UN Envoy seen saying Sudan doing enough to avoid sanction
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 31, 2004 (AP) — A U.N. envoy is expected to report enough progress by the Sudanese government in tackling the humanitarian crisis in the western Darfur region to satisfy the Security Council and avoid immediate U.N. sanctions, several U.N. diplomats said Tuesday.
A preliminary U.N. report last week of government actions painted a mixed picture: positive steps to get humanitarian aid into Darfur and set up safe havens for hundreds of thousands fleeing violence, but insufficient efforts to rein in Arab militias and ensure security for the local population.
Many Security Council diplomats expect Jan Pronk, the U.N. special representative to Sudan , to present a similar assessment in his report this week.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Andrey Denisov said Tuesday the “tragic reality” is that the people of Darfur will continue to suffer for some time “because of the large scale of that catastrophe,” but the important thing is that there are signs of improvement.
“According to information we get from on the ground, and we expect it to be in the report, there are some signs that the situation starts to change. If it is so, then there is no ground for such strong measures as sanctions,” he said.
Algeria’s U.N. Ambassador Abadallah Baali, the only Arab member of the Security Council, said last week’s briefing showed some positive steps by the Sudanese government.
“We were, most of us, under the impression that the government of Sudan is moving now in the right direction, even though there are some serious concerns which remain regarding the security issue,” he said.
Like other council members, Baali said he will wait for Pronk’s recommendations.
Pronk said Tuesday he delivered his report to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday night. He told reporters “I can’t say anything” about its content.
Annan, who is on vacation, discussed the report with Pronk by phone Tuesday morning. The secretary-general is expected to send it to the Security Council Wednesday afternoon or early Thursday, just before Pronk briefs its 15 members, U.N. associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
On July 30, the council gave the government 30 days to demonstrate that it was taking action to curb Arab militias accused of attacking, raping and killing villagers in Darfur, and improve security and humanitarian access. It threatened punitive economic and diplomatic measures if Khartoum didn’t move quickly.
The U.S., the staunchest supporter of sanctions, had to drop the word in from the resolution to win its approval. Even then, Pakistan and China abstained, saying the Sudanese government needed more time to fulfill a July 3 pledge to Annan to crack down on the militias, known as the Janjaweed.
Two weeks ago, the U.K.’s Foreign Office said a majority of the 15 Security Council members oppose immediate heavy sanctions if Sudan fails to quell the violence, which has killed up to 30,000 and forced more than 1 million to flee their homes.
Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, agree with that assessment.
In an interview last week, U.S. Ambassador John Danforth also signaled a shift in Washington’s approach.
He said the U.S. believes the most effective way to improve security for the Sudanese who have fled and are too frightened to return home is to increase the presence of outsiders in Darfur, primarily by expanding the African Union force already on the ground.
“And if the government resists that, then in my view the United States will have been given no choice but to support sanctions,” he said.
The 53-nation African Union currently has 80 observers in Darfur, protected by 150 Rwandan soldiers and 155 Nigerian soldiers, to monitor a rarely observed cease-fire signed in April. It has proposed sending nearly 2,000 peacekeepers, an offer strongly supported by the U.S. but initially rejected by the Sudanese government.