Annan calls for quick Sudan action
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on the U.N. Security Council to "take action now" on a resolution demanding that the Sudanese government stop the violence in the troubled Darfur region, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed.
"Civilians are still being attacked and fleeing their villages even as we speak, many months after the government committed itself to bring the militias under control," Annan said. "It is urgent to take action now."
Annan said he believed an official inquiry into whether genocide has occurred in Darfur should go forward.
According to the U.N.'s Genocide Convention, the Security Council can establish an international commission to look into allegations of genocide and consider the necessary approach "for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide."
The Security Council is expected to take up a U.S.-led draft resolution on Sudan Friday or Saturday.
The resolution demands Khartoum stop the violence, cease military flights over Darfur and increase access to international aid, including "unfettered access for humanitarian supplies and workers."
It expresses "grave concern at the lack of progress with regard to security and the protection of civilians, disarmament of the Janjaweed and other militias, and identification and bringing to justice militia leaders responsible for human rights and international humanitarian law violations in Darfur."
The resolution also tones down a threat of U.N. sanctions against Sudan, but says oil sanctions should be considered if the African nation does not stop the violence in Darfur.
Annan said he has told Sudanese authorities "they have to perform and keep their promises that they gave to the international community, or they would face further consequences, including sanctions."
"I have urged the Security Council to act on the draft resolution without delay, and to be as united as possible in the face of this crisis," he said.
Muslim militias, known as the Janjaweed, have been accused of committing widespread atrocities against black villagers and dislocating more than a million people, who have fled to other regions of Sudan or across the border to Chad.
Several international human rights groups estimate that at least 50,000 civilians -- possibly as many as 10,000 a month -- have died in Darfur since fighting broke out in February 2003. Secretary of State Colin Powell has called the violence "genocide."
Asked if the United Nations has been too slow in acting, Annan acknowledged that things "could have been done better, but I think we have responded as quickly as we could."
He said the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, and his special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Juan Mendes, will arrive in Khartoum Saturday "to see what more can be done" to stop the violence.
The African Union needs immediate support to deploy expanded troops in Darfur and Annan called on member states to do "whatever they can to make this deployment happen as quickly as possible."
The conflict in Darfur, in western Sudan, began last year when black Sudanese rebels attacked government property, accusing the government of neglecting Darfur in favor of the Arab population in Sudan.
The government responded by putting forward the Janjaweed to put down the rebellion. The warring factions recently agreed to a cease-fire but have not abided by it.
U.S. Ambassador John Danforth said he hopes the Security Council takes up the matter "this week rather than next week."
"I think time is of the essence. I really do," he said.
