U.N. Security Council hopes for vote on Sudan resolution this week
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS, July 27, 2004 (AP) — U.N. Security Council members said concerns remained over the inclusion of the threat of sanctions in a draft resolution on Sudan but supporters were pressing for a vote this week.
The United States circulated a draft U.N. resolution last week that for the first time included a direct threat of sanctions against the Sudanese government if it doesn’t rein in Arab militias accused of killing thousands in that country’s western Darfur province.
A British official was “hopeful” that a vote could be held this week, saying the United States was expected to present a new draft resolution on Tuesday without significant changes.
The new draft would still include a regional arms embargo on Darfur and threaten sanctions on the government, the official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Russia, Pakistan and China have opposed the threat of sanctions and called for Sudan to be given sufficient time to meet its commitments under a July 3 agreement it reached with Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
“We have to get it right,” Pakistan’s U.N. Ambassador Munir Akram said. “We need a clear strategy on how to deal with the situation.”
The 25-nation European Union also joined the United States in pushing for U.N. sanctions against Sudan if the government doesn’t implement its promise to Annan to crack down on the pro-government Arab militias, improve security and provide better access for relief efforts.
But Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said during a trip to Turkey that threats of sanctions would harm efforts to end the conflict in Darfur. “We don’t need threatening, we don’t need sanctions,” he said.
The 15-month conflict has killed up to 30,000 civilians, most of them black villagers, displaced more than 1 million and left some 2.2 million in urgent need of food or medical attention.
U.S. and humanitarian officials have accused the Sudanese government of backing Arab militias known as Janjaweed in a brutal campaign to drive out black Africans farmers. The government denies any connection to the violence.
The current draft resolution sets a timetable for assessing progress on apprehending and bringing to justice the Janjaweed militia blamed for the bulk of the violence. It also calls on Annan to report every 30 days “and expresses its intention to consider further actions, including the imposition of sanctions on the government of Sudan, in the event of noncompliance.”
An arms embargo would apply to individuals, groups or governments that supply the Janjaweed or rebel groups.
Algeria’s U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Baali said many delegations wanted to change the wording about sanctions. He didn’t elaborate but said he was “hopeful” that differences could be overcome.
Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., also urged the Security Council to take a “stronger stand” in pressing the Sudanese government to end the killings that the U.S. Congress has branded “genocide.”
Payne and two other Congressional Democrats met with Annan on Monday to stress the need for more resources, including helicopters and vehicles, to relieve the humanitarian crisis.
Payne denounced the Sudanese government and said a multinational force might be needed to stop the violence.
“Time is of the essence,” he said. “It’s a pariah government. It always has been. It only reacts to pressure.”
The Bush administration, meanwhile, ruled out sending troops to Sudan, saying it was focusing on lobbying for the resolution’s passage.
“We are in diplomatic high gear at the United Nations to discuss a resolution calling on the government of Sudan to take real action to stop the violence,” State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.
Powell also discussed sanctions in phone conversations over the weekend and Monday with Annan, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and Foreign Ministers Li Zhaoxing of China, Joschka Fischer of Germany, and Michel Barnier of France.
The United Nations plans to send a peacekeeping mission to Darfur by the end of the year. Australia and New Zealand have said they would be willing to contribute troops to the force.
The African Union, meanwhile, is sending 300 troops and 150 unarmed observers.
Darfur’s troubles stem from long-standing tensions between nomadic Arab tribes and their African farming neighbors over dwindling water and agricultural land. Those tensions exploded into violence in February 2003 when the two African rebel groups took up arms over what they regard as unjust treatment by the government in their struggle with Arab countrymen.