May 29, 2007
Bush Turns Up The Heat On Sudan
In an early morning address, President Bush announced three new steps his administration is taking, including economic sanctions and diplomatic efforts, to ratchet up the pressure on Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to end the violence in the Darfur region.
"For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing, murder, and rape of innocent civilians," Bush began. "My administration has called these actions by their rightful name: genocide. The world has a responsibility to help put an end to it."
Bush had originally planned to unveil the new set of sanctions against Sudan in April at an address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. But he instead granted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's request to allow more time for diplomacy with Bashir's government. But acknowledging that "the dire security situation on the ground in Darfur has not changed" since then, Bush today announced the implementation of the plan he set forth last month.
That plan includes an expansion of economic sanctions against the Sudanese government and government-controlled companies, particularly those involved in the nation's lucrative oil industry. Bush said he would also impose new sanctions against individuals "responsible for violence," including two senior Sudanese officials and a rebel leader, White House aides told the Washington Post.
The third prong in the president's new strategy is increased coordination with the United Nations to keep pressuring the Sudanese government, working toward a diplomatic solution and attempting to protect innocent civilians through a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force. Bush has directed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to work with other allies on a new U.N. Security Council resolution.
The European Union has already indicated it is "open" to supporting the new U.S. sanctions.
However, China appears unwilling to budge. Liu Guijin, the country's new special government envoy to Africa, said investment in Sudan is the best way to quell the violence in Darfur. The Chinese government has been criticized for continuing to do business with Sudanese companies without stepping up its pressure on the government to end the Darfur crisis.
"The cooperation between China and Sudan is helpful for the development of Sudan's economy and will fundamentally help Sudan to address the conflicts and wars in Sudan," Liu said in a press conference today, following his first visit to the African nation.
Meanwhile, Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadig called the U.S. sanctions "unfair and unjust" and "based on wrong assumptions." Sudanese officials said they were optimistic the government and the United Nations could reach an agreement on the terms of a "hybrid" peacekeeping force for Darfur.
Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
