UNSG – Qatar joins China and allied Sudan on the issue of Darfur
Jan 11, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — When Qatar joined the U.N. Security Council January 1, some hoped the country’s diplomats would be amenable to compromise on issues separating America and the Arab world. But in one of its first acts as a council member, Qatar this week joined China and allied with the government of Sudan on the issue of Darfur.
American diplomats were “surprised” by the move, which would not “bode well” for the future, a State Department official told The New York Sun yesterday, asking not to be identified because, he said, Washington was still involved in sensitive bilateral negotiations on the issue with Qatar, a strong ally in the Persian Gulf.
Others on the 15-member council also tried to gauge the depth of Qatar’s solidarity with Sudan. “We will continue the discussions soon,” Greece’s U.N. ambassador, Adamantios Vassilakis, who heads the council’s sanctions committee on Sudan, told the Sun.
The council is expected to discuss Darfur openly later this month, while Sudan prepares to assume the presidency of the African Union. The African Union commands the only U.N.-sanctioned foreign troop contingency present in the region, where government-backed atrocities were defined by Washington as “genocide.”
The report by a panel of U.N. experts received by the Sudan council committee on Monday included allegations that, in defiance of council resolutions, the government of Sudan failed to stop the flow of arms to Darfur militias, and that it deployed additional aircrafts, including attack helicopters in Darfur.
The report, seen by the Sun, included a recommendation to establish Darfur as an area in which Sudan would be banned from flying military aircrafts. It also called for targeted sanctions against individuals in Sudan’s government.
Qatar and China raised objections when Mr. Vassilakis suggested the council adopt a statement supporting the panel report. According to one diplomat present at the closed-door session, the Qatari representative argued against calling the report “professional,” and objected to passing it on to the full council.
Qatar “has to present the Arab view,” the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. He noted that Qatar’s predecessor as the Arab council representative, Algeria, also often sided with Sudan. Sudan has a strong presence in consultations of the Arab group at the United Nations. The Qatari representatives are also new to the Security Council traditions, the diplomat added, and for that reason have reacted too aggressively to a simple procedural issue.
Qatar’s U.N. ambassador, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, yesterday observed the first of four days of Eid al-Adha, a Muslim feast of sacrifice, and was unavailable for comment.
The emirate’s council membership was supported by Washington, and even Israel broke its traditional silence last year when its U.N. ambassador, Dan Gillerman, publicly expressed support for Qatar, citing semi-official relations it maintains with Jerusalem.
(The New York Sun)