Britain wants UN to set Khartoum clear targets over Darfur

LONDON, Sept 7 (AFP) — Britain wants the UN Security Council to set clear benchmarks for assessing Sudan’s efforts to end the humanitarian crisis in its war-torn Darfur region, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.

“The United Kingdom is calling… for clear benchmarks to be set, detailing what steps the Sudanese government must now take towards meeting its responsibilities and resolving the conflict,” Straw told parliament.

“The situation is one which has rightly shocked the world. For our part, we are determined to do everything we can to resolve the humanitarian disaster and help secure a political settlement across the country as a whole.”

“Ten years ago, the world turned away from the horrors of Rwanda and Bosnia. We all know the appalling result,” Straw added, in a reference to the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which more than 800,000 people were slaughtered.

“We cannot do everything in the Sudan but we can and must do everything we can to ensure that this vast country is at long last able to enjoy that peace and stability that has so evaded it for so many years,” he said.

Washington is due to submit a new draft resolution to the Security Council on the crisis in the western Sudanese region, following a critical report on Khartoum’s compliance with the demands in an earlier resolution.

The UN had given Sudan 30 days from July 30 to disarm its proxy Arab militia, the Janjaweed, withdraw its regular forces from around the camps of the displaced and ensure free access to the area for aid agencies.

The 18-month conflict between the Sudanese government, backed by the Janjaweed, and two rebel groups, has forced more than 1.4 million people from their homes and left 30,000 to 50,000 dead.