Britain may consider new UN sanctions, if Darfur talks still staled
Feb 14, 2006 (ABUJA) — British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned parties involved in Sudan’s Darfur peace talks that they were making too little progress and Britain would consider pursuing new U.N. sanctions if no headway was made.
Straw’s comments to Sudanese government and rebel delegates echoed frustration expressed by the African Union (AU) and the United Nations.
“Progress in the talks has been far too slow,” Straw told delegates on a visit to the talks in the Nigerian capital, adding that neither side had done enough to observe a ceasefire in the western Sudanese region.
The AU, which has about 7,000 peacekeepers in Darfur, says it hopes a peace deal will be reached soon but has signalled that its patience with the Abuja negotiators is limited.
Civil war has raged in Darfur since February 2003, causing tens of thousands of deaths and displacing millions of people from their homes.
It began when rebels, complaining of marginalisation, rose up against the government, which responded by using troops and Arab militia in a campaign described as genocide by the United States.
The AU said in a statement on Tuesday that substantial progress had been made in talks about wealth sharing, some progress was noted on security while intensive discussions were under way on power sharing, the most problematic area.
Straw warned of possible sanctions against individuals responsible for gross human rights violations or for blocking the peace process.
He said Britain would add names to a list of people from both sides already before the U.N. Security Council’s Sanctions Committee for consideration.
“Nor do we rule out additional U.N. sanctions against either the government of Sudan or the (rebel) movements if they fail to make progress,” Straw said.
Britain believes that, while the Sudanese government bears responsibility for the security of its citizens there, it is the rebels who have been most guilty of recent attacks.
“Our patience is not unlimited,” Straw said, adding that if no agreement is reached soon, Britain and other countries will start looking at alternatives.
“You may well find that such alternatives leave some of the parties here and the absent leaders with a smaller role to play,” he said, referring to the rebel commanders who were not present at the talks.
Straw also announced that Britain will give a further 1 million pounds ($1.74 million) to the African Union for its work in supporting the peace process.
(Reuters)