US says it has enough votes for Sudan resolution at UN

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 17, 2004 (AP) — The United States predicted Thursday that the Security Council will adopt its resolution on Sudan , buoyed by strong backing from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who called for urgent U.N. action to stop attacks against civilians in western Darfur.

U.S. Ambassador John Danforth made the prediction after the council discussed a new toned down draft aimed at winning support from China, Russia and other members who fear the threat of oil sanctions against Khartoum could complicate efforts to end the 19-month conflict that has forced over 1.2 million people to flee their homes.

Danforth said a vote was likely on Saturday afternoon and he predicted the resolution would get at least nine “yes” votes – the minimum needed for approval in the 15-member council. “I believe we are going to have the votes,” he said.

But China threatened to veto the original U.S. draft and it was unclear whether Beijing would veto or abstain on the latest.

“This one will be difficult for China … in a number of areas including sanctions,” said China’s U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya, who voiced concern about the “philosophy” behind the current resolution and said Beijing would like additional changes.

But the U.S. draft got a boost from the secretary-general, who urged the council to act on it “without delay and to be as united as possible in the face of this crisis.”

Danforth called Annan’s unexpected statement “very important,” saying “it helped create the sense of urgency.”

“I think time is of the essence, I really do, when the reports are that 10,000 people are dying every month, then every day counts,” he said.

Annan accused the Sudanese government of failing to rein in militias blamed for killing over 50,000 villagers in the desolate western region of Darfur. He also said that both government forces and rebels in Darfur were guilty of ceasefire violations.

The secretary-general announced he was sending U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour and a special adviser on genocide, Juan Mendes, to Sudan to see what can be done immediately to protect civilians.

“Civilians are still being attacked and fleeing their villages even as we speak, many months after the government committed itself to bring the militias under control,” Annan told reporters Thursday. “Both sides have to stop violating the cease-fire.”

The latest U.S. draft resolution still threatens sanctions, singling out the “petroleum sector,” if the Sudanese government doesn’t curb the militias and start to disarm them and punish the perpetrators -and if it doesn’t cooperate with a beefed-up African Union monitoring force. A new phrase was added saying that determination would be made by the council after consultations with the AU.

Key changes included that it urges Sudan to “refrain” from conducting military flights in and over the Darfur region. The previous version had called on the government to “cease” all military flights.

The new draft strongly endorsed an expanded AU force, and it stated more clearly that while Sudan had met some obligations, it hadn’t met all of them “as expected by the council.”

“This draft is essentially the same as what we’ve had before,” Danforth said. “The goal is to get as many votes as we can, but still maintain the substance of the resolution. The key to the resolution is getting the AU in, and providing maximum support for it.”

Danforth dismissed the possibility that the resolution may have been too diluted.

“We wouldn’t do that,” he said. “We would not create something that looked as though this is almost encouraging the government of Sudan ….We’re going to make it clear that, first of all, the government of Sudan is not in compliance with previous resolutions.”

Other council members continued to voice concern over the new U.S. draft, including Pakistan and Algeria.

“We were happy with the fact that some of our suggestion were taken onboard,” Munir Akram, Pakistan’s U.N. ambassador, said after Thursday’s council discussion. “But the major problems are still there.”

“The major problems are with the sanctions issue. We have said that we don’t think that sort of pressure is justified or necessary, and could be counterproductive,” said Akram.