From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Oct 19 2009 - 17:02:48 EDT
U.S. keeps Sudan sanctions but offers dialogue
Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:06pm GMT
* U.S. seeks concrete progress on Darfur, southern Sudan
* Khartoum says new policy has "positive points" (Adds details)
By Andrew Quinn
WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday said it
would renew economic sanctions on Sudan, but also offered Khartoum new
incentives to end violence in Darfur and the semi-autonomous south ahead of
crucial polls next year.
President Barack Obama, who during last year's U.S. presidential campaign
urged a tougher line on Khartoum, said the action was necessary to prevent
the oil-rich African giant from falling further into chaos.
"If the Government of Sudan acts to improve the situation on the ground and
to advance peace, there will be incentives; if it does not, then there will
be increased pressure imposed by the United States and the international
community," Obama said in a statement, repeating accusations that the
violence in Darfur amounted to genocide.
Sudan said the new U.S. approach had "positive points" as a policy of
engagement, not isolation.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. goals would be to end war
crimes and other violence in Darfur, ensure implementation of a fraying 2005
peace deal between the Khartoum government and former southern rebels, and
to prevent Sudan from becoming a haven for international terror groups.
"We view the crisis in Sudan as two-fold. The situation in Darfur remains
unresolved after six years and the comprehensive peace agreement between
north and south will be a flashpoint for future conflict," she told a news
briefing.
"We are looking to achieve results through broad engagement and frank
dialogue. But words alone are not enough."
Sudan exports most of its oil to China, complicating U.S. efforts to win
stronger support from Beijing for sanctions on Khartoum.
NO TALKS WITH BASHIR
U.S. officials said Washington's outreach to Khartoum would not include
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, indicted in March by the International
Criminal Court for war crimes while fighting mostly non-Arab rebels in
Darfur.
The United Nations says more than 2 million people were driven from their
homes and some 300,000 people died in the Darfur crisis, although levels of
conflict have fallen since the mass killings of 2003 and 2004.
But they stressed Khartoum ultimately had to be involved to end the violence
in Darfur as well as ease tensions in south Sudan, where mounting insecurity
could affect national polls next year and a southern referendum on secession
in 2011.
"The United States is prepared to work with all sides," U.S. Ambassador to
the United Nations Susan Rice said.
"There will be no rewards for the status quo. No incentives without concrete
and tangible progress. There will be significant consequences for parties
that backslide or simply stand still."
Clinton declined to specify what carrots or sticks would be offered to
Sudan's government to encourage cooperation, saying they were part of a
classified strategy document.
But analysts said the United States had tools at its disposal, ranging from
removing Sudan from the official U.S. list of state sponsors of terror as a
reward for good behavior to expanding the number of Sudanese officials
targeted for individual sanctions as punishment.
"So many of these things that are in place now isolating the government of
Sudan in some small way are little scarlet letters that ... the United
States placed on the shirt of the Khartoum regime," said John Prendergast of
the Enough Project nonprofit group that seeks to prevent genocide and crimes
against humanity.
"Basically, what ... they are talking about is taking off those scarlet
letters one at a time," he added.
(Additional reporting by Deborah Charles and Arshad Mohammed in Washington,
Opheera McDoom in Khartoum; editing by Patricia Wilson)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Sudan says new U.S. policy has "positive points"
Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:01pm GMT
* Sudan says Obama policy one of engagement not isolation
* Says disappointed U.S. using term genocide in Darfur
(Adds quotes from presidential adviser, background)
By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Sudan said on Monday a new policy toward
Khartoum unveiled by U.S. President Barack Obama had "positive points" and
was a strategy of engagement with Sudan not isolation.
Obama called on Monday for a "definitive end" to the conflict in Darfur in
west Sudan, as well as simultaneous implementation of a troubled peace deal
that ended over two decades of a separate north-south civil war.
The strategy offers incentives if Khartoum works toward peace but Sudan
faces tougher steps if it fails to act. Obama also said he would renew
sanctions on Sudan this week.
Sudanese presidential adviser Ghazi Salahadin said the absence of threats of
military intervention in the strategy was "important" and represented "the
new Obama spirit."
"Basically ... this is a strategy of engagement. It is not a strategy of
isolation," he told a news conference in Khartoum. "Compared to the previous
policies ... there are positive points."
But Sudan was disappointed that the White House was still using the term
genocide in connection with Darfur.
"It's unfortunate that the administration insists on using the word genocide
but it does not reflect the realities in Darfur," Salahadin said.
Fighting in Darfur flared in 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms
against Sudan's government, accusing it of neglecting the region. Khartoum
mobilised troops and mostly Arab militias to crush the uprising, unleashing
a wave of violence that Washington and activists call genocide.
The conflict has since descended into a free-for-all involving bandits,
rival tribes and rebel splinter factions.
Khartoum denies committing genocide and accuses the western media of
exaggerating the conflict. Estimates of the death toll range from up to
300,000, according to U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes, to 10,000
according to Khartoum. (Writing by Cynthia Johnston in Cairo; Editing by
Janet Lawrence)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
SNAP ANALYSIS-Obama's nuanced Sudan strategy opens door
Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:10pm GMT
KHARTOUM, Oct 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's new policy
towards Sudan treads a cautious middle ground, not letting Khartoum off the
hook in dealing with its multiple conflicts but advocating broad engagement
with the government.
INCENTIVES
* Obama offered unspecified incentives if Khartoum worked towards peace in
its troubled Darfur region and south Sudan. President Omar Hassan
al-Bashir's government had hoped for more concrete steps like being removed
from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list or the lifting of some
economic sanctions imposed since 1997. The strategy leaves the door open for
such moves if Khartoum makes tangible progress on achieving peace.
SANCTIONS
* Obama said sanctions will be renewed this week and reiterated that the
conflict in Darfur constituted "genocide", which annoyed Khartoum. But Sudan
concluded these words were most likely included to satisfy those voices
within the U.S. administration who were against positive engagement with the
Islamist government.
SUDAN'S RESPONSE
* Khartoum responded positively but cautiously, saying the plan seemed to be
a policy of engagement rather than isolation, a departure from the previous
Republican administration which had strengthened sanctions and pressures on
Sudan.
* U.S. sanctions have hindered the Sudanese economy and Chinese firms filled
many of the gaps, but some sectors like agriculture and the oil industry
desperately need U.S. technology and equipment to improve efficiency.
* Khartoum welcomed the fact there was no mention of any military
intervention or the imposition of a no-fly zone on Darfur, which some U.S.
officials had advocated.
GRATION VS ANTI-SUDAN LOBBY
* Obama strongly defended his Sudan envoy, Scott Gration, saying he had
"worked actively and effectively to engage all of the parties involved, and
he will continue to pursue engagement that saves lives and achieves
results."
* This realpolitik may annoy a vocal U.S. lobby that calls for a tougher
line against the Sudanese government.
MOVING FORWARD
* With Sudan's first multi-party elections in 24 years due in April 2010 and
a southern referendum on secession in 2011, the U.S. strategy seems to
emphasise more "carrot" and less of the "stick" approach of earlier U.S.
administrations.
* Washington has sent a clear message to Khartoum that if it acts on
implementing the north-south peace deal and ends atrocities in Darfur there
will be rewards, while warning any stalling will not be tolerated.
(Reporting and writing by Opheera McDoom in Khartoum and Alastair Sharp in
Cairo; Editing by Jon Hemming)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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