Sudan bows to UN resolution on Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan stepped back from rejecting the UN Security Council resolution on Darfur, with foreign minister Mustafa Osman Ismail saying such talk was unwarranted.

In a sign the West is serious about the resolution, France, the former colonial power in Chad, which borders the Darfur region, began deploying troops and humanitarian aid to the frontier on Saturday. “If you ask me myself as a foreign minister about the resolution, I would tell you that if we look closely at this matter, we will find out that there is no reason to reject the resolution as it doesn’t contain anything new, anything other than what already has been signed on in the agreement with the United Nations,” Ismail told reporters on Saturday.The Security Council passed a resolution Friday that gave the Sudanese government 30 days to disarm Arab militias blamed for the deaths of thousands in the western Darfur region or face diplomatic and economic penalties.Hours later Sudanese information minister El-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said Sudan rejected the resolution, which “does not conform with the agreements signed between the government and the United Nations.”Asked about Malik’s statement, Ismail said: “The cabinet is the only body charged with responding to the resolution.”Ismail said that after the Cabinet met yesterday, the government would issue its definitive response to the resolution.Earlier Saturday, Sudan’s ambassador to the African Union, Osman al-Said, told reporters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that his government would comply with the resolution.”We are not happy with the resolution, but we are going to implement it – we have no other option,” al-Said said.However, the task of stabilising Darfur, a province as large as Iraq and with six million inhabitants, may be too much for his government, al-Said warned.The key clause in the resolution gave Sudan 30 days to disarm the Arab militias known as the Janjaweed.It mandated UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to report on whether the deadline was met.The United Nations and international aid organisations have accused the pro-government Janjaweed of waging a brutal campaign to drive Sudanese citizens of African origin out of Darfur.- Nampa-AP”If you ask me myself as a foreign minister about the resolution, I would tell you that if we look closely at this matter, we will find out that there is no reason to reject the resolution as it doesn’t contain anything new, anything other than what already has been signed on in the agreement with the United Nations,” Ismail told reporters on Saturday.The Security Council passed a resolution Friday that gave the Sudanese government 30 days to disarm Arab militias blamed for the deaths of thousands in the western Darfur region or face diplomatic and economic penalties.Hours later Sudanese information minister El-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said Sudan rejected the resolution, which “does not conform with the agreements signed between the government and the United Nations.”Asked about Malik’s statement, Ismail said: “The cabinet is the only body charged with responding to the resolution.”Ismail said that after the Cabinet met yesterday, the government would issue its definitive response to the resolution.Earlier Saturday, Sudan’s ambassador to the African Union, Osman al-Said, told reporters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that his government would comply with the resolution.”We are not happy with the resolution, but we are going to implement it – we have no other option,” al-Said said.However, the task of stabilising Darfur, a province as large as Iraq and with six million inhabitants, may be too much for his government, al-Said warned.The key clause in the resolution gave Sudan 30 days to disarm the Arab militias known as the Janjaweed.It mandated UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to report on whether the deadline was met.The United Nations and international aid organisations have accused the pro-government Janjaweed of waging a brutal campaign to drive Sudanese citizens of African origin out of Darfur.- Nampa-AP