The U.N. Security Council remained divided Monday on imposing punitive measures over the conflict in Darfur despite calls for sanctions against Sudanese allegedly blocking peace in the region. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, on the next to last day of the U.S. presidency of the council, scheduled a closed-door meeting to discuss a report by a U.N.-appointed panel that recommended sanctions against key figures from all groups. Most of the 15-member council were in favor of sanctions, led by the United States, Britain, France and Denmark but Qatar, China, and Russia were strongly opposed, council diplomats said. Qatar is the only Arab member of the council, China is a major buyer of Sudanese oil, and Russia traditionally opposes sanctions.
With sanctions off the table, Khartoum is now more brazen in its threats against the deployment of an effective peacekeeping force in Darfur. And, al Qaeda reportedly makes its own threats against such a force. From the Los Angeles Times:
Envoy to Sudan Reports Threats U.N.’s Jan Pronk says Al Qaeda has warned him and non-African troops who might go to Darfur. UNITED NATIONS – The world body’s top envoy to Sudan said Tuesday that Al Qaeda has threatened him and any peacekeeping troops deployed there from outside Africa, following the Sudanese government’s rejection of a proposed U.N. force meant to protect civilians in the nation’s Darfur region…. The U.N. is drawing up plans to transform a 7,000-strong African Union force into a U.N.-led operation as the regional troops run out of funding and logistical support. But Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir on Saturday denounced the U.N.’s plan to field a force of as many as 20,000 troops, some from outside Africa, to quell continuing violence in Darfur. On Feb. 17, President Bush said the number of peacekeepers on the ground in Darfur should be doubled, perhaps with the support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Bashir responded Saturday that such international troops would be at risk. “We are strongly opposed to any foreign intervention in Sudan, and Darfur will be a graveyard for any foreign troops venturing to enter,” he said in Khartoum. Bashir summoned Pronk on Monday to underline his government’s insistence on African troops…. The heated political climate in Khartoum has made negotiations over the next step difficult, Pronk said, describing intelligence that suggested that Al Qaeda terrorists were present in the Sudanese capital and had made death threats against him and any U.N. troops that might be deployed to the country. Sudan’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Omar Manis, reiterated his government’s objections to the mission but questioned Pronk’s reports of Al Qaeda threats. “I don’t know from where Mr. Pronk got this idea. Sudan is not Al Qaeda. We don’t speak for Al Qaeda,” he said. Manis added that Khartoum prefers African troops to international soldiers, even if the existing force is absorbed by a U.N. mission. “The Sudanese government has already said no,” Manis said. “If there are problems with the African Union, let us solve those problems. If there are financial constraints, give them more money. If there are logistical constraints, help them. But nobody seems to be interested in going that path.” Pronk said the political stalemate must be broken because attacks against villagers in the Darfur region were again growing frequent. He described attacks in which thousands of Arab militiamen on camels and horses, followed by government army trucks, plundered Darfur. He also reported new attacks on refugee camps in Chad. The militias, often backed by the government, have been razing villages in the region of western Sudan since rebel groups took up arms against the government in 2003. Hundreds of thousands of non-Arab villagers have been killed in the government-orchestrated campaign to oust the ethnic groups that supported the rebels, according to the U.N., and more than 2 million people have been displaced. The attacks have continued despite a peace agreement in a separate Sudanese conflict reached last year, and the African Union forces are spread thin, Pronk said.
“Nothing rips more at the common fabric of humanity than genocide — and the only way to assert our own humanity is to stand up to it,” wrote New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who won’t let the world forget about the suffering in Darfur. He continued:
President Bush is doing more about Darfur than most other leaders, but that’s not saying much. The French are being particularly unhelpful, while other Europeans (including, alas, Tony Blair) seem to wonder whether it’s really worth the expense to save people from genocide. Muslim countries are silent about the slaughter of Darfur’s Muslims, while China disgraces itself by protecting Sudan in the United Nations and underwriting the genocide with trade. Still, even Mr. Bush is taking only baby steps. Here are some grown-up steps Mr. Bush could take: He could enforce a no-fly zone to stop air attacks on civilians in Darfur, lobby Arab leaders to become involved, call President Hu Jintao and ask China to stop protecting Sudan, invite Darfur refugees to a photo op at the White House, attend a coming donor conference for Darfur, visit Darfur or the refugee camps next door in Chad, push France and other allies for a NATO bridging force to provide protection until United Nations troops arrive, offer to support the United Nations force with American military airlift and logistical support (though not ground troops, which would help Sudan’s hard-liners by allowing them to claim that the United States.
As with Rwanda and the Balkans for many years, we have, thus far, failed “to assert our own humanity” in Darfur.