UK Blair pushes for no-fly zone over Sudan’s Darfur – report
Dec 12, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — Tony Blair has backed imposing a no-fly zone over Sudan’s Darfur region while military planners in Washington are also developing plans for air strikes and a naval blockade to pressure Khartoum to stop the violence, the Financial Times reported.
The British prime minister declared his support for a no-fly zone for the first time during his visit last week to Washington, during which he told President George W. Bush that they had to deal with Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, in the next two to three months.
“If rapid progress is not made, we will need to consider alternative approaches, with international partners,” Blair warned on returning to London.
Military planning has moved ahead, one official said, adding: “The Americans mean business.”
Blair said he would seek United Nations backing for a no-fly zone which would be enforced by the US and UK.
Military action in another oil-rich Muslim country almost four years after the Iraq invasion would be risky. But some officials in Washington and London suggest it may be the only way to deal with the situation in the western Sudanese region, where between 100,000 and 400,000 people have died through famine and slaughter and 2.5m more have fled their homes since 2003.
A no-fly zone would be designed to prevent the Sudanese government from using its air force or helicopter gunships in attacks against villages in Darfur. Such attacks have been alleged by UN monitors and human rights organisations.
No decisions over possible military action over Darfur have been reached, and such a course would be considered only if Mr Bashir resists UN demands for the deployment of a “hybrid” force of UN and African Union peacekeepers.
Opposition from the US military is said to be strong. Analysts and diplomats are also sceptical the US and UK will conclude that military intervention against Khartoum’s wishes would rescue a complex situation.
China, which consumes almost two-thirds of Sudan’s oil exports, is said to be concerned its image is being tarnished by its close association with Khartoum. But envoys doubt that Beijing would back any UN plan that might affect its oil purchases.
Blair spoke in Washington of his fears that the violence and “terrible suffering” in Darfur might destabilise the whole region and called for “tougher action”, but with UN approval.
Andrew Natsios, the US special envoy for Sudan, flew to Khartoum at the weekend to make another diplomatic push, though US officials doubted Mr Bashir would allow the deployment of peacekeepers.
“We are very concerned that [Mr Bashir] is buying more time to continue with military operations in Darfur. We need a different game plan,” one official told the FT, referring to what the US is calling “Plan B”, believed to be a package of sanctions and coercive action.
(FT)