U.S. and European media

March 23, 2023

Associated Press: Sudan prez threatens to expel election observers.  Sudan's president threatened Monday to expel foreign observers over their recommendations to delay the country's first multiparty elections in decades due in April.  The April vote - Sudan's first multiparty elections in decades - will see voters cast ballots for a national president, a southern president, local and national assemblies as well as governors.  President Omar al-Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in Darfur, is running for re-election. He issued his warning while campaigning in east Sudan.

Reuters: Sudan police surround Khartoum camp-residents.  Sudanese police demolished the homes and surrounded the residents of a refugee camp in the outskirts of Khartoum on Monday, just three weeks ahead of the first multi-party polls in 24 years, residents said. On Sunday night residents of Soba al-Shahanat, mostly from the troubled Darfur region, said they saw dozens of their homes and shops demolished by bulldozers.

Reuters: South Sudan refuses northern army vote escort.  South Sudan's dominant party on Tuesday accused the north of trying to skew April's national elections by asking the northern army to transport ballot papers to the semi-autonomous south.  April's multi-party presidential and legislative elections are Sudan's first such polls in 24 years. But accusations of fraud are already mounting and on Monday President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened to expel international electoral monitors.

The Pitt News: Sudanese reflect on violence. Isaac Leju-Loding left his mother, his brother and five sisters in Sudan never to return home. Leju-Loding worked with the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition and the Obama administration to organize a summit on Sudan at Carnegie Mellon this weekend. The summit, sponsored by the Emergency Coalition, featured presentations by members of President Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan.

Sudan Tribune: JEM slams Sudan Darfur peace accord ultimatum.  The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) today rejected an ultimatum made by the Sudanese government to reach a peace deal in Darfur. Last week, the Sudanese Presidential Adviser in charge of Darfur file, Ghazi Salah Al-Deen gave 2nd of April as deadline to conclude the talks that started earlier this year and led to a temporary ceasefire between the two sides.

The following commentary on the Huffington Post is by Robert Lawrence: Darfur Now More than Ever.In recent weeks several commentators have declared the Save Darfur movement variously as no longer useful, confused, or stuck in the past. Rather than being past its expiration date, the Save Darfur movement is needed now more than ever.  The Save Darfur movement is perhaps, along with the anti-apartheid movement, the most successful domestic mobilization on a non-military international issue in American history.

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].