U.N. Council Imposes Sanctions on 4 Men in Darfur War Crimes 
By Warren Hoge
April 26, 2006
The New York Times
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/26/world/africa/26nations.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 25 — The Security Council passed a resolution on Tuesday imposing the first sanctions in the violence that has killed more than 200,000 villagers and driven two million people from their homes in Darfur, in western Sudan.
Twelve members of the 15-nation Council voted in favor of the American-drafted measure, which will freeze the assets of four Sudanese accused of war crimes and instructs nations to block their entry. 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 R. Bolton, the United States ambassador.
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, said Konstantin Dolgov, the deputy Russian ambassador.
Wang Guangya, the Chinese envoy, said any Security Council action should focus on promoting, assisting and facilitating rather than affecting, and interfering in, the peace talks.
Mr. Bolton disagreed, saying, Far from interfering in the peace process in Abuja, it will strengthen that process.
The resolution identified the four men accused of war crimes as:
Maj. Gen. Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan, a Sudanese Air Force officer accused of helping the government-backed janjaweed militias commit atrocities; Sheik Musa Hilal, chief of an Arab tribe and a janjaweed leader; Adam Yacub Shant, a commander of Sudanese Liberation Army forces that broke a cease-fire to attack government troops; and Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri, the commander of another rebel force, which kidnapped and threatened African Union troops.