Resolution on Darfur best formula to be reached at this stage: Egypt

NEW YORK, Sep 19, 2004 (MENA) — Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu-al-Ghayt, in comments on Saturday’s UNSC resolution regarding Darfur, said the resolution was the best formula that could have been reached at this stage and in light of increasing pressure on Khartoum to end the humanitarian crisis there.

Egypt had held daily and intensive contacts with the governments of the UNSC member states and presented its vision, which said Khartoum must be given enough time to alleviate the sufferings of the locals and must cooperate with the AU monitoring committee, he added.

The resolution admits that Khartoum has made headway at the humanitarian and security concerns and also demanded that the rebels abide by their obligations. Two things Egypt has been keen to be included in any resolution, he said.

Egypt aimed that the resolution would be balanced, he said.

Abu-al-Ghayt, currently in New York, said the paragraphs on imposing automatic sanctions on Khartoum if it failed to deliver on its obligations was a bone of contention inside the Security Council. China threatened to use the veto on such a wording. Consequently the US agreed to strike out the automatic imposition of sanctions on Khartoum, he said.