US issues 3rd UN Sudan draft resolution, presses for vote

UNITED NATIONS, July 28, 2004 (AP) — The U.S. introduced a new draft U.N. resolution on Sudan on Wednesday – the third in less than a week – but it retained a threat of sanctions against the Sudanese government despite continued opposition on the Security Council.

The new text made few significant changes from the version presented the previous day, but it underscored the sovereignty of Sudan and removed a call to appoint a special adviser on genocide from the preamble, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

The draft was being discussed by the 15-nation Security Council in closed consultations and could be changed further as diplomats haggled over the wording. It wasn’t released publicly, but the official described the changes to the AP and said the U.S. was hoping for a vote Thursday.

The new version also called on the Sudanese government to disarm Arab militias blamed for rampant violence in the western Darfur region, the official said, but it was tweaked to add that the U.N. Security Council would consider further “measures” that could include sanctions if the government failed.

Russia, Pakistan and China have opposed the threat of sanctions, saying the Sudanese government needs more time to act. The U.K.’s U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said some also objected to holding a vote this week.

Sudan should be given a “short, but adequate amount of time” to bring the situation in the western region of Darfur under control, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Egypt, which isn’t on the Security Council but wields great influence in the Arab world, also said Wednesday it would try to prevent the resolution from being adopted.

But U.S. officials were determined to retain the threat of sanctions, stressing the urgency of the crisis, which the U.S. Congress has labeled genocide.

The U.S. official said the U.S. was confident it could get the minimum nine “yes” votes for the resolution’s adoption.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, during a visit to Egypt, described the situation as catastrophic and noted that the proposed resolution would give Sudan a month to make progress.

“At the end of 30 days, one more month, the Security Council has to consider possible measures. It might even include sanctions,” Powell said in an interview with the Al Akhbar newspaper.

Pro-government Arab militias known as Janjaweed have staged a brutal campaign to drive out black African farmers over the last 17 months. At least 30,000 civilians, most of them black villagers, have been killed, more than 1 million displaced and some 2.2 million left in urgent need of food or medical attention.

The Sudanese government, which has accused the international community of meddling, has promised to disarm the militias and says sanctions will only hurt those efforts.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail also said his country would retaliate against any foreign troops sent to stem the violence.

“We are not looking for confrontation and we hope that we will not be pushed,” Ismail told reporters Tuesday in Turkey. But “if we are being attacked, definitely we are not going to sit silent, we will retaliate.”

Powell sought to reassure Sudan in remarks Tuesday, saying he thought talk of military intervention was “premature” and that the government could still solve the crisis.

The draft presented Tuesday added a clause calling on the Sudanese government to “fulfill its commitments to disarm the Janjaweed militias,” as Khartoum agreed to do in a July 3 agreement with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The agreement included a promise to crack down on the pro-government Arab militias, improve security and provide better access for relief efforts.

It also includes more references to the African Union, including “full support” for the union-led cease-fire commission and monitoring mission in Darfur.

The new version retains a timetable that requires Annan to give the council a progress report every 30 days. But it “expresses its intention to consider further actions and measures, including the imposition of sanctions on the government of Sudan , in the event of noncompliance,” the official said.

An arms embargo would apply to individuals, groups or governments that supply the Janjaweed or rebel groups.

The Darfur conflict stems from long-standing tensions between nomadic Arab tribes and their African neighbors over dwindling water and farmland. Those tensions exploded into violence in February 2003, when two African rebel groups took up arms over what they regard as unjust treatment by the government. The insurgency unleashed brutal revenge by the Arab militias.

U.S. and humanitarian officials have accused the Sudanese government of backing the Janjaweed – a claim the government denies.