Sudan rejects Darfur resolution Darfur has been described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis Sudan has rejected a new UN resolution, which says Khartoum must halt atrocities by Arab militias in the western Darfur region within 30 days. Information Minister Al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said the document was incorrect.
But Sudan's UN ambassador Elfatih Erwa said the government would nonetheless comply with the US-drafted resolution. The UN Security Council adopted the document after the US dropped the word "sanctions" and added economic and diplomatic "measures". The vote was passed with two abstentions - from China and Pakistan. Diplomats say it is not up to Sudan to accept or reject the resolution, the BBC's Susannah Price at the UN in New York reports. Up to 50,000 people have died and more than a million have fled their homes in Darfur. The Janjaweed, the main Arab militia group allied with the government, has been blamed for mass rapes, killings and burning of villages in Darfur. Khartoum's anger Friday's resolution "does not conform with the agreements between the government and the United Nations," Mr Malik said in a statement quoted by the Associated Press. While diplomats sit in New York and procrastinate, the people of Darfur are dying Representative of aid agency in Darfur "It pains Sudan to have to express its rejection of the Security Council resolution," Mr Malik said. He said the government was capable of "disarming all the looting and robbing gangs". Mr Malik also said the resolution focused on Arab militias more than humanitarian issues in Darfur. 'Disaster' US Ambassador John Danforth told the Council after the vote: "The government of Sudan has left us no choice. It has done the unthinkable, it has fostered an armed attack on its own civilian population, it has created a humanitarian disaster. DARFUR CONFLICT 1m displaced Up to 50,000 killed More at risk from disease and starvation Arab militias accused of ethnic cleansing Sudan blames rebels for starting conflict Q&A: Darfur conflict Sudan's media defiant "The responsibility for this disaster lies squarely on the government of Sudan," he said. The newly passed resolution calls on Sudan to make good on promises it made on 3 July to rein in the fighters. It calls for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to issue a report in 30 days on the progress made in each of those areas. The US removed any specific reference to sanctions in the resolution after objections from seven members - including China, Russia and Pakistan - who believe Khartoum needs more time to act. Aid agencies believe the resolution has been fatally weakened by the changes. "The Security Council have today proved unanimous in their inaction," the representative of one major aid agency working in Darfur, which wanted to remain anonymous, told BBC News Online. "The only thing the UN Security Council has delivered is... another 30 days in which civilians will continue to live in fear of being killed or raped. "The government of Sudan will be celebrating yet another failure to call them to account." Meanwhile, the World Food Programme has said it will begin a series of airdrops targeting 85,000 people in isolated regions of West Darfur in three days. -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
