UN draft resolution on Sudan revised

The United States has revised a draft UN resolution on Sudan, as supporters in the Security Council pressed for a vote this week despite concerns over the inclusion of the threat of sanctions.

The draft circulated by the US last week for the first time included a direct threat of sanctions against the Sudanese government if it does not rein in Arab militias accused of killing thousands in that country’s western Darfur province.

Washington has made changes and planned to discuss them with other UN ambassadors today, a spokesman for the US mission at the United Nations said.

A British official was “hopeful” that the vote could be held this week.

The new draft would still include a regional arms embargo on Darfur and threaten sanctions on the government, the British official said.

Russia, Pakistan and China have opposed the threat of sanctions and called for Sudan to be given sufficient time to meet its commitments under an agreement it reached with Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The EU is pushing for “imminent” sanctions against Sudan if it does not end the conflict in its western Darfur region.

“They know very well the threat of sanctions is imminent if they don’t comply,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, whose country holds the EU presidency. “We have made that crystal clear to them.”

The violence in Darfur began 15 months ago when two rebel groups from Darfur’s African tribes took up arms in a struggle over land and resources. Arab militias known as Janjaweed then began a brutal campaign to drive out the black Africans.

Backing up its threat, the EU said it was drafting a list of Janjaweed leaders “responsible for breaches and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and those guiding and supporting them”.

Up to 30,000 people, most of them black Africans, have been killed in Darfur, and an estimated 2.2 million are in urgent need of food or medical attention.

Medecins Sans Frontieres said that not enough aid is making its way to Darfur, and death rates are already significantly above the “emergency threshold”.

“This is not surprising as there are extreme shortages of water, food, shelter and latrines, which contribute to high levels of diarrhoea among children, a major cause of death,” the group said.