UK’s Blair calls for extended sanctions against Sudan

March 25, 2007 (BERLIN) — British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Sunday for a new U.N. resolution expanding sanctions against Sudan and said a no-fly zone over Darfur should be considered, as the European Union stepped up condemnation of the “intolerable” violence in the region.

“We need to get a new resolution in the United Nations which extends the sanctions regime,” he told reporters after a European Union summit.

“We need to consider, in my view, a no-fly zone,” he said. “The actions of the Sudanese government are completely unacceptable.”

Blair said E.U. leaders had spent a “significant” part of their 50th anniversary talks discussing the “intolerable” Darfur situation.

Efforts to impose tougher U.N. sanctions on Sudan have made little progress in the face of Chinese objections. Military experts have also expressed doubt about the feasibility of imposing a no-fly zone over a such a vast and remote area in central Africa.

Blair was joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, in raising the possibility of tougher sanctions. Calling the suffering of the people of Sudan “unbearable,” Merkel said the U.N. should consider extending sanctions if Sudan fails to uphold U.N. resolutions aimed at stemming fighting.

The two leaders spoke a day after Sudanese troops barred the U.N. humanitarian chief from visiting a refugee camp in the Darfur region whose residents have been raped and attacked by gunmen suspected of belonging to pro-government militias.

“Even today, our thoughts are with the people in … Darfur. The suffering there is unbearable,” Merkel said at a celebration of the European Union’s 50th birthday in Berlin.

“We call on the Sudanese President (Omar) al-Bashir to finally accept the terms of the U.N. Resolution, and I say openly: we must consider stronger sanctions,” said Merkel.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in four years of fighting in Sudan, and the pro-government janjaweed militias are accused of widespread atrocities against ethnic civilians.

Blair met with Ishag Mekki, from a London-based group representing survivors of the violence. Mekki welcomed the E.U.’s support, but said “we do not statements, we need action.”

On Saturday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon failed to persuade Egypt to push Sudan’s leader to accept a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the region.

(AP)