U.N. envoy says Khartoum was willing to talk

By Beatrice Mategwa

KHARTOUM, Sept 18 (Reuters) – The Sudanese government was willing to negotiate in the Abuja talks on the crisis in its troubled Darfur region, but the rebels were more difficult, U.N. special envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk said on Saturday.

Pronk welcomed the threat of sanctions on Sudan’s oil industry contained in a U.S. draft resolution circulated at the U.N. Security Council, but said it would be wrong to resort to sanctions until all other forms of persuasion had failed.

In an interview with Reuters, Pronk also said it was premature to talk of genocide in Darfur, but it was vital the government disarm the Arab militias accused of terrorising African villagers in the vast, arid region of western Sudan.

The number of monitors being sent to the region should be raised to at least 5,000 to give displaced villagers confidence, he added.

Khartoum had become more cooperative and was still willing to talk to the rebels, Pronk said. “I do have the impression that the government was quite forthcoming. They accepted the talks without any precondition. They’ve accepted the agenda, they accepted any venue.

“The rebels were a bit more difficult – they had preconditions, but anyway they came – and at a certain moment perhaps the rebels felt it was no longer necessary to negotiate,” Pronk said.

The talks, held in the Nigerian capital with African Union mediators, were designed to end a 19-month conflict in Darfur, scene of what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in which 50,000 people have been killed.

The United States has accused Khartoum of backing Arab militias known as Janjaweed, who have been blamed for atrocities that have forced more than a million African villagers to flee their homes in the region.

Sudan has denied arming the Janjaweed and said it regards them as outlaws, but Pronk said it must do more to stop them.

“Sudan has not done enough in order to stop the militia … disarm them or just stop them or to make it impossible for the militia to attack people.”

“I still do not know whether the government doesn’t want to do it or whether the government is afraid to do it or cannot do it. But they have to do it. That’s the major issue.”

SUDAN BLAMES USA

Sudan blamed the United States for the failure of the Abuja talks, saying U.S. statements had stiffened the rebel stand, but Washington rejected the charge. The rebels said Khartoum had refused to accept key demands including disarming the Janjaweed.

Pronk said the talks, which ended without result on Friday, should not yet be considered to have failed. The African Union says they will resume in October.

Pronk said it was too early to use the word “genocide” to describe what was happening in Darfur. “I feel that the word is being used too fast,” he said.

Oil sanctions might hit fuel supplies and harm efforts to get food to the people of Darfur, he said.

“Today it’s not time for sanctions, it’s time for pressure. If you use the threats with the sanction element or pressure, then I’m with you.”

Imposing sanctions would show the international community had given up, Pronk said. There were other ways of trying to resolve the crisis – sending in African troops, European police, aid, and pressuring both sides to show restraint.

Repeating an earlier call for more outside monitors in Darfur, he said advice from U.N. military experts led him to think “we need at least 5,000 persons.”

“We need people who are being seen by the people in Darfur that they are present … you need thousands.”

The United Nations has proposed sending about 3,000 AU observers and troops and 1,100 police.