Sudan envoy criticizes UN resolution on Darfur violence
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
UNITED NATIONS, July 30, 2004 (AP)–Sudan ‘s U.N. Ambassador on Friday said his government was working to end the violence in the nation’s violence-wracked Darfur region and warnings such as the recently passed U.N. Security Council resolution would harm its efforts.
“The United Nations by adopting this resolution does not serve the humanitarian case,” Erwa said during the council debate.
The Security Council on Friday adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution that threatened diplomatic and economic punishment if Sudan fails to stop atrocities in the Darfur region where thousands have been killed by Arab militias.
Sudan defended its efforts and called on the international community to send more help.
“The government has already sent some Janjaweed members to court,” Sudan ‘s Deputy Information Minister Abdel Dafe Khattib told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Sudan . “The government is very serious and is doing its best, and its resources are very limited.”
The U.S. failed to get unanimous Security Council support for the resolution as China and Pakistan abstained, insisting the Sudanese government is making an effort to rein in the Arab militias – known as Janjaweed – and needs more time before facing the possibility of sanctions.
The U.S. said the resolution, which demands that Sudan comply with its obligations in 30 days or face the possibility of further measures, would serve as an important warning to the Khartoum government.
The U.S. and other supporters insisted the resolution maintains the threat of sanctions if not the word itself.
Germany’s Ambassador Gunter Pleuger pressed for “speedy adoption” of the resolution, saying it was important to send a strong message to the Sudanese government.
The U.N. estimates up to 30,000 people have been killed in the western Darfur region, more than a million driven from their homes, and some 2.2 million left in urgent need of food and other aid as pro-government Arab militias waged a brutal campaign to drive out black African farmers in a 17-month conflict over dwindling resources. The U.S. Congress has labeled the atrocities genocide.