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US plans to sanction four Sudanese over misdeeds in Darfur

The US plans a UN Security Council vote today that would impose sanctions on four Sudanese for abuses in Darfur, despite opposition from Russia and China that could kill the measure, council members said.

To ease the concerns of African nations, the council expects to approve at the same time a Tanzanian-drafted statement supporting the African Union's peace talks between the Khartoum government and two rebel groups, held in Abuja, Nigeria.

But the resolution, which would impose a travel ban and a freeze on financial assets on the four Sudanese, the first sanctions by the council on participants in the Darfur conflict, may be thwarted by Russia and China, who contend the resolution could interfere in the peace process.

"As a general principle, we always have difficulty with sanctions, whether it is in this case or other cases," China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya (王光亞) said last week. "We believe that [resolutions] like this might harden the positions of some of the parties to the negotiations."

China has oil interests in Sudan and supplies weapons to the Khartoum government.

But Wang said, "This story has always been played up, but I think we have to be constructive as far as Sudan is concerned."

Supporting Russia and China is Qatar, the only Arab member of the 15-nation council.

The Security Council approved a resolution in March last year, calling for the sanctions on individuals who defy peace efforts, violate human rights or conduct military overflights in Darfur. Russia, China and Islamic nations abstained.

The new resolution, drafted by the US, is co-sponsored by Britain, Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, Peru and Slovakia. A resolution needs a minimum of nine votes and no veto from its five permanent members for adoption.

The Darfur conflict erupted in 2003 when mostly non-Arab tribes took up arms, accusing the Arab-dominated government of neglect.

Khartoum retaliated by arming mainly Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, who began a campaign of murder, rape, arson and plunder that drove more than 2 million villagers into squalid camps in Darfur and in neighboring Chad. Khartoum denies responsibility.

The four Sudanese men targeted for sanctions include a Sudanese government official, a pro-government militia member and two rebel leaders. None are involved in the Abuja peace talks. Britain had proposed a longer list but the US whittled down the roster.

The sanctions resolution will be hard to enforce and at a minimum stigmatizes those on the list, which US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton calls a preliminary roster.

Meanwhile, the African Union will end talks among warring parties in the region by Sunday if the Khartoum government and rebel factions fail to agree to a peace deal, a senior mediator said.

Sam Ibok, head of the African Union team mediating peace negotiations between the Sudan government and rebels fighting in Darfur, said last Sunday his team was still working toward a UN-backed deadline.
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