Republicans Congressmen press Bush for sanctions on Sudan
By Helene Cooper
May 10, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — In the latest attempt to exert pressure on Sudan over the killing in the Darfur region, a group of conservative to moderate Republicans in Congress demanded Thursday that President Bush impose sanctions against the government for its failure to rein in the violence.
In a three-page letter sent to the White House, 15 members of the House urged Mr. Bush to “follow your instincts” and “authorize the actions you outlined on April 18,” when Mr. Bush promised that the United States would impose sanctions on Sudan if its government did not take action soon on Darfur.
The letter came a day after 108 members of Congress sought in another letter to press China to flex its muscles in Sudan to try to end the violence in Darfur. The two letters underscore the mounting frustration in Washington with the government of Sudan. On Thursday, Liu Guijin, a former ambassador to Zimbabwe and South Africa, was named China’s special envoy assigned to the Darfur issue, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said.
The Republicans’ letter said: “The time is at hand to reassert the resolve of the United States that the atrocities taking place in Darfur cannot stand. We urge you to do everything within your power to inflict serious economic pain upon those who act as obstructionists to peace, and to take the other actions as necessary, to halt the continued assault against human dignity in Darfur.”
Representatives who signed the Thursday letter included Eric Cantor of Virginia, the deputy whip; Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan, chairman of the Republican policy committee; Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Tom Tancredo of Colorado.
A senior official of the Bush administration said Thursday that the United States might move toward sanctions within days. Mr. Bush said April 18 that he would give Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, “a short period of time” to meet several conditions. The United States wants Mr. Bashir to agree to a full deployment of United Nations peacekeeping forces; to end his support for the janjaweed Arab militias that have been carrying out systematic killings of civilians in Darfur; and to allow aid to reach the region.
Mr. Bush was prepared to impose sanctions last month, administration officials said, including a directive to the Treasury Department to block any dollar transactions between the Sudanese government and the United States, and to bar 29 Sudanese companies from doing business there. But the president bowed to pleas from the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, for more time to negotiate with Mr. Bashir, administration officials said.
“The president made it clear that President Bashir needs to act to take care of his people and to stop the violence,” said Gordon D. Johndroe, a White House spokesman.
Congressional staffers said the 15 Republicans decided to send the letter after reading recent news reports about Sudanese military airstrikes against the site of anticipated rebel unity talks in Darfur, in direct violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution.
Besides the Republican lawmakers, the filmmaker Steven Spielberg has also tried to step up pressure on Sudan’s government. Mr. Spielberg, who is an artistic director for the Beijing Olympics, has requested a meeting on Darfur with President Hu Jintao in the next 30 days, his spokesman, Marvin Levy, said Thursday.
Mr. Levy said Mr. Spielberg did not explicitly threaten to withdraw from his association with the Beijing Olympics, an issue about which China is very sensitive. When Mr. Levy was asked what Mr. Spielberg would do if he did not get the meeting with Mr. Hu, he said, “We’ll cross that bridge when it comes.”
Last month Mr. Spielberg sent a letter to Mr. Hu, asking that China pressure Sudan to accept the United Nations peacekeeping force, but he did not receive an answer.
(New York Times)