United States mulls sanctions against Sudan leaders

WASHINGTON, United States, June 18, 2004 (UPI) — Sanctions against top Sudanese officials for their failure to stop the crisis in Darfur are “under active consideration,” the U.S. State Department said.

“It’s something we’re looking at,” deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said Friday. “It’s an idea under active consideration.”

He said the department was looking into “which specific individuals could be designated as responsible” for the displacement of more than 1 million people in the western Darfur region. Government-supported Arab militias have razed and burned African villages in an operation the United Nations has described as “ethnic cleansing.” The United States is trying to determine if the situation constitutes genocide.

“That review is under way,” Ereli said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is working with relief agencies and the Sudanese government to get aid to the area.