UN leaning against tough Sudan sanctions

By Madeline Chambers
August 20, 2004
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LONDON (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council is
unlikely to impose heavy sanctions on Sudan even if Khartoum fails
to meet the body's demands to rein in marauding militiamen in
Darfur, a senior British official has said.

He also said it would be impractical to expand the mandate of
a small African Union force into a wider peacekeeping role. The
force is now charged only with protecting ceasefire monitors.

The UN Security Council has threatened Sudan with unspecified
sanctions unless it shows by the end of August it has made
progress disarming Arab militias in the western desert region
where more than a million people have fled their homes.

A senior official from the Foreign Office said council members
wanted to show they were serious about getting Sudan to cooperate,
although heavy sanctions were not likely.

There is a range of views in the Security Council, but the
natural centre of gravity is not the imposition of heavy duty
sanctions on Sudan, he said on Friday.

There will be a consciousness that for the strength and
health of the U.N., it needs to follow up, he said, adding
options ranged from imposing a travel ban or asset freeze to more
serious measures, such as a global arms or oil embargo.

Sudan denies that its own forces are in league with the
militias, known as Janjaweed, who have burned and looted non-Arab
villages in Darfur since rebel groups took up arms in western
Sudan last year.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw flies to Sudan on Monday
and will encourage Khartoum to make use of the last few days
before a U.N. envoy reports back to the Security Council.

Britain hopes its historic ties -- which stretch back more
than a century to when the region was a British protectorate --
and its status as the world's second-largest donor to Sudan will
give it influence.

The United Nations has said in the last few days Khartoum
appears to be taking its commitments seriously, but must do more
on the ground. Sudan argues it does not have enough time.

The British official said London would support a bigger
African Union force to protect observers monitoring a shaky
ceasefire, but would have reservations about it taking on the
extra responsibility of keeping the peace.

We share doubts about the practicality and politics of
extending the mandate of the force, he said.

In the next few days, about 150 Nigerian troops are due to
join 155 Rwandan soldiers in Darfur but critics say a force of
this size is too small to be effective even its current limited
role.

Nigeria has said it could deploy more than 1,000 additional
troops to Sudan, possibly as part of a multinational protection
force. But Khartoum says it reserves the right to reject the
proposal.