Sudan warned of more sanctions
2007-10-26 10:12
New York - The United States warned that the Sudanese government could face further sanctions if it did not move quickly to approve a 26 000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur.
At Sudan's insistence, the United Nations Security Council agreed that the joint African Union-UN force would be predominantly African.
But diplomats said Sudan had not yet approved units from Thailand, Nepal and Norway - even though 90% of the ground troops and 75% of the entire proposed force were from Africa.
US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said: "Now the ball is in the court of the Sudanese government. It's very important that quickly they embrace this proposed package. Otherwise, I'm certain the US will be looking at measures to 'incentivize' co-operation, and that includes further sanctions."
Sudanese govt 'optimistic'
He added that a number of countries believed "that we need to press the government hard again."
AU chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare and others working with the Sudanese government were "optimistic that they will get a positive response", said Khalilzad.
Sudan's UN ambassador Abdelmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed said his government wanted to ensure "they have utilised to the maximum the African pledges and the African offers".
If African countries don't provide the necessary troops, "then we will look for others", he said.
Mohamed said: "There are visits to be made to troop contributing countries to assess their preparedness. The dialogue is going on, the keenness by the Sudan is there, and we are committed to the time frame" for deployment of the hybrid force.
He added: "We are very adamant about the African character of the co-operation. On this, there will be no compromise at all."
On Wednesday, the Security Council expressed "deep concern at the delays" in getting the troops on the ground.
Govt to announce ceasefire
The council also urged all rebel groups to attend peace talks with the Sudanese government starting on Saturday to try to end the four-year conflict in Darfur and threatened "action" against any party seeking to undermine the peace process.
Mohamed had said the government would announce a ceasefire at the start of the peace talks in Libya as "a confidence building measure".
But whether all rebel groups would match a government ceasefire remained doubtful because several were boycotting the talks.
More than 200 000 people had died since ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in 2003, accusing it of decades of discrimination and neglect.
Sudan's government was accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed - a charge it denied.
The government signed a peace agreement with one rebel group in May 2006, but other rebel groups refused - and many of those groups had since splintered, complicating prospects for a political settlement.
- AP