KHARTOUM, 31 March 2005 — Sudan said yesterday a UN resolution imposing sanctions on those responsible for violence in Darfur would make it harder to disarm combatants and would endanger lives in the remote region. “We think the resolution is unbalanced and unfortunate,” Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters in Khartoum in reference to a Security Council resolution passed on Tuesday that imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on some involved in the Darfur conflict.
“It will reflect negatively on the security in Darfur because it will jeopardize and limit the capability of the government to fight outlaws.” He said the resolution, which also strengthens an arms embargo on the government and prevents hostile flights over Darfur, would put the lives of the Darfuri people at risk as well as the thousands of foreigners working in the region.
“It will also reflect negatively on the security of non-Sudanese who are supposed to move freely and to feel in full security,” he said. There are around 1,000 foreign aid workers in Darfur and more than 2,000 African Union troops in Darfur. Three members of an AU team were injured in an attack on Tuesday, and last week a US aid worker was shot in the face when gunmen ambushed an aid convoy in Darfur.
The United Nations says the government has done little to try to disarm Arab militias, but Ismail said the rebels had caused delay through intransigence and said the government needed more time. “We are doing our best but this is an area larger than France. Weapons are everywhere. Rebels are not cooperating,” he said. The Security Council is expected to discuss yesterday a separate French-drafted resolution which will refer those accused of war crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court, an institution the United States bitterly opposes.
