US says Sudan running out of time as UN council mulls Darfur

UNITED NATIONS, July 7 (AFP) — The United States said Wednesday that Sudan is on a “short leash” to act quickly and disarm the militias behind the crisis in Darfur or face sanctions from the UN Security Council.

New US ambassador John Danforth, who was previously US President George W. Bush’s envoy for Sudan, said the council would meet Thursday to discuss a US draft resolution on the catastrophe unfolding in the Darfur region.

He said the international community was watching to see if the Khartoum government would uphold its pledge, made to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan last week, to disarm the Janjaweed militias behind the bloodshed.

“What we wonder is whether the government of Sudan is just using more words, more promises, with the view that delay means more death,” Danforth told reporters.

“We’re talking about days, we’re talking about this week,” he said. “The government of Sudan is clearly on a short leash.”

He spoke after Annan briefed the council from Africa over his recent trip to Darfur, where humanitarian officials say more than one million lives could be lost in the coming weeks.

An estimated 10,000 people have died in the region, more than a million have been displaced into camps and 120,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring Chad.

Arab Janjaweed militias, said to have the support of the Sudanese government, have attacked villages, killing, raping and burning in a scorched-earth campaign against black Africans in the area.

The US draft resolution calls for an arms and travel embargo against the Janjaweed and leaves open the possibility for sanctions to be slapped on the Sudan government 30 days after the resolution’s adoption.

“Thirty days is too long for the government to act, that is for sure,” Danforth said.

In its agreement with Annan, Sudan also pledged to allow humanitarian access to the region, which UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said was now starting to happen.

But he said that looting and insecurity were still a problem for aid efforts, and that less than 40 percent of the 350 million dollars in relief monies requested for Darfur had actually been received.

“This is not a Christmas wish list. This is the exact requirement for saving 1.2 million lives,” he said, referring to the displaced population, who are short of food, water, medicine and other basics.

“Now is really the moment of truth,” Egeland said.