Britain ”fully supports” United States efforts to toughen United Nations Security Council sanctions against Sudan because of the situation in Darfur, a British official travelling with Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday.
”We hope that all members of the Security Council will work with the US to create a resolution which effectively addresses the challenges in Darfur,” the Downing Street official told Reuters before Blair was due to start a visit to Sierra Leone.
On Tuesday, President George Bush imposed new US sanctions on Sudan out of frustration at Sudan’s refusal to end what he called a genocide in Darfur.
Bush directed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to consult with Britain and other allies on pursuing new UN Security Council sanctions against Sudan that would impose an expanded arms embargo on Sudan’s government.
”The UK fully supports US efforts to address the desperate situation in Darfur in the Security Council,” the British official, who asked not to be named, said.
The ratcheting up of US pressure on Sudan coincides with a broader effort by UN officials to get Khartoum to end the Darfur conflict in which more than 200 000 people have died and two million have been driven from their homes since 2003.
Sudan says 9 000 have died and rejects accusations of genocide. — Reuters