UK’s Blair pledges action on Darfur
March 14, 2007 (LONDON) — The international community must be prepared to take tough action if Sudan fails to improve the situation in Darfur, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday.
Blair has long pushed for U.N. Security Council action to end the violence in Darfur where observers say some 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million driven from their homes since a revolt in 2003.
However neither a 2004 U.N. arms embargo on rebels and militia in the region nor a 7,000 strong African Union peacekeeping force have stopped the fighting.
“What is important is that we put this back on the agenda of the international community and the Security Council; that we redouble our efforts to make sure that Sudan comes into line with the agreements that have been made and makes real efforts to change the situation in Sudan,” Blair said.
Washington issued a damning human rights report on Sudan last week, saying genocide in Darfur continued and blamed both the government and rebel forces for attacks in the region.
“As an international community … we have to show we are prepared to take tough action if the situation does not change,” Blair told a news conference with Ghana’s President John Kufuor.
“So we are looking at ways, again in concert with the African Union, of putting this back on the international agenda and getting action taken,” Blair said.
Britain called on Tuesday for U.N. Security Council sanctions on Sudan after Khartoum put a string of conditions on plans to deploy U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur to bolster the African Union force.
Kufuor, who is chairman of the African Union, said its force in Darfur was simply not big enough to keep the peace and it wanted Sudan to let some 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers deploy.
“We need that, and we also believe that the Security Council will come in with the needed logistical support and also financial resources,” said Kufuor.
“So far we haven’t made the impact needed to enable the blue berets to come on the ground … but we are not giving up.”
(Reuters)