Arab League rejects UN sanctions threat against Sudan

CAIRO, Sept 19 (AFP) — The Arab League on Sunday rejected a UN Security Council resolution threatening possible sanctions against Sudan over the conflict in Darfur, saying it would not help bring peace to the troubled region.

“Imposing sanctions will not help resolve the crisis or encourage the parties to try to end it. In fact, it will have the opposite effect,” League spokesman Hossam Zaki told reporters.

The resolution adopted Saturday warns that the 15-member Security Council “will envisage” sanctions against Sudan’s oil industry unless Khartoum makes good on its promise to protect the population of Darfur.

The resolution was sponsored by the United States, which says Khartoum and its proxy Arab militias are guilty of genocide in Darfur.

But Zaki said the League considered it “important that the international community give the parties enough time to implement their obligations and work to get the sides to resolve the crisis instead of a confrontation.”

An estimated 50,000 people have died and 1.4 million more have been displaced in Darfur, where UN officials say pro-government militias have carried out a scorched-earth campaign of ethnic cleansing against black residents over the past 19 months.