UK welcomes UN Security Council resolution on Darfur

LONDON, Sep 19, 2004 (KUNA) — The British government welcomed on Sunday a resolution on the Sudanese troubled region of Darfur that has been issued last night by the UN Security Council.

The UN resolution 1564 threatened oil sanctions to be imposed on Sudan if the government did not intervene to stop atrocities there.

A statement released by the British Foreign Office said the resolution gives a clear message to the Sudanese government and to the Janjaweed armed militia there.

The statement said that imposing sanctions was not favored by any side, but the implementation of the resolution depends on the stand of the Sudanese government concerning the international requests.

The vote on the US-drafted resolution was 11-0, while China, Russia, Algeria and Pakistan abstained.

The resolution also calls for an expanded African Union monitoring force and a probe into human rights abuses including genocide in the Sudanese region.

The UN has issued resolution 1556 in July which gave a month-period for the Sudanese government to disarm the Janjaweed militias.