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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Sudan faults sanctions threat by UN over Darfur
THE Sudanese government yesterday described the United Nations' threat of sanctions over the Darfur crisis as unfair and capable of undermining African leaders' current peace moves.
The country, however, pledged to abide by the world body's demands.
The UN Security Council had in Resolution 1564 on Saturday asked Sudan to restore security to the crisis-rocked region or face sanctions.
The Speaker of the Sudanese Parliament cautioned the West not to intervene in his country, warning that it risked opening the "gates of hell".
The cabinet, in a meeting chaired by Vice President Ali Osman Taha, "reaffirmed its commitment to implementing the Security Council resolution as well as earlier agreements with the world body", Junior Foreign Minister Naguib al-Khair Abdel Wahab told the Agence France Presse (AFP).
The ministers stressed their commitment to "more positive measures to further improve the humanitarian and security conditions" in Darfur region.
But they criticised the Security Council resolution as "unfair and contradicting the African Union (AU) resolutions and the African responsibility of resolving African conflicts through African mechanisms and in an African context".
Washington, by sponsoring the resolution, "undermined the AU role and poisoned the environment of (peace) negotiations in Abuja" between Khartoum and rebel groups, Abdel Wahab charged.
Security Council Resolution 1564 warns that the Security Council "will envisage" sanctions against Sudan's oil industry unless Khartoum makes good on his promise to protect the population of Darfur.
The resolution was sponsored by the United States, which says Khartoum and its proxy Arab militias are guilty of genocide in Darfur.
An estimated 50,000 people have died and 1.4 million displaced in Darfur, where UN officials say pro-government Janjaweed militias have carried out a scorched-earth campaign of ethnic cleansing against non-Arab minorities.
The war broke out in February 2003 when rebels rose up against Khartoum to demand an end to the marginalisation of their region, one of the poorest in Sudan.
In a fiery tirade, parliament Speaker Ibrahim Ahmed al-Taher warned Western nations not to intervene.
"If Iraq opened for the West one gate of hell, we will open seven such gates," Taher was quoted as saying by the Sudanese Media Centre, an information outlet affiliated to the government. "We will not surrender this country to anybody."
The UN vote came ahead of a week-long mission to Sudan by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, who was due to arrive later yesterday.
Kamal al-Obaid, an official with President Omar al-Beshir's ruling National Congress, said the resolution contradicted a report by UN envoy Jan Pronk and accused the United States of "breaching all international values and norms", the Independent Al-Sahafa newspaper reported.
Obaid said his government was committed to addressing the crisis in Darfur "not in response to the threat contained in the resolution but in pursuance of the government's unchanging position of resolving all problems through dialogue".
The UN resolution was adopted after three weeks of talks between Khartoum and Darfur rebels in Nigeria were suspended because of disagreements on key issues.
Khartoum's chief delegate to the Abuja talks, Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed, accused Washington of using Darfur for political purposes ahead of the November presidential election, "forgetting the crimes it has committed in Iraq and elsewhere", Al-Anbaa newspaper reported.
The Arab League also rejected the resolution, saying it would not help bring peace to the troubled region.
"Imposing sanctions will not help resolve the crisis or encourage the parties to try to end it. In fact, it will have the opposite effect," League spokesman Hossam Zaki told reporters in Cairo.
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