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Bush signs law to press Sudan
31/12/2007 20:01 - (SA)
Texas - US President George W Bush, citing his "deep concern" over violence in Sudan's Darfur region, signed a law on Monday aimed at piling economic pressure the government in Khartoum.
"I share the deep concern of the Congress over the continued violence in Darfur perpetrated by the Government of Sudan and rebel groups," he said in a statement released as he prepared to ring in 2008 on his Texas ranch.
"My Administration will continue its efforts to bring about significant improvements in the conditions in Sudan through sanctions against the Government of Sudan and high-level diplomatic engagement and by supporting the deployment of peacekeepers in Darfur," said Bush.
At least 200 000 people have died and more than two million fled their homes since the ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum in February 2003.
The government's response was to back the Arab Janjaweed militia and give it free rein to crack down on the rebels and suspected supporters among the civilian population.
The Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007 encourages but does not require US state and local governments, as well as private investors, to divest from companies that do business in Sudan.
But Bush signalled resistance to a key provision of the law crafted to authorise state and local governments to divest, saying that this "could interfere with implementation of national foreign policy".
The US president said he would "construe and enforce this legislation in a manner that does not conflict with that authority".
- AFP
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