EU foreign ministers mull UN sanctions against Sudan
VALKENBURG, Netherlands, Sep 3, 2004 (AP) — European Union foreign ministers were considering Friday whether to push for U.N. sanctions against Sudan , for its lack of action in ending the fighting in its western Darfur region.
Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, whose country holds the E.U. presidency, said two-day talks of E.U. ministers were taking a first look at a U.N. report that called on Sudan ‘s government to accept a much larger international monitoring force in the Darfur region.
“The situation continues to give rise to concern,” Bot told reporters. “We still see that security is not sufficiently guaranteed, nor have the Janjaweed rebels been put under effective control.”
Janjaweed Arab militias are blamed for violence that has killed some 30,000 people, and forced over 1.2 million to flee their homes in Darfur, creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The Sudanese government denies accusations it backs the Janjaweed to put down black African rebel groups that have been fighting government forces since 2003.
U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who visited Darfur last week, said the Sudanese government “has not done nearly enough to disarm the Janjaweed rebels.”
“Sanctions are on the table,” Straw said.
Bot said U.N. envoy Jan Pronk, who wrote the U.N. report, had concluded the time for sanctions “had not yet arrived and that we should give the government a few more weeks.”
He said however that any E.U. decision would have to move to “keep up the pressure on the Sudanese authorities and on the rebels.”
Saturday, the 25 E.U. foreign ministers will discuss possible sanctions against Sudan over the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Darfur is also likely to be discussed on Saturday when E.U. ministers meet their 15 counterparts from ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, which is seeking regional economic and political cooperation.
In his report, Pronk called for an expanded mandate for the monitoring force in Darfur. He did not specify how large the force should be, but a U.N. plan presented to the African Union called for about 3,000 peacekeepers.
The African Union currently has about 80 military observers in Darfur, protected by just over 300 soldiers, monitoring a rarely observed cease-fire signed in April.
July 30, the U.N. Security Council gave Sudan 30 days to improve humanitarian access and rein in the Janjaweed, or face punitive economic and diplomatic measures.