WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush imposed new sanctions Tuesday against the Sudanese government in reaction to the violence in Darfur, preventing 31 companies and three people from doing business in the United States or with U.S. companies.
The three individuals are two high-ranking government officials and a rebel leader, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. They were targeted for fomenting violence and human rights abuses in the Darfur region of western Sudan, the agency said.
"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 said. "My administration has called these actions by their rightful name, genocide. The world has a responsibility to help put an end to it."
Sudan's ambassador to the United States, John Ukec Lueth, said the problem is not with the Sudanese government, but with the rebels who have refused to sign the May 2006 Darfur peace agreement.
Despite the pact, which was backed by the United States and other Western nations, fighting among the government of Sudan, the Janjaweed militia and splintered rebel groups has continued unabated.
The West should pressure the rebels to sign it, Lueth said.
"I am very much disappointed ... about our bilateral relations with the United States. These sanctions are unwanted. They should not be done at this time when my government is constructively and objectively working toward comprehensive peace in the entire country," Lueth said on CNN's "Your World Today."
"Arms and troops will never resolve anything," he added.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had failed to live up to international agreements "on all counts" and "giving Khartoum more time is not the answer." He said government forces in concert with militias continued to launch aerial and ground attacks against rebels and civilians in Darfur.
Negroponte added that the Sudanese government continues to block the deployment of a 23,000-strong U.N. and African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur and obstruct the flow of international aid to the region. There is a poorly equipped contingent of some 7,000 African Union troops in Darfur.
Fighting by government-backed militias and rebel groups in Darfur has killed more than 200,000 people and driven about 2 million from their homes.
The Treasury Department issued a statement immediately after Bush's announcement, saying that, as of Tuesday, the agency had blocked the assets of the three Sudanese.
"Even in the face of sanctions, these individuals have continued to play direct roles in the terrible atrocities of Darfur," said Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. "We are working to call attention to their horrific acts and further isolate them from the international community."
The Treasury Department also acted Tuesday to sanction 30 Sudanese companies owned or controlled by the government of Sudan, including several involved in oil exploration, and one company that has violated the arms embargo in Darfur.
"These companies have supplied cash to the Bashir regime, enabling it to purchase arms and further fuel the fighting in Darfur," Paulson said.
The United States plans to appeal to its allies to apply similar sanctions against Sudan, and will present a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council to strengthen the international embargo against the Sudanese government.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the decision to impose sanctions was the right one.
"It has been three years since the Bush administration correctly termed the conditions in Darfur as 'genocide' and it is long past time for all countries concerned by the suffering that continues in Darfur to take the steps necessary to end it," said Pelosi, D-California.
The United States' special envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, said China -- which has substantial investments in Sudan -- is changing its policy. "I can give you a list of things they have helped us with," he told reporters at the State Department. He said the Chinese position is "evolving" because the violence in Darfur is infuriating African governments.
The three individuals named Tuesday include Ahmad Muhammed Harun, Sudan's state minister for humanitarian affairs. He has been accused of war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Sudan's head of military intelligence and security, Awad Ibn Auf, was also designated, along with Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel group that has refused to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement, the Treasury Department said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters he would like more time to work with the Sudanese government and rebels before the U.N. Security Council votes on sanctions. He stressed that the sanctions announced Tuesday were solely U.S. actions.
CNN's Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
The three individuals are two high-ranking government officials and a rebel leader, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. They were targeted for fomenting violence and human rights abuses in the Darfur region of western Sudan, the agency said.
"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 said. "My administration has called these actions by their rightful name, genocide. The world has a responsibility to help put an end to it."
Sudan's ambassador to the United States, John Ukec Lueth, said the problem is not with the Sudanese government, but with the rebels who have refused to sign the May 2006 Darfur peace agreement.
Despite the pact, which was backed by the United States and other Western nations, fighting among the government of Sudan, the Janjaweed militia and splintered rebel groups has continued unabated.
The West should pressure the rebels to sign it, Lueth said.
"I am very much disappointed ... about our bilateral relations with the United States. These sanctions are unwanted. They should not be done at this time when my government is constructively and objectively working toward comprehensive peace in the entire country," Lueth said on CNN's "Your World Today."
"Arms and troops will never resolve anything," he added.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had failed to live up to international agreements "on all counts" and "giving Khartoum more time is not the answer." He said government forces in concert with militias continued to launch aerial and ground attacks against rebels and civilians in Darfur.
Negroponte added that the Sudanese government continues to block the deployment of a 23,000-strong U.N. and African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur and obstruct the flow of international aid to the region. There is a poorly equipped contingent of some 7,000 African Union troops in Darfur.
Fighting by government-backed militias and rebel groups in Darfur has killed more than 200,000 people and driven about 2 million from their homes.
The Treasury Department issued a statement immediately after Bush's announcement, saying that, as of Tuesday, the agency had blocked the assets of the three Sudanese.
"Even in the face of sanctions, these individuals have continued to play direct roles in the terrible atrocities of Darfur," said Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. "We are working to call attention to their horrific acts and further isolate them from the international community."
The Treasury Department also acted Tuesday to sanction 30 Sudanese companies owned or controlled by the government of Sudan, including several involved in oil exploration, and one company that has violated the arms embargo in Darfur.
"These companies have supplied cash to the Bashir regime, enabling it to purchase arms and further fuel the fighting in Darfur," Paulson said.
The United States plans to appeal to its allies to apply similar sanctions against Sudan, and will present a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council to strengthen the international embargo against the Sudanese government.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the decision to impose sanctions was the right one.
"It has been three years since the Bush administration correctly termed the conditions in Darfur as 'genocide' and it is long past time for all countries concerned by the suffering that continues in Darfur to take the steps necessary to end it," said Pelosi, D-California.
The United States' special envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, said China -- which has substantial investments in Sudan -- is changing its policy. "I can give you a list of things they have helped us with," he told reporters at the State Department. He said the Chinese position is "evolving" because the violence in Darfur is infuriating African governments.
The three individuals named Tuesday include Ahmad Muhammed Harun, Sudan's state minister for humanitarian affairs. He has been accused of war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Sudan's head of military intelligence and security, Awad Ibn Auf, was also designated, along with Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel group that has refused to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement, the Treasury Department said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters he would like more time to work with the Sudanese government and rebels before the U.N. Security Council votes on sanctions. He stressed that the sanctions announced Tuesday were solely U.S. actions.
CNN's Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment