US sees forward movement on Darfur plan

Jan 3, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — The U.S. State Department indicated skepticism Wednesday about Sudan’s willingness to comply fully with a U.N. plan to end the suffering in Darfur, but it acknowledged that the process is moving forward.

“What we need to see now is the Sudanese government actually acting on what it is they said they might do,” spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said in a letter last week to former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan that he had agreed to a three-phase U.N. plan that would deploy some 20,000 U.N. peacekeepers and police in the Darfur region.

Al-Bashir sent the letter days ahead of a Jan. 1 deadline for acceptance of the plan.

A meeting of the White House National Security Council is planned Thursday to evaluate Sudan’s compliance thus far. Such meetings normally are attended by the most senior officials in government, including the vice president, the secretaries of state, defense and treasury, the director of national intelligence, the national security adviser and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among others.

One benchmark for Sudan to meet under the U.N. plan would be to allow deployment before Jan. 1 of 60 U.N. troops and civilians from Khartoum to Darfur along with their equipment.

McCormack said that of the number, only 20 civilians have been deployed. Still, he maintained progress was being made on the U.N. plan.

The Bush administration has indicated it would favor tough measures against Sudan should it fail to fulfill its promises.

The conflict in the arid western Sudan region has claimed more than 200,000 lives and left some 2.5 million homeless since conflict erupted there in early 2003.

(AP)