Security Council sets date to lift Sudan sanctions, signaling U.S. support
By DAFNA LINZER Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 05, 2001 (AP) -- The Security Council has scheduled a
meeting for later this month to lift five-year-old sanctions on Sudan, suggesting U.S.
support for such a move, the council president said Wednesday.
"This signals the encouragement we feel from Sudan and the United States to move
forward," said French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte, who took over the council
presidency this week.
But alluding to Washington's concerns regarding Sudan's human rights record, Levitte
cautioned that an end to the sanctions regime is not yet a done deal.
The U.N. sanctions, which have never been enforced, were imposed in 1996 to force
Sudan to hand over gunmen who tried to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak while he was visiting Ethiopia in 1995. The suspects were believed to have
fled to Sudan.
U.S. President George W. Bush's administration has said Sudan must demonstrate
that it is no longer providing sanctuary to terrorist groups before the United States can
recommend lifting the sanctions against the African nation. But a Bush administration
official said last month that U.S. counterterrorism experts had concluded the gunmen
are no longer in Sudan and do not enjoy the support of the government.
As a result, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was said to be considering whether
to support moves at the United Nations to lift restrictions on foreign travel by
Sudanese officials, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The United States, a veto-wielding member of the council, could block attempts to lift
sanctions but it did not remove the issue from the council agenda.
Sudan is one of seven countries listed by the U.S. State Department as a sponsor of
terrorism. Throughout the 1990s, Sudan was treated as a pariah by the United States.
Under then President Bill Clinton, the United States closed its embassy in Sudan in
1996, imposed tough trade sanctions and bombed a pharmaceutical factory it claimed
was making precursors for chemical weapons.
Human rights groups have accused Sudan's government of gross human rights
violations, bombing civilian hospitals and schools, restricting aid groups' access to
the country, condoning the use of slavery throughout the 18-year civil war and forcing
thousands of villagers to flee their homes in oil-rich areas in the south.
The issue of slavery caught Bush's attention; he broached the subject with South
Africa's president in June.
Sudan, which recently gained a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, denies
slavery is a problem, saying it is limited to hostage-taking between rival tribes in the
south. Sudan also says it has repaired its relationship with Ethiopia and Egypt, and
helped both to investigate the assassination attempt.
The Security Council has set a meeting to lift the sanctions for Sept. 17. "We'll do
everything in our power to succeed," Levitte said. Many members of the council
believe sanctions should have been lifted "some time ago," but were waiting for signs
that Washington was ready, he said. |
