/ 9 September 2004

UN urged to act on Sudan

A draft United Nations resolution on the Sudan crisis is scheduled to be discussed by security council members in New York on Thursday.

It has been drawn up by the United States and calls for the African Union monitoring force in Darfur to be enlarged and given a wider mandate.

It also threatens the Sudanese government with sanctions if it fails to comply and urges it to name the leaders of the militias, known as the janjaweed, responsible for the attacks which have caused more than one-million people to flee.

The US and Britain are reluctant to send in their own forces. The African Union, which has 80 monitors on the ground protected by 300 Rwandan and Nigerian troops, has offered to increase its force to as many as 4 000.

The Sudanese government said it was prepared to accept an increased monitoring force as long as its remit did not include peacekeeping. – Guardian Unlimited Â