This isn’t just about genocide. China uses Sudan not only for their oil; Sudan is also the base for Chinese oil operations elsewhere in Africa. And it appears China is willing to trade weapons for oil to Sudan’s radical Islamist government among others.
"China has sought energy cooperation with countries of concern to the United States, including Iran and Sudan, which are inaccessible by U.S. and other western firms. Some analysts have voiced suspicions that China may have offered WMD-related transfers as a component of some of its energy deals," noted the Commission. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/6/17/135930.shtml
-Am
Sudan warns UK and US not to interfere in Darfur
* Blair drawing up plans for military intervention in Sudan
PARIS: Sudan warned Britain and the United States not to interfere in its internal affairs on Thursday after Prime Minister Tony Blair said he had not ruled out military aid to help combat the crisis in the Darfur region.
“I don’t understand why Britain and the United States are systematically increasing pressure against us and not operating through the United Nations,” Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said on a visit to Paris. “(This) pressure closely resembles the increased pressure that was put on Iraq (before the war),” he said.
Washington accuses Khartoum of backing Janjaweed Arab militia in a campaign some US officials have described as ethnic cleansing against black African villagers in Darfur.
The United States has drafted a UN resolution that would impose an immediate travel and arms ban on militia members. “We don’t need any (UN) resolutions. Any resolutions from the Security Council will complicate things,” Ismail said.
Blair stepped up the diplomatic pressure on Khartoum on Thursday to deal effectively with what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
“We have a moral responsibility to deal with this and to deal with it by any means that we can,” he said, adding that he had not ruled out the possibility of military assistance to combat the growing humanitarian crisis in Darfur. After long conflict between Arab nomads and black African farmers, rebel groups launched a revolt in February 2003 in the east of the oil-producing country. Janjaweed militias went on the rampage, driving black Africans into barren camps.
The United Nations estimates that the 15-month conflict has killed at least 30,000 people and displaced more than a million.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported that Blair was drawing up plans for military intervention in Sudan which could involve troops helping to distribute aid, lending logistical support to an African Union (AU) protection force or protecting refugee camps from marauding militia. “We rule nothing out, but we are not at that stage yet,” Blair told a news conference in London.
“What we need to do in the short term is to get the government of Sudan to take the measures necessary to control the militias and to make sure the aid and assistance gets through,” he said. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday that while there were encouraging steps on the humanitarian front, there were continuing reports of militia attacks.
Sudan, in agreement with Annan two weeks ago, has pledged to protect displaced civilians, disarm the Janjaweed and other armed groups, suspend visa and travel restrictions on relief workers and punish those responsible for atrocities. Seven men convicted of Janjaweed membership were sentenced in a Darfur court to punishments ranging from execution and crucifixion to amputation and imprisonment, a statement from the presiding judge said on Thursday. reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a resolution declaring that genocide is occurring in Sudan, which backers hope will pressure the United Nations to take action to protect Africans in the Darfur region from marauding Arab militias.
The House passed the measure in a unanimous vote. Sudan's government said the United States and Britain should not interfere with the country's internal affairs.
With Congress breaking for a six-week summer recess, the Senate has not acted on the resolution.
The House resolution states "that the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide."
It urges President George W. Bush to seek a U.N. resolution to impose sanctions against those responsible for the atrocities, authorise a multinational force to protect displaced people and humanitarian workers, create a commission to investigate crimes and set up a process to resolve grievances between Darfurians and the Sudan government.
The United Nations has declared the situation in Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis, but has not called it a genocide, which would force it to take action.
The world body estimates that the 15-month conflict between Arab nomads and black Africans has killed at least 30,000 people and displaced more than 1 million.
The United States has circulated a U.N. resolution threatening sanctions against Sudan's government if Khartoum did not prosecute leaders of the "Janjaweed" Arab militias blamed for raping and murdering black Africans and sacking their villages.
This isn’t just about genocide. China uses Sudan not only for their oil; Sudan is also the base for Chinese oil operations elsewhere in Africa. And it appears China is willing to trade weapons for oil to Sudan’s radical Islamist government among others.
"China has sought energy cooperation with countries of concern to the United States, including Iran and Sudan, which are inaccessible by U.S. and other western firms. Some analysts have voiced suspicions that China may have offered WMD-related transfers as a component of some of its energy deals," noted the Commission. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/6/17/135930.shtml
-Am
Time is GMT + 8 hours Posted: 24 July 2004 1646 hrs
SYDNEY: Australia is considering a United Nations' request for troops to join a mission to the troubled Darfur region of Sudan, where civil war threatens to create a humanitarian catastrophe.
Defence Minister Robert Hill said the UN had approached Australia for a contribution to the UN force, which was expected to be in place by year's end.
"We are contemplating whether to make a contribution," he said today. "It would be relatively modest and we haven't made a final decision.
"The UN has pointed out a number of areas of specialty where they would appreciate assistance. We are looking at that, together with all our other obligations at the moment."
The UN estimates up to 50,000 people have died in Darfur and about 1.2 million have been driven from their homes since a revolt against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum broke out among indigenous black African ethnic minorities in February 2003.
Hill gave gave no indication of the size of the deployment Australia was considering but said the specialist troops of most interest to the UN included engineers and medics.
"They have got plenty of infantry offered, as usual it is more the technical support areas that they are struggling with," he told reporters.
"The force itself is still being fashioned and final decisions in relation to the force itself haven't been taken."
Hill said he believed the UN would insert an advance force within the next few months.
He said Australia was able to consider a commitment because of scaled down operations in East Timor and the Solomon Islands.
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