Annan says Khartoum implementing U.N. resolution

NEW YORK, Aug 03, 2004 (dpa) — U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday dismissed Sudan’s negative reaction to the U.N. resolution on the Darfur humanitarian crisis, saying Khartoum is “moving in the right direction” in implementing it.

Those reactions included the Sudanese army calling the resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council last week a “declaration of war” and vowing to fight any foreign troops that would show up in Darfur.

The resolution calls on Khartoum to implement commitments to resolve the crisis in Darfur, where government-linked militia have been accused of humanitarian abuses in fighting rebels, or face sanctions. The Security Council wants to see signs of progress within 30 days.

Annan said the reaction from Khartoum showed that Sudanese officials understood the resolution, which he said was “loud and clear”.

“My sense is that they are moving in the right direction in implementing the resolution,” Annan said. “The resolution wants them to demonstrate within a month that it is being done, they [the council members] want to see results on the ground.”

“They [Sudan] must show demonstrably that they are determined, that they are serious and they are protecting the people, and that has to be seen and felt by the people, not by public declaration,” he said.

However, Annan also admitted that there had been some confusion about the resolution, stemming from a set of agreements that Khartoum has to implement within 90 days and that were agreed upon in early July. Those agreements deal with improving access for relief workers to the displaced people in Darfur and the import of relief supplies and equipment. Those agreements were reached between Annan and the Sudanese government when the U.N. leader visited Khartoum.

Separate from that 90-day set of agreements, Annan and Khartoum signed a joint communique on July 3 that listed various steps Sudan has to take to alleviate sufferings in Darfur, including disarming the Arab militias known as Janjaweed, investigating human rights violations, prosecuting the perpetrators, deploying a police force to Darfur and accepting monitors from the African Union. The communique also called for the resumption of peace talks between Khartoum and two African rebel groups fighting the Janjaweed in Darfur.

The U.N. Security Council wanted progress in the implementation of the July 3 communique within 30 days. It threatened to punish Khartoum if the communique is not implemented. It asked Annan to report within 30 days from July 30 and to report monthly thereafter about any progress in implementing the July 3 communique.

In Khartoum on Monday, however, army spokesman General Mohamed Bashir Suleiman said in the pro-government Al Anbaa newspaper that “the Security Council resolution about the Darfur issue is a declaration of war on Sudan and its people.”

“The Sudanese army is now prepared to confront the enemies of Sudan on land, sea and air,” he said.

The army’s position was apparently echoed in the Foreign Ministry, with Minister of State Nageib al-Khair telling reporters his government fully supported the army’s view of the U.N. resolution.

“The Cabinet regards the period of 30 days given by the Security Council as not logical and difficult to implement,” the Sudanese Foreign Minister Moustafa Osman Ismael told reporters after a cabinet meeting Sunday.

But General Suleiman was more harsh in his response Monday: “The U.N. resolution is a decision to go to war and has no moral or humanitarian value. We maintain our right to respond in case of foreign military intervention, and we will not welcome invaders with flowers and flags.”