The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Tuesday imposing the first sanctions concerning the violence that has killed more than 200,000 villagers and driven 2 million people from their homes in Darfur in western Sudan.
Twelve members of the 15-nation council voted in favor of the US-drafted measure, which will ban travel by four Sudanese accused of war crimes and freeze their assets. Three countries -- China, Qatar, and Russia -- abstained.
"I think today's sanction resolution shows that the Security Council is serious, that its resolutions have to be complied with, that it is prepared to take enforcement steps if they are not complied with," said John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN.
Qatar, the lone Arab nation on the council, said it had not seen "proof" to justify sanctions.
China and Russia, each a permanent member that could have vetoed the proposal, said the timing was wrong, coming just days before a Sunday deadline set by the council for Sudan and the Darfur rebels to reach an agreement to end their conflict. The peace talks are being held in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
"In our view, there is the feeling that the adoption of this resolution might have a negative impact on the prospects for concluding a peace agreement within the time period," Konstantin Dolgov, the deputy Russian ambassador, said.
Wang Guangya (王光亞), the Chinese ambassador, said that any Security Council action "should focus on promoting, assisting, and facilitating rather than affecting, and interfering in, the peace talks."
Bolton disagreed, saying, "Far from interfering in the peace process in Abuja, it will strengthen that process."
The resolution identified the four men as: Major General Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan, a Sudanese air force officer accused of helping the government-backed militias commit atrocities; Sheikh Musa Hilal, chief of an Arab tribe and a militia leader; Adam Yacub Shant, a commander of Sudanese Liberation Army forces that broke a ceasefire to attack government troops; and Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri, the commander of another rebel force, which kidnapped and threatened African Union troops.
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
RSS