African nations select Sudan to join UN Security Council
UNITED NATIONS, July 10 (AFP) - The countries of Africa have selected Sudan
to represent the continent as a non-permanent member on the UN Security
Council, despite US opposition and the fact that Sudan has been under
international sanctions for four years, diplomats said Monday.
The 53 African nations brushed aside strong opposition opposition from
Washington to choose Sudan last week, over Mauritius and Uganda, to succeed
Namibia on the council. Sudan's two-year term will begin in January.
Sudan will be one of the three designated African nations holding a
non-permanent seat on the 15-member council, which has five permanent member
seats.
International sanctions were imposed on Sudan in 1996 in an effort to force
Khartoum to extradite three suspects linked to a failed assasination attempt
on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
But the sanctions are to be reviewed in November and are expected to be
lifted then, an outcome sought by the African, Arab and non-aligned groups of
nations at the United Nations.
But the sanctions are expected to be lifted in mid-November following a
US-Sudanese agreement to postpone the the review of possibly lifting
sanctions sought by Arab, African and non-aligned groups.
According to a letter from the Sudanese foreign ministry to UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan on June 1 of this year, an investigation by Sudanese
authorities showed "no trace has been found of the three suspects in the
Sudan."
The UN Security Council, responsible for maintaining international peace and
security, is the only UN body that can decide on enforcement measures,
whether in the form of economic sanctions or military operations.
Algeria's UN ambassador, Abdallah Baali, said "nothing in the UN Charter
prevents a country under sanctions from applying for the seat."
Baali said the African group put the three candidate countries before a
committee within the group, and that committee unanimously selected Sudan.
Sudan's candidacy must be approved in November by the 189 member countries of
the UN General Assembly, but that is considered a formality, since regional
groups traditionally choose which country is to hold their designated
Security Council seats. |
