From Volume 7, Issue 30 of EIR Online, Published July 22, 2008
Africa News Digest

China Is the Target of the British Anti-Sudan Campaign

PARIS, July 16 (EIRNS)—The Beijing correspondent of France's Le Figaro reports that China, which gets two-thirds of its oil from Sudan, yesterday expressed its "grave worries" and "doubts" about the decisions of the International Criminal Court to call for the prosecution of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir. The paper reports that "China is regularly accused, especially by so-called human rights organizations, of aggravating the Darfur crisis by selling weapons to Sudan, for which it is the main weapons supplier. Yesterday, China's special envoy to Darfur blasted the British Broadcasting Corp., accusing it of airing "misleading" reports. The BBC had claimed on July 14 that China was training the Sudanese "to pilot Chinese warplanes."

Le Figaro infers that the origin of the ICC attack on Bashir is Britain's frustration over having failed to oust President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and reports that the current crisis in Sudan "occurs only three days after Beijing and Moscow administered a defeat to the Westerners at the UN Security Council by vetoing the resolution calling for sanctions against Zimbabwe," and takes place in the context of massive Chinese investments in Africa, not only in oil and raw materials, but also in building infrastructure.

Meanwhile, a new report published by the World Bank acknowledges that China's massive investments in Africa effectively contribute to reducing the continent's poverty.

Bashir's Would-be Prosecutor Wants To Indict Everyone

July 18 (EIRNS)—After being rebuffed by the African nations, among others, in his call for the arrest of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, Luis Moreno Ocampo, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, attempted to soften the criticism against his move by saying he would also indict rebels fighting against the Sudan government, according to yesterday's New York Times. Such a move would create still more chaos.

Moreno Ocampo was supported by Richard Dicker, an official of the "Coalition for the International Criminal Court" and of Human Rights Watch, both of which are run by George Soros. Dicker seems to have been assigned to keep watch over Soros's Moreno Ocampo; news articles regularly quote Dicker as the authority on what Moreno Ocampo thinks. The New York Times quoted Dicker as saying that the prosecutor's remarks were "important in demonstrating the impartiality of his efforts to look at all alleged crimes by all parties to the conflict. He's not just going after the government; he's going after the rebel contingents."

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