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U.S. imposes new sanctions against Sudan


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.

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RedArmySurplus

sanctioning a country that is already very poor and in a state of chaos is stupid, i think that will only make the problems worse.

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die, no0b

Guardian

I hope there are other international affairs gurus here that understand the intent of these sanctions. These sanctions are not identical to the sanctions placed on Iran or Iraq before the fall of Saddam. The sanctions on Sudan are meant to apply economic pressure to Sudan's major trading partners and allies: Russia and China. Gas prices around the world are increasing because China and Russia are demanding more petroleum. This increased demand with a diminishing supply allows oil-possessing governments and companies to raise prices. The Khartoum government in Sudan is making millions from oil exports to China and Russia; namely China.

The sanctions are designed the put pressure on the Sudanese economy. If sanctions are put on Sudanese oil exports the government will lose its major source of revenues. With LESS money, the government's financial support of the Janjaweed militia will be diminished. Not to mention, Russia and China will have no reason to support Khartoum. This is an excellent diplomatic move on the part of the Bush Administration.

This is what I believe the administrations intentions are:

By proposing sanctions in the UN, the US looks like the liberator they claim to be. UN nations will support these sanctions and they will get the necessary votes in the Security Council. The only way these sanctions will be stopped is by a veto from Russia or China. If they veto the sanctions, Russia and China will look like the obstacle to peace that they are. It will be Kosovo all over again, only this time Sudan has more publicity and media play. If China and Russia veto, the US will take NATO action to clean up their liberator image (as Clinton did with Kosovo).

If China and Russia take the bait, they will drop support for Khartoum and Sudan will become fair game for a UN intervention on humanitarian grounds.

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The history of the world is but the biography of great men.
-Thomas Carlyle