Wednesday, October 08, 2008

France extremely worried about Darfur - Sudan delegation meets French officials in Paris - Khartoum in all-out diplomatic offensive for close ties

'France extremely worried about Darfur situation' is the title of an Associated Press report from Paris today, published online at International Herald Tribune, France. Unfortunately, my laptop screen crashes each time I attempt to view the report. I never seem able to access and view AP's online reports. Right now, all I can find is this - from Google's newsreel:
France extremely worried about Darfur situation
International Herald Tribune, France - 17 hours ago
AP PARIS: France is extremely worried about the situation in Darfur and has urged Sudanese officials to freeze a government offensive in the province, ...
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Where's chubby cheeks fat-cat leader of SLM, Abdelwhaid al-Nur? Khartoum in all-out diplomatic offensive in visit seeking close Paris ties

The following report from Paris by SUNA dated Monday, October 6 2008 (via Daily Nation, Kenya Wednesday 08 October 2008) mentions "Khartoum in all-out diplomatic offensive in visit that seeks close Paris ties" and "support expressed by France to the Qatari initiative on arranging negotiations between the government and the armed movements". I wonder where chubby cheeks fat-cat leader of the SLM, Abdelwhaid al-Nur, is amongst all of this? He leads and directs the Darfur war by phone from Paris where he lives safely (and gets fat) in self imposed exile (coward).

Here is a copy of the report, entitled Sudan delegation meets French officials:
A high-level delegation, led by an adviser to Sudan’s President, Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, started talks on Monday in Paris with senior French officials on a number of issues of mutual concern.

Sudan’s Ambassador to France Dr Suleiman Mohamed Mustafa said in a statement to SUNA that the Sudanese-French talks will tackle issues related to the bilateral relations and the regional and international situations and Darfur file and the support expressed by France to the Qatari initiative on arranging negotiations between the government and the armed movements.

The ambassador added that the delegation despatched to Paris by President Omar al-Bashir would meet with a number of senior aides and advisers of the French President, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy.

He pointed out that the visit comes in the context of contacts and meetings between officials in the two countries and in reply to the visit by the French Presidential Adviser for African Affairs to the country as well as a continuation to the talks held by Minister of Foreign Affairs Deng Alor and Presidential Adviser Dr Mustafa Osman Ismail in France.

Meanwhile, the Representative of Sudan to the European Union has pointed out in an interview with the Sudan News Agency that the issue of the Sudan with the International Criminal Court (ICC) had been at the top of the Agenda of the summit deliberations at a recent meeting in Accra.

Ambassador Nageeb Al Khair pointed out that the meetings of the Permanent Representatives had considered the allegations levelled by the Hague Court as a threat to peace realisation in the Sudan and the region and called for cancellation of the indictment against President al-Bashir so as to give room for the political and diplomatic efforts to achieve just peace in Darfur.

He went on to add that the ACP Council of Ministers had endorsed the recommendation of the Permanent Representatives of the grouping and tabled it before the meeting of the joint meeting of the Foreign Ministers and the Council of Ministers, which amended the recommendation from cancellation of the indictment to freezing it without setting a time limit for this freezing.
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Related reports

October 08, 2008 - Sudan Watch: Does anybody know what's happened to Sudan Tribune? Sudan says US-led no-fly zone would ‘impede’ aid to Darfur

September 19, 2008 - Sudan Watch: France says will block any UN resolution seeking to suspend ICC indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir

Kouchner and SLM-Nur

Photo: The leader of the SLM, Abdelwhaid al-Nur, welcomed by the former French minister Bernard Kouchner, March 20, 2007. (AP via Sudan Tribune) Ref Sudan Watch archives June 21, 2007- French air bridge in Chad
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Snapshot of Google's newsreeel
Wednesday 08 October 2008 11:11 UK GMT


Ukraine may offer helicopters for Darfur - UN's Ban
Reuters UK, UK - 13 hours ago
By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine might offer badly needed helicopters to an international peacekeeping mission in Sudan's ...

Sudan reports surrender of rebel unit
The Associated Press - Oct 6, 2008
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — The Sudanese military says 116 Darfur rebels have surrendered, and the UN-African Union mission is trying to confirm the report. ...

Sudan military says 116 Darfur rebels have surrendered, handed ...
CanadaEast.com, Canada - Oct 6, 2008
AP KHARTOUM, Sudan - Reports from Sudan say a group of more than 100 Darfurian rebels has surrendered to government forces. The UN-African Union mission in ...

UNAMID vehicle carjacked within half kilometer of base
Sudan Tribune, Sudan - Oct 6, 2008
October 6, 2008 (NYALA) – An international police officer driving a vehicle for the UN-African Union hybrid peacekeeping operation in Darfur (UNAMID) was ...

Darfur: UN peacekeepers ambushed during patrol
UN News Centre - Oct 6, 2008
6 October 2008 – A group of peacekeepers serving with the joint United Nations-African Union operation in Darfur were ambushed this afternoon while on ...

Ahmadinejad calls ICC a tool of the superpowers
Tehran Times, Iran - Oct 5, 2008
TEHRAN (IRNA) -- President Mahmud Ahmadinejad here on Sunday denounced the unjust and heinous action of the International Criminal Court at The Hague in ...

Sudan Ready to Cooperate Without Preconditions Over ICC Warrant
Voice of America - Oct 5, 2008
By Peter Clottey Sudan's government says it is ready to work with the international community in a compromise to improve the security situation in the ...

Struggling Darfur troops need helicopters now
Independent Online, South Africa - Oct 3, 2008
Without helicopters from the international community, the joint African Union/United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur was "doomed to failure",

Russia: Statement by MFA Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko Regarding the ...
ISRIA (subscription), DC - Oct 3, 2008
The MI-8 helicopter (as reported earlier) crashed on September 29 in the south of Sudan's rebellious province of Darfur. It was carrying food supplies to ...

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