The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday threatened to take measures against Sudan, blaming it for the ”serious degradation of the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur and repeated violations of the ceasefire”.
”The Security Council is actively monitoring the situation and expresses its readiness to consider a full range of options to exercise pressure on the parties to ensure full compliance with UN resolutions,” the 15-nation council said in a statement after a closed-door discussion on the Sudan situation.
The council condemned ceasefire violations and the shooting at an African Union helicopter, which was part of the AU team monitoring of the conflict in Darfur.
The statement was aimed at both sides of the conflict, but the UN has blamed the Sudanese government for failing to disarm in Arab militias who were fighting African rebel groups in Darfur.
Khartoum and the African rebels are holding peace talks in Abuja under Nigerian mediation.
The council had imposed an arms embargo against the Arab militias known as the Janjaweed. But it withheld sanctions against the Sudanese government in order to allow Khartoum to implement a set of commitments it agreed upon in July to end the conflict in Darfur.
The UN said more than 1,6-million people have been made homeless by the fighting and tens of thousands have been killed.
The council urged the AU to deploy fully the 3 300 military observers it promised to do in Darfur to police the ceasefire between the two sides and monitor the disarmament of rebel forces. — Sapa-DPA