Bush tightens squeeze on Sudan
His new sanctions Tuesday seek to press the regime but not deepen the Darfur crisis.
from the May 30, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 4
The bottom line of these additions will be that most joint ventures responsible for Sudanese oil production will be under the sanctions regime, according to the Bush administration.
Third, the US will target a transport firm accused of ferrying weapons to the Sudanese government and militia forces in Darfur. And finally Bush has directed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to consult with allies on a new UN Security Council resolution.
"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," said Bush. "My administration has called these actions by their rightful name: genocide."
By themselves, the new sanctions may be unlikely to change Sudan's behavior, say some US analysts. After all, existing economic strictures appear to have had little effect on Darfur violence.
But if the US move is the first step in an overall international attempt to ratchet up pressure the result might be something else, says Jennifer Cooke, co-director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The European Union has begun to increase pressure on China, an economic patron of Sudan, to act, says Ms. Cooke. The upcoming G-8 summit could serve as a forum for the US, Europe, and perhaps China and Russia to find some common ground on the issue.
"There are possibilities there to get China more cooperative," says Cooke.
China has already expressed its dismay at Bush's new sanctions.
"Expanding sanctions can only make the problem more difficult to resolve," China's representative on African affairs, Liu Guijin, said May 29.
China could be a significant obstacle to US intentions. A major investor in Sudan oil, Beijing has blocked the sending of peacekeepers without Sudanese consent.
At the same time, it has quietly pushed for that consent, and had announced that it would provide 275 military engineers for the UN-heavy support package.
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