not least of which insecurity from isolated attacks and banditry," he added. 

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].