Romanian foreign minister to visit Sudan

NEW YORK, July 30, 2004 (dpa) — Romania, a U.N. Security Council member, is sending its foreign minister to Sudan to discuss humanitarian assistance to the population in conflict zones in Darfur, an official said Friday.

Romanian U.N. Ambassador Mihnea Motoc, president of the 15-nation council in July, said Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana was to arrive in Khartoum Saturday for talks with the government on humanitarian assistance and the implementation of the resolution adopted by the council on Friday. Geoana planned also to visit Darfur.

The resolution was adopted by 13 council members, including Romania. China and Pakistan abstained because they are opposed to the sanctions that the council threatened to impose on Khartoum unless the conflict in Darfur is resolved.

“The international response to the unfolding dramatic events in Sudan/Darfur shows that cooperation between the U.N. and regional organizations is presently bolder, more innovative and less impaired by artificial lines of separation,” Motoc told the council.

The U.N., African Union and the European Union are involved in pushing for a resolution of the crisis in Darfur. The council imposed an arms embargo on the Arab militias fighting in Darfur for atrocities committed against the civilians.