Bush: Sudan has last chance to avoid US sanctions
(Adds possible U.N. sanctions, paragraphs 7-10)
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush warned Sudan's president on Wednesday he had one last chance to stop violence in Darfur or else the United States would impose sanctions and consider other punitive options.
Bush said he had decided to give U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon more time to pursue diplomacy with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir but made clear in a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Museum his patience was limited.
"President Bashir should take the last chance by responding to the secretary-general's efforts and to meet the just demands of the international community," Bush said.
Bush raised the possibility of an international no-fly zone aimed at preventing Sudan's military aircraft from flying over Darfur. He accused the Sudanese of painting military planes white to disguise them as U.N. or African Union aircraft, as revealed in a U.N. report.
"I'm also looking at what steps the international community could take to deny Sudan's government the ability to fly its military aircraft over Darfur, and if we don't begin to see signs of good-faith commitments, we will hear calls for even sterner measures. The situation doesn't have to come to that," Bush said.
Britain has pushed for a no-fly zone in Darfur but U.S. defense officials have said it is not an option being actively explored as such a measure would be hard to implement in an area the size of Texas. U.N. sanctions forbid offensive flights over Darfur and ban arms from the area.
Among new U.N. sanctions under consideration are an arms embargo on all of Sudan, monitoring flights at Sudanese airports and adding names to a list of government, rebel and militia leaders subject to financial and travel bans. Companies and institutions might also be named.
But U.N. ambassadors from Russia, China and South Africa told reporters in New York they did not believe the time for sanctions was right after Sudan agreed this week to let in some 3,000 extra peacekeepers. Khartoum has balked at a proposed force of more than 20,000 African Union and U.N. troops and police.
British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, U.N. Security Council president, said that when a resolution text had been completed, "the judgment will be when do we put it down."
"One of the questions on the timing is whether or not the resolution would prevail in the Council," he said.
FRUSTRATED
Bush has been frustrated at the international community's failure to stop what he calls genocide in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since 2003. In his speech, he accused Bashir of routinely violating past agreements.
"Sudan's government has moved arms to Darfur, conducted bombing raids on villages. They've used military vehicles and aircraft that are painted white, which makes them look like those deployed by humanitarian agencies and peacekeeping forces," Bush said.
Speaking separately to nongovernmental organizations, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced skepticism Sudan would honor agreements over Darfur.
"The fact of the matter is that we need to be prepared for the outcome that we have seen so often with the Sudanese, which is promises that are not met," said Rice.
Bush said to avoid sanctions Bashir must allow deployment of a full joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force to Darfur, end support for Janjaweed militias, reach out to rebel leaders and allow humanitarian aid to reach the people of Darfur.
Outlining the sanctions Sudan would face, Bush said the Treasury Department would bar 29 companies owned or controlled by Sudan's government from the U.S. financial system, making it a crime for American companies to do business with them.
Washington would also target sanctions against individuals responsible for violence. The United States has imposed a host of unilateral financial sanctions against Sudan. (Additional reporting by Sue Pleming, Tabassum Zakaria, Caren Bohan and Patrick Worsnip)
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush warned Sudan's president on Wednesday he had one last chance to stop violence in Darfur or else the United States would impose sanctions and consider other punitive options.
Bush said he had decided to give U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon more time to pursue diplomacy with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir but made clear in a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Museum his patience was limited.
"President Bashir should take the last chance by responding to the secretary-general's efforts and to meet the just demands of the international community," Bush said.
Bush raised the possibility of an international no-fly zone aimed at preventing Sudan's military aircraft from flying over Darfur. He accused the Sudanese of painting military planes white to disguise them as U.N. or African Union aircraft, as revealed in a U.N. report.
"I'm also looking at what steps the international community could take to deny Sudan's government the ability to fly its military aircraft over Darfur, and if we don't begin to see signs of good-faith commitments, we will hear calls for even sterner measures. The situation doesn't have to come to that," Bush said.
Britain has pushed for a no-fly zone in Darfur but U.S. defense officials have said it is not an option being actively explored as such a measure would be hard to implement in an area the size of Texas. U.N. sanctions forbid offensive flights over Darfur and ban arms from the area.
Among new U.N. sanctions under consideration are an arms embargo on all of Sudan, monitoring flights at Sudanese airports and adding names to a list of government, rebel and militia leaders subject to financial and travel bans. Companies and institutions might also be named.
But U.N. ambassadors from Russia, China and South Africa told reporters in New York they did not believe the time for sanctions was right after Sudan agreed this week to let in some 3,000 extra peacekeepers. Khartoum has balked at a proposed force of more than 20,000 African Union and U.N. troops and police.
British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, U.N. Security Council president, said that when a resolution text had been completed, "the judgment will be when do we put it down."
"One of the questions on the timing is whether or not the resolution would prevail in the Council," he said.
FRUSTRATED
Bush has been frustrated at the international community's failure to stop what he calls genocide in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since 2003. In his speech, he accused Bashir of routinely violating past agreements.
"Sudan's government has moved arms to Darfur, conducted bombing raids on villages. They've used military vehicles and aircraft that are painted white, which makes them look like those deployed by humanitarian agencies and peacekeeping forces," Bush said.
Speaking separately to nongovernmental organizations, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced skepticism Sudan would honor agreements over Darfur.
"The fact of the matter is that we need to be prepared for the outcome that we have seen so often with the Sudanese, which is promises that are not met," said Rice.
Bush said to avoid sanctions Bashir must allow deployment of a full joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force to Darfur, end support for Janjaweed militias, reach out to rebel leaders and allow humanitarian aid to reach the people of Darfur.
Outlining the sanctions Sudan would face, Bush said the Treasury Department would bar 29 companies owned or controlled by Sudan's government from the U.S. financial system, making it a crime for American companies to do business with them.
Washington would also target sanctions against individuals responsible for violence. The United States has imposed a host of unilateral financial sanctions against Sudan. (Additional reporting by Sue Pleming, Tabassum Zakaria, Caren Bohan and Patrick Worsnip)
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