The UN Security Council voted Tuesday to impose sanctions on individuals in the conflicted Darfur region of Sudan who commit atrocities or break cease-fire agreements.
The vote was 12-0, with three countries -- Algeria, China and Russia -- abstaining. Under the resolution, all 15 countries would contribute members to a new panel that would decide who was eligible for punishment.
The measure, drafted by the US, bans travel by individuals who are deemed guilty of offenses and freezes their assets. It also forbids the Sudanese government in Khartoum from conducting offensive military flights into Darfur and from sending military equipment there without first notifying the Security Council.
It did not contain an oil embargo, a step that probably would have brought a veto from China, which is a principal buyer of Sudanese oil.
It was the second Sudan resolution in a week. Criticism of the Council has been rising after two months of inaction on Darfur. The other one, also written by the US, passed Thursday and authorized a 10,715-member peacekeeping force to monitor the peace agreement in the south of Sudan and to lend assistance to the 2,000-soldier African Union force in Darfur.
A third resolution, which would determine what court should handle war-crime suspects, was scheduled for action late yesterday.
The resolution, drafted by France and supported by 11 of the Council members, proposes that suspects be tried in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
The US opposes the court, and Stuart Holliday, a deputy US ambassador, declined Tuesday to say whether the US would veto the measure.
The US suggested creating a new court for Sudanese crimes in Arusha, Tanzania, but the idea attracted little support.
POLL POSITION: Democrats criticized the timing of the raid, saying that the US justice department historically avoids public investigations within 60 days of an election Federal agents on Monday searched the home of Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar, a startling escalation in a criminal investigation that brings renewed focus to the frequent target of White House derision in the final weeks of her re-election bid. The search of the Minnesota congresswoman’s home so close to next month’s midterm contests that would determine control of the US House and the Senate was swiftly condemned by top Democrats in Congress, who raised questions about the timing given longstanding US Department of Justice (DOJ) protocol to avoid overt investigative steps involving political candidates in the direct run-up to an
As shark attack survivor Mel Ismail fought the predator that severed his leg, he noticed something odd. “I saw its eye ... a big black eye,” Ismail said. “But it was winking back at me — I was trying to get my fingers in its eye and just pushing its eye as I was being dragged.” When the shark swam off, he managed to struggle back to shore, the surfer and professional firefighter said in an Australian Broadcasting Corp interview broadcast on Thursday. He was surfing at Glenfield Beach near Geraldton on Australia’s west coast when he was attacked on Sept. 14. He
BUILDUP: The report comes as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi boosts defense spending in the face of China’s military expansion and the North Korean threat French defence contractor Thales will establish a maintenance and operational support base in Japan in what is seen as the first such move by a foreign firm in the country, a report said yesterday. Thales chairman and CEO Patrice Caine told the Nikkei business daily that the base “will mark a milestone toward Thales’ long-term engagement in Japan.” It is believed to be the first time a foreign defense company has established a dedicated base in Japan for the maintenance and operation of Japanese defense equipment, the Nikkei said. It added that Thales might also expand its Japan-based business to
A Rhode Island pumpkin grower appears to have broken the world record for the heaviest pumpkin, with his giant squash topping the record by nearly 136kg. Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island, weighed his pumpkin on Saturday at a contest in New England and is waiting for the Guinness World Records to confirm he smashed the record, set about a week earlier by a grower in England. Wallace said he has been in contact with Guinness officials who say his record is on track to be verified. “It’s truly massive, it was a pleasure to grow,” Wallace said on Monday. Guinness World Records lists
RSS