Russia and China are opposing proposed United Nations Security Council sanctions against four Sudanese officials over their role in the bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region, US Ambassador John Bolton said. Last week the Security Council's sanctions committee began a 48-hour silence procedure which, unless broken by a Council member, would mean approval of sanctions against four unidentified Sudanese officials deemed to be impeding the peace process and violating international human rights law. The procedure ends at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) Monday. "We've been advised informally that those delegations (Russia and China) will object under the procedures of the sanctions committee," Bolton told reporters. "In light of that I have asked for a meeting of the Council this afternoon to take up the sanctions issue." The sanctions involve an assets freeze and travel restrictions on the four individuals for their alleged role in the Darfur violence, which Washington calls genocide.
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