Sudan ‘astonished’ by US prodding China over Darfur

Jan 13, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan expressed “astonishment” at US efforts to push China, a key ally of Sudan, to exert more influence on Khartoum to resolve the conflict in Darfur.

During a visit to Beijing on Friday, the US special envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, said he expected China to play a greater role in helping to end the conflict in the western province that has cost thousands of lives.

Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadek “expressed his astonishment over the trend of the United States and its envoy … to call on Sudan’s trade and economic partners and friends to help (find) a solution to the Darfur crisis,” Sudan’s official SUNA news agency reported.

“Sudan’s door is open to Natsios, who has already visited the country twice, and he has an opportunity to develop ideas and cooperate with the Sudanese government with regards to the Darfur problem,” it quoted Sadek as saying.

Sadek recalled that the Sudanese government has already worked out arrangements that will see the United Nations provide support to the ongoing African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur over three phases.

If Washington and its envoy are serious about helping “the Darfur problem… they should have looked for a solution in cooperation” with the United Nations and African Union, Sadek said.

“Any efforts outside this framework are pointless.”

The conflict in Darfur — one of the most violent in Africa — has left some 200,000 people dead and displaced two million others in nearly four years, according to UN figures disputed by the Sudanese authorities.

In August, the UN Security Council called on Khartoum to accept the deployment of 20,000 UN peacekeepers in Darfur to replace the overstretched African Union force.

But that appeal went unheeded — prompting the United Nations, the African Union and Sudan to hammer out a compromise in November for a mixed AU-UN force

China’s relations with Sudan have been criticised in the West as motivated by the need for Sudanese oil, and groups such as the US-based Council on Foreign Relations have accused Beijing of selling arms to Khartoum.

Sadek described China — a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council — as “a main partner and strategic ally”.

“We are confident that China will deal with us through the diplomatic dialogue existing between the two countries,” Sadek added.

(AFP)