The UN Security Council plans to lift its five-year-old sanctions on Sudan this month with the agreement of the United States, council president Jean-David Levitte of France said Wednesday, September 5.
Outlining the council's program of work, he told a news conference he had scheduled a September 17 meeting to adopt a resolution to remove the sanctions. A three-year-old arms embargo against Yugoslavia was likely to be removed the same day, he said.
Levitte said nothing was set in stone, particularly as far as Sudan was concerned, and "a grain of sand could still block the machine." But while he repeatedly emphasized the need for caution, he said "the time has come, if possible, to remove sanctions against Sudan," and both the US and Sudanese authorities had encouraged council members to go ahead.
In Washington, a State Department official commented simply: "We are looking at that." Other US officials said, however, that Washington was preparing an initiative to mediate between Sudan's Muslim government and Christian and animist groups fighting for autonomy in the south.
The plan, to include up to $30 million in humanitarian and relief aid, is to be led by former US senator John Danforth who the officials said would be named Washington's point man on Sudan on Thursday. "We are working on the Danforth announcement now and we are also looking to increase our assistance to Sudan," said one senior official. "It's no secret that Sudan is important to us and this initiative will demonstrate that," a second official said.
Levitte declined to comment on the apparent thaw in US-Sudanese relations, saying "the Security Council had no desire to get involved in this bilateral dialogue." Agreement by the United States to lift the sanctions would indicate a shift in attitude towards Sudan, long branded by Washington as a rogue state and supporter of terrorism.
The Security Council imposed diplomatic sanctions on Sudan on April 26, 1996, in an effort to force it to extradite three people suspected of trying to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak the previous year.
It also ordered member states to restrict the movement of Sudanese military and government officials, and in August 1996 it followed up with a ban on air traffic in and out of Sudan, but this was never put into effect.
Last year, the Sudanese foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, wrote to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan saying official inquiries had shown that "no trace has been found of the three suspects in the Sudan."
The attempt on Mubarak's life was made on June 26, 1995, as he arrived in Addis Ababa for a summit of the Organization of African Unity. Despite Ismail's letter, the United States thwarted efforts by African countries at the United Nations to have the sanctions removed.
A draft resolution was circulated in September 2000, when Mali held the rotating council presidency, but the United States — one of five permanent council members with a veto — made sure it was not put to the vote.
The following month, Richard Holbrooke, then US ambassador to the United Nations, conducted an intense and successful campaign to prevent Sudan being elected to one of the 10 non-permanent council seats.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Sudan was unsuitable for the position and its election would "undermine and weaken Africa's representation on the council."
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, quoted by the press in Khartoum, accused the United States of a campaign of "financial temptation and intimidation" to bully African countries into voting against his country. He described Mauritius — the successful candidate — as "a satellite state" of the United States. — (AFP, United Nations)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
