Sudan seeks Qatar mediation with the U.S.

KHARTOUM, Sudan, June 20, 2004 (UPI) — Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail was en route to Qatar Sunday, seeking mediation with the United States concerning the Darfour situation.

A senior diplomat told United Press International on condition of anonymity Sudan wants Qatari help in asking Washington to ease its growing pressure on the Sudanese government for its handling of the Darfour problem.

On Friday a U.S. State Department official said Washington was studying the possibility of imposing sanctions on Sudan if it did not resolve deteriorating security and humanitarian conditions in the Darfour area in western Sudan, where tens of thousands of people are either homeless or have been killed as a result of the civil war.

The Sudanese minister’s visit to Qatar comes one day after Sudan President Omar al-Bashir ordered his army to crack down on rival armed groups in Darfour.