US special envoy plans to meet Sudanese leader

March 5, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — U.S. special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios is set to meet Sudan’s president on Wednesday to keep pressure on Khartoum to let an international force into Darfur, the State Department said on Monday.

Sudan has resisted allowing a U.N./African Union “hybrid” force into Darfur province, where at least 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced by a campaign against rebels who took up arms against the government in 2003.

Natsios was in Darfur over the weekend to see the situation on the ground in western Sudan and will make his case in a meeting with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in Khartoum.

“He will, of course, focus on the importance of getting in this AU/U.N. hybrid force. I think the Sudanese government understands full well that it is well past due,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

“We would encourage them to act on their acceptance of the hybrid AU/U.N. force. There are actions that they need to take, there are actions the U.N. need to take.”

Last month, Natsios said he feared a “blood bath” in Darfur. Aid groups could be forced out by Khartoum and pro-government militia would try to close the camps sheltering millions, he said.

Asked whether Natsios would present Bashir with a list of new sanctions or other measures in a classified “plan B” being considered by Washington if Khartoum continues to resist a hybrid force, McCormack said there were a number of “diplomatic levers” available.

“It is a tragedy what is happening in Darfur,” he said.

“That is why we think it is so important for the international system to use whatever levers are at its disposal to get the Sudanese government to change its behavior and act to allow that U.N./AU force in.”

The United States and others have grown impatient with Sudan over its handling of Darfur and are considering a more robust response to put pressure on Khartoum.

The European Union on Monday called on the United Nations to consider tighter sanctions on Sudan and pledged to find funds to help transform the struggling AU force now there into a joint mission with the U.N.

There have been some delays at the United Nations in preparing for a U.N./AU force and McCormack said the world body needed to accelerate its work.

Natsios was in the south Sudan capital of Juba on Monday and is expected back in Khartoum on Tuesday. He is set to return to Washington on Friday after a week-long visit to Sudan, his third since being appointed special envoy in September.

(Reuters)