UN resolution is 'llogical'
2004-08-02 09:33
Khartoum - Sudan's foreign minister said the 30-day deadline for action on Darfur set by the United Nations Security Council was "illogical" and that his country would implement a 90-day programme agreed to earlier with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail, speaking on Sunday after a cabinet meeting, told reporters that the UN resolution passed on Friday had both negative and positive aspects, and called it "illogical".
After initially rejecting the resolution, Sudan on Saturday said its definitive response would come after a meeting of the Cabinet.
It was not clear whether Ismail's comments meant Sudan was rejecting the 30-day deadline.
The Security Council resolution passed on Friday gave Sudan 30 days to disarm Arab militias blamed for the deaths of thousands, mostly black Africans, in the western Darfur region or face diplomatic and economic penalties.
But Ismail instead renewed his country's earlier commitment to carry out a 90-day agreement signed with the UN on July 3 following a visit by Annan. The agreement called for disarming the Arab militias, deploying 6 000 Sudanese soldiers and policemen to improve security, facilitating humanitarian aid and allowing African Union troops and human rights monitors into Darfur.
Different agendas
Ismail suggested Friday's UN vote passed because of factors outside Sudan.
"Some see that there is different agenda, others relate it to elections taking place in some Western countries," he said. "Some link it to the issue itself that it's meant to be a scapegoat for the guilty conscience that the international family and the UN" share for failing to prevent the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
However, he welcomed the resolution's call on the international community to offer humanitarian assistance to Darfur.
The UN and international aid organisations have accused the pro-government Janjaweed militias of waging a brutal campaign to drive Sudanese citizens of African origin out of Darfur. An estimated 30 000 people have been killed in the 17-month conflict; a million people have been forced to flee their homes, and an estimated 2,2 million people are in urgent need of food, medicine and other basics.
France, the former colonial power in Chad, which borders the Darfur region, began deploying troops and humanitarian aid to the frontier on Saturday.
Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha expressed his "regret" over the UN resolution on Sunday after a cabinet meeting but said Sudan doesn't mind the presence of the French troops on the border "to undertake humanitarian acts as long as these actions are in coordination with the Chadian government."
- AP