U.S. tells Sudan: cooperate or expect confrontation
Wed Sep 27, 2006 2:15pm ET138
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Sudan in firm terms on Wednesday it must choose between "cooperation and confrontation" with the rest of the world and accept a U.N. force for Darfur.
Khartoum's new military offensive in the western region of Darfur makes international pressure all the more urgent, Rice told the Africa Society in a speech.
"Innocent people are suffering and dying. The humanitarian situation, already tenuous, is at risk of becoming a complete disaster. And the hope of peace is now in danger of collapsing altogether," she said of Darfur.
"We are not going to sit by and watch this kind of death and destruction continue and we will use whatever tools are necessary, through the U.N., to be able to stop that" she said, without specifying what these tools might be.
Rice called for an immediate cease-fire between government forces and rebels and said if rebel groups continued to refuse to sign onto the May Darfur peace deal, they would face targeted U.N. sanctions.
Last month, the United Nations agreed to a 20,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur to augment African troops already there, but Khartoum insists it will not allow them in, equating such a mission to "colonialism."
"The Sudanese government faces a clear and consequential decision," said Rice, adding, "This is the choice between cooperation and confrontation."
Rice did not indicate what she meant by "confrontation." U.N. member nations, particularly those offering troops, have made clear they do not want to shoot their way into Darfur, where about 7,000 African Union troops are battling to keep the peace in an area the size of France. Continued...
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