Sudan condemns U.N. resolution
From Jonathan Wald
CNN
 | |
| |
|  VIDEO |
 Sudan says it will disarm Arab militias attacking farmers.
 U.N. threatens sanctions against Sudan.
 Refugees fleeing from Sudan cross into Chad.
|
RELATED |
• Amnesty condemns Sudan rapes
|
|
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Sudan is calling a U.N. Security Council vote on the Darfur crisis "illogical," after being given 30 days to disarm Arab militias or face economic and diplomatic penalties.
Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail on Sunday said the government condemns the time period in particular, saying it would be difficult to implement changes in a month.
He says Khartoum will stick to a 90-day plan it had already devised with the United Nations.
That July 3 agreement included disarming the Arab militia known as Janjaweed and accepting humanitarian aid.
The U.N. Security Council voted for a resolution implicitly threatening to impose sanctions if the government of Sudan does not stop atrocities in Darfur within one month.
Over the past year the Janjaweed have brutally attacked black African farmers in Darfur, a region of western Sudan about the size of France.
In a bid to help out in the crisis, France has flown a planeload of U.N. aid into eastern Chad where French soldiers are preparing to deploy to the border with Sudan's Darfur region.
About 200 troops already stationed in neighboring Chad will be sent to the border to help the relief effort in Darfur.
The conflict in Darfur began last year when black Sudanese rebels attacked government property, accusing the government of neglecting Darfur in favor of the Arab population in Sudan.
The government responded by setting up the Janjaweed to put down the rebellion.
Human rights groups estimate 15,000 to 30,000 civilians have been killed and more than 1.2 million people have been left homeless.
'Last thing we wanted to do'
Last week thirteen members of the Council voted for the resolution, with China and Pakistan abstaining.
"This is the last thing we wanted to do," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Danforth said, "but the government has left us with no choice."
"It's time to start the clock ticking on the government of Sudan."
Elfatih Mohammed Ahmed Erwa, Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations, criticized the resolution for failing to recognize "improvements on the ground" and for pre-judging efforts by Sudan and the African Union to resolve the conflict peacefully.
"The intention is there, the will is there, it's the pre-judging I'm worried about," Erwa told CNN.
A senior State Department official said the United States has been urging the African Union to prepare a protection force to be ready to move into Sudan if no progress is seen in the 30 days.
The official said the African Union is meeting now on the issue.
The vote came after United States on Thursday dropped the word "sanctions" from its draft resolution on Sudan, but maintained sanctions are still possible if Khartoun does not comply with commitments it made earlier in the year to control the crisis in the Darfur region.
One of the principal humanitarian groups in Sudan was disappointed by the resolution.
"The only thing the U.N. Security Council has delivered is yet another month-long delay," said the agency, which asked to remain unnamed.
"This watered-down resolution contains no urgency and offers precious little help to the people of Darfur."
Danforth defended the revised resolution, saying, "it takes no teeth out of it."
The senior State Department official said the United States believes Khartoum can still control at least 80 percent of the Janjaweed, and estimated there were between 6,000 and 12,000 members of those militias in Sudan.
The official said it was the Sudanese government that let the "genie out of the bottle" by arming the Janjaweed.
Danforth told the Security Council between 240 and 440 people are dying in Darfur every day, adding that Sudanese officials "created this monster" and "it's their responsibility to control it."
The United Nations has described the Darfur conflict as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
In 30 days, the council will meet again to discuss if further action against the government is needed.
