Sudan-Seeking Help To Keep the Status Quo

[Annie]

Of course if the UN is remaining in charge, shouldn't be a problem:

Link

Sudan Seeks Arab Help in Avoiding Sanctions

17 minutes ago

By Tom Perry

CAIRO (Reuters) - Sudan sought Arab help Sunday to head off possible sanctions threatened by the United Nations (news - web sites) if Khartoum fails to rein in marauding militiamen accused of genocide and ethnic cleansing in its western Darfur region.

Sudan has about three weeks left to show the U.N. Security Council it is serious about disarming the Janjaweed militia or face possible sanctions. Darfur rebels says Khartoum backs Janjaweed attacks to drive non-Arab villagers off their land.

Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said Khartoum was seeking political support from Arab ministers, due to meet at the Arab League in Cairo, "which will lead to the halting of any attempts to target Sudan or issuing sanctions against it."

The Cairo-based Arab League has said the threat of sanctions will not help resolve the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where the U.N. says fighting has killed 50,000, displaced one million and made two million short of food and medicine.

[...]

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said the government would participate in the talks without conditions.


"The Khartoum government will put forward a paper to the Abuja meeting about Sudan's vision for dealing with the political crisis," he told reporters in Cairo.


There was no direct word from the rebels confirming they would attend, but Thiam said they would be there.

"The talks will be a continuation of the political dialogue started in Addis Ababa on July 15 under the auspices of the African Union," he said.

Those talks failed when the rebels set six conditions for negotiations and Khartoum immediately rejected them. The chief demands included Sudan's demilitarization of Darfur and an inquiry into genocide charges.

The 53-member AU is proposing to send up to 2,000 troops to protect its cease-fire monitors in Darfur and to serve as peacekeepers, but has yet to send a formal request to Khartoum.

Saturday, Sudan said it would permit African troops to protect their monitors, but said only its troops would handle the peacekeeping functions.(Fox:hen house)

 

[Annie]

Of course if the UN is remaining in charge, shouldn't be a problem:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3545818.stm

Link

Looks like the Arab League will cooperate with Sudan.

Arab League backs Sudan on Darfur
The Arab League has rejected any sanctions or international military intervention as a response to the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.
Arab foreign ministers at an emergency session in Cairo backed Khartoum's measures to disarm Arab militias and punish human rights violators.

They called on the UN to give Sudan more time to resolve the conflict.

And Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha said he thought the UN's end of August deadline was impractical.

He told the BBC's Hard Talk programme that Khartoum was committed to disarming all militia forces in Darfur.

He said 6,000 Sudanese police and government troops were currently in Darfur, and there were plans to expand the force to 12,000.

"We are really committed to disarm whoever is acting outside the law," he said, adding that comprehensive stability was only possible if both the Arab Janjaweed militia and rebel groups disarmed.

But he added that logistical problems were hampering deployment, which meant that fully disarming the Arab Janjaweed militia, and other forces, by the end of August would not be possible.

"We cannot have comprehensive stability without disarming both sides."

No surprises

On 30 July, a UN resolution gave Sudan 30 days to bring Arab militia under control or face international action.

About one million people have fled their homes in a crisis exacerbated by the pro-government Janjaweed militia. . . .

 

[insein]

what else is new.

 

[Democrat4Bush]

Once again the arab world burys it's head in the sand and refuses to acknowledge a problem. What else is new.