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UN passes resolution on Sudan

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.
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