China Urges Court to Rethink Sudan Arrest Warrant
China urged the International Criminal Court to rethink its arrest warrant for Sudan's president Tuesday in a sign of Beijing's skittishness over its already difficult relationship with the African country. China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's petroleum exports, has been repeatedly criticized for not using its economic leverage to apply more pressure on the government of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to end a civil war in his country's Darfur region.
In a strong and perhaps rare show of unity, all three candidates declared in a joint statement
released today by the Save Darfur Coalition, that waiting for the end of the Bush administration will do the Sudanese government no good. McCain, Clinton, and Obama said this:
Today, we wish to make clear to the Sudanese government that on this moral issue of tremendous importance, there is no divide between us. If peace and security for the people of Sudan are not in place when one of us is inaugurated as president on Jan.
Well, hello gorgeous! McCain has been enjoying the fruits of the Andre the Giant-sized Democratic primary but suddenly today, he's all over the map. (Not to mention a stop in my home state!) Here's what's going on with the Republican Senator:
- A sneak-preview of the New York Times Sunday magazine section, the huge article called "The McCain Doctrines," includes this quote from Max Cleland, Georgia’s former Democratic senator: “McCain is my friend and brother, and I love him dearly.
Sudan began its fifth census Tuesday and tragedy wasted no time. Armed raiders shot at least two people in a Darfur displacement camp yesterday. Residents at the camp were protesting the national census and saying they would refuse to take part because they did not trust government organizers.
At least 200,000 people have died, and more than 2.5 million have been displaced as a result of the
Darfur conflict in Sudan. In 2004, the Sudanese government troops, as well as independent, Arab, pro-government militias, began targeting discontent rebel forces and the black African population. The rebels sought to resist a Muslim central government, accusing them of neglecting the black African residents of the region in favor of the Arabs. It's thought that the government supports one of the militia groups fighting against the rebels, the Janjaweed, known for brutal acts of theft, rape, and slaughter, though the government denies this link.
