U.N. resists U.S. on new Sudan sanctions

[Jahness]

U.N. resists U.S. on new Sudan sanctions

By EDITH M. LEDERER,
Associated Press Writer
Wed May 30, 8:46 PM ET

The U.S. demand for new U.N. sanctions against Sudan faces an uphill struggle, not least because Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he wants more time for diplomacy to help end the four-year conflict in Darfur.

President Bush ordered new U.S. sanctions against Sudan on Tuesday to pressure the African nation's government to halt bloodshed in the Darfur region. More than 200,000 have died in the conflict between ethnic African rebels and pro-government janjaweed militia and the U.S. has condemned the killings as a genocide.

Last month, Ban urged the United States and its key supporter Britain to delay a push for tougher U.N. sanctions — and he has indicated that he also opposes new U.S. sanctions.

The strong desire among many Security Council members to support the secretary-general coupled with the opposition of some members to sanctions in general — including China which has strong commercial ties with Sudan — signals a difficult road ahead for the United States and Britain.

A beleaguered, 7,000-strong African Union force has been unable to stop the fighting in Darfur and neither has a peace agreement signed a year ago year between the government and one rebel group.

Last November, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir agreed to a three-phase U.N. plan to strengthen the African troops — but he has delayed its implementation and backtracked on an agreement for a 23,000-strong U.N.-African Union "hybrid" force.

The U.S. push comes at a delicate time in negotiations on the hybrid force and efforts by the U.N. and AU to get all combatants to the negotiating table.

The United States and Britain said sanctions can pressure the Sudanese government to agree to the "hybrid" force and to improve the humanitarian and security situation.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad said Sudan's government must do more — stop attacks, dismantle the janjaweed militias, allow unimpeded humanitarian access, and agree quickly to the hybrid force.

But Russia, China and South Africa questioned why Washington and London were pressing for sanctions when Khartoum had taken some positive steps.

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya late Wednesday called Bush's push for more U.S. and U.N. sanctions "quite unfortunate."

He said that on the peacekeeping, political and humanitarian front "there are a lot of efforts in trying to push forward a diplomatic solution to the problems in Darfur." The U.S. push for sanctions "might make the fragile situation a bit more complicated, so I think we are a bit concerned."

Ban, who has made resolving the Darfur conflict a top priority, told reporters "we will have to wait to see" whether the new U.S. sanctions hamper his efforts to get Sudan's agreement for the "hybrid" force.

"I am very much committed to work as fast as I can to bring a comprehensive resolution in the political process, peacekeeping operations and humanitarian matters," Ban told reporters after Bush's announcement on Tuesday. "I need some more time."

After five months of stalling, the Sudanese president gave the go-ahead for the second phase of the plan in mid-April — a "heavy support package" with 3,000 U.N. troops, police and civilian personnel along with six attack helicopters and other equipment.

The AU and the U.N. agreed last Thursday on details of the hybrid force. And U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson reported progress on getting more than a dozen rebel groups to the negotiating table.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin appeared surprised at the timing of the new push for U.N. sanctions.

"There have been some positive developments, so this kind of a thing to my mind would be something of a departure from the current common strategy of the secretary-general and the Security Council," Churkin said.

As the buyer of two-thirds of Sudan's oil and a major investor in its economy, China faces growing criticism for not doing enough to pressure Sudan's government to end violence in Darfur. Some critics have called for a boycott of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing over the issue.

Asked if the U.S. would support a boycott, Khalilzad said: "We will see in terms of Chinese actions in the council with regard to Sudan."

Li Junhua, a senior Chinese diplomat, rejected any link between the Olympics and Darfur, and stressed that China is always cautious about sanctions.

"We tend to believe right now more coordinated and collective efforts should be done to convince and persuade our colleagues in Khartoum to move forward to implement the three-phase approach."

Nonetheless, Khalilzad and Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry are moving ahead on drafting a new sanctions resolution.

"We won't introduce it for a few days yet," Jones Parry said Tuesday.

The resolution will add more names to a list of government and rebel figures subject to an asset freeze and travel ban for obstructing peace efforts or violating human rights, it will expand an embargo on arms sales to Sudan, and order the monitoring of Sudanese government flights over Darfur, he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/...LZb7BpYjK96Q8F

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press.