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| Africa: Subsaharan |
| Sudan rejects Darfur resolution |
| 2004-07-31 |
| Sudan has rejected a new UN resolution, which says Khartoum must halt atrocities by Arab militias in the western Darfur region within 30 days. Information Minister Al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said the document was incorrect. But Sudan's UN ambassador Elfatih Erwa said the government would nonetheless comply with the US-drafted resolution. The UN Security Council adopted the document after the US dropped the word "sanctions" and added economic and diplomatic "measures". The vote was passed with two abstentions - from China and Pakistan. Diplomats say it is not up to Sudan to accept or reject the resolution, the BBC's Susannah Price at the UN in New York reports. Friday's resolution "does not conform with the agreements between the government and the United Nations," Mr Malik said in a statement quoted by the Associated Press. "It pains Sudan to have to express its rejection of the Security Council resolution," Mr Malik said. He said the government was capable of "disarming all the looting and robbing gangs". Mr Malik also said the resolution focused on Arab militias more than humanitarian issues in Darfur. US Ambassador John Danforth told the Council after the vote: "The government of Sudan has left us no choice. It has done the unthinkable, it has fostered an armed attack on its own civilian population, it has created a humanitarian disaster. "The responsibility for this disaster lies squarely on the government of Sudan," he said. The newly passed resolution calls on Sudan to make good on promises it made on 3 July to rein in the fighters. It calls for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to issue a report in 30 days on the progress made in each of those areas. The US removed any specific reference to sanctions in the resolution after objections from seven members - including China, Russia and Pakistan - who believe Khartoum needs more time to act. Aid agencies believe the resolution has been fatally weakened by the changes. "The Security Council have today proved unanimous in their inaction," the representative of one major aid agency working in Darfur, which wanted to remain anonymous, told BBC News Online. "The only thing the UN Security Council has delivered is... another 30 days in which civilians will continue to live in fear of being killed or raped. The government of Sudan will be celebrating yet another failure to call them to account." |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #2 So Putin wants to give the Jinglebells more machete time. I guess that's a fitting way to repeat history: The Red Army stood idle across the Wisla river, at one point several hundred yards from heavy fighting, and did not allow Western allies to use its airfields for airlifts -- limiting help to often inaccurate airdrops of arms. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-07-31 3:27:30 AM |
| #1 Okay, now that Sudan has expressed its disapproval, what are the consequences going to be? Hmm? The US removed any specific reference to sanctions in the resolution after objections from seven members - including China, Russia and Pakistan - who believe Khartoum needs more time to act. Sheesh, why bother then???? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-07-31 3:00:00 AM |