The United States on Monday urged the United Nations Security Council to expand an arms embargo on the Sudanese region of Darfur to cover all of Sudan, saying the nation’s brutal conflict risks regional expansion. The suggestion was supported by Denmark, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency.
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The Darfur arms embargo, which has been in place for more than two decades, is set to expire on 12 September if a new agreement is not reached.
The US envoy to the meeting, M***ad Boulos, called on the Council to take steps to curtail “external support” for the conflict that “risks drawing more regional actors and neighbours deeper into Sudan’s conflict”.
“That is why the United States has put forward a strong resolution that provides for four key things,” beginning with “expanding the arms embargo across the entire territory of Sudan,” he said.
The measure would also bring drones under the arms restriction regime, and increase the number of experts scrutinising the existing embargo.
His position echoes that of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who in June described the conflict in Sudan as a “proxy war”.
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Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told the meeting that the conflict in Sudan risks attracting criminal networks from abroad.
“Let us be clear about what is at stake: the war in Sudan has never remained confined to its own borders,” he said. “It destabilises neighbouring countries and the entire region. It attracts weapons from abroad and criminal networks.”
Denmark holds the presidency of the Council until 31 August.
Russian veto
However, this proposal from Washington could run up against a major obstacle. Russia – a partner of General al-Burhan’s armed forces and holder of a UN veto – has warned against any measure that might affect them.
The war, now in its fourth year, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, as ever more sophisticated weaponry – including armed drones – is deployed to the battlefield.
The army holds sway in Sudan’s central and eastern regions, while the Darfur region in the west and parts of the south are under control of the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
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Sudan’s UN envoy urged a “technical extension” of the existing embargo, while warning against changes that would hamper the army.
“Sudan suffers the most from weapons and their illegal flow. However, expanding such a sanctions regime will weaken the protection of civilians,” said Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed.
Before Washington’s call, Rosemary Di Carlo, the UN’s under-secretary-general for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, warned a “worrying aspect of the conflict in Sudan is its increasing complexity”.
Sophisticated weaponry
“The sophisticated weaponry used continues to point to ongoing external support to both parties,” Di Carlo said. “In recent weeks, fighting in Sudan has been characterised by the heavy use of drones and localised ground combat in areas less affected by rainy season conditions.”
Darfur, a vast western region the size of France, has faced some of the worst violence, with displacement camps invaded and repeated ethnic m***acres killing thousands at a time.
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Peacebuilding activist Eva Khair told the Security Council that “although they have denied such allegations, external actors are enabling this catastrophe”.
“The role of multiple actors in supplying weapons, mercenaries, other forms of military ***istance, and diplomatic cover to the RSF on the one hand, and military, logistical, financial ***istance to the [Sudanese Armed Forces] on the other illustrates the increasingly globalised nature of the war in Sudan.
“The council’s arms embargo in Darfur must be enforced, and I urge you to expand it to the whole of Sudan.”
(with AFP)
