Sudan on diplomatic offensive against sanctions

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 9, 2004 (PANA) — Sudan is relying on the African Union,
the support of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and the
South African leader Thabo Mbeki to escape a US draft proposal
seeking to ban the country from exploiting its oil resources,
Deputy Speaker Angelo Beada said here Thursday.

The United States presented a draft resolution at the UN
Security Council seeking to force Khartoum to disarm the Arab
militias that are accused of killing civilians in the western
province of Darfur.

The draft proposes a ban on Sudanese oil exportation should
Khartoum fail to disarm the militias.

But Beada and his fellow Parliamentarians have warned that
further sanctions would weaken the government and complicate
on-going search for lasting peace in Sudan, which has already
suffered 24 years of heavy fighting in the rebel-held Southern
region.

The new draft resolution, which vows to slap economic sanctions
such as an oil wealth exploitation embargo, is a new attempt to
force the government of President Omar El Bashir to allow more
peacekeepers from the UN and the AU in Darfur to protect
civilians.

But Beada, who is leading a team of parliamentarians for talks
with several African governments, among them Ethiopia, Uganda,
Kenya and South Africa, dismissed the US as incapable of
influencing sanctions against Sudan.

“Sudan has been under sanctions for many years. It is doubtful
whether there will be any sanctions unless it is taken
arbitrarily like the Iraqi case,” he said.

“We are not taking these lying down, further UN sanctions will
harm innocent civilians,” Beada told a news conference in
Nairobi Thursday at the end of a three-day working visit.

“We do not think the US will make it, we have our supporters.
We are not there for nothing,” he reiterated during the news
conference, where he outlined efforts being taken by Khartoum
to bring to justice those believed to be behind the Darfur
crisis.

He said Sudan’s envoy to the UN is working steadfastly with its
allies within the Security Council to ward-off attempted
sanctions, saying they already have key support from Pakistan
and “other African brothers”.

The AU has sent 300 peacekeepers from Nigeria and Rwanda in
Darfur to protect a team of humanitarian ceasefire monitors
numbering 80 in the region, but the UN and US government
officials say there is need for more peace keepers and
monitors.

Khartoum, however, has opposed calls for more foreign troops in
the region, insisting that it is capable of handling the
situation.

According to the Deputy Speaker and Security and Parliamentary
Defense Committee Chairman, Mohmed Bakhiet Mahmoud, Sudan has
deployed 12,000 police officers and 40,000 army personnel to
protect the civilians and ensure calm in the region.

“We only need more ceasefire monitors; we are only opposed to
peacekeepers because we can handle the situation by ourselves.
We managed to disarm 30 percent of the Darfur militias
(375,000) before the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to
Sudan Jon Pronk,” Beada insisted.

Meanwhile, Beada clarified that Chairman John Garang of the
rebel Sudan Peoples Movement/Army (SPLA/M) has no role in
Darfur, contrary to earlier accusations by Khartoum, due to
remarks declaring his support for the rebels.