Britain Mulls Military Intervention In Sudan

Blair has asked officials to draw up plans for possible military intervention in Darfur to help end a growing humanitarian crisis there, The Guardian reported on Thursday, July 22.

"The prime minister has asked to look at all options that will save lives and not to rule out the military services," an unnamed British government official involved in the plans was quoted by the paper as saying.

The British daily said that despite a heavy commitment of British armed forces in Iraq and other trouble spots, Blair has had discussions with advisers for on-the-ground involvement of troops.

In Downing Street, three options for military intervention were put forward, including sending British troops to protect refugee camps allegedly harassed by militias.

The other two options call for deploying British servicemen to help with the delivery of aid if the humanitarian agencies can no longer cope, or giving British logistical support for an African Union force of 60 monitors and 300-strong protection force being deployed in the Sudan.

Interventionist

The fact that Blair is prepared to consider military options, even limited ones, so soon after the Iraq invasion may create controversy, not least among critics who already regard him as too interventionist, said The Guardian.

It would be his sixth military venture since becoming prime minister in 1997.

Asked about Sudan in the Commons on Wednesday, Blair did not mention the military option but said he "ruled absolutely nothing out".

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is to fly to Sudan soon allegedly to assess the plight of the Darfur refugees at first-hand.

A spokesman for Blair’s office was quoted by Reuters as saying there was "nothing recognizable" in the Guardian report.

For its part, the Foreign Office said: "We are still very much in the diplomatic phase."

Blair had staunchly made the case for the invasion of Iraq – which has the world’s second largest oil reserves – on claims Baghdad has weapons of mass destruction.

But none of these banned weapons have been found more than one year after US-British occupation of Iraq, raising expectations the invasion was based on false pretexts.

Oil was discovered in Sudan in the 1970’s, but it has only recently become a significant part of the country’s economy. In 2000 Sudan became an oil exporter.

UN Sanctions

Meanwhile, the United States said it would present a revised draft resolution to the UN Security Council on Thursday about the situation in Darfur amid mounting international concern over what some UN officials call the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world.

"It’s the responsibility of the government of Sudan," John Danforth, US ambassador to the UN and former envoy to Sudan, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

US Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet UN Secretary General Kofi Annan later on Thursday to discuss Darfur, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

Powell and Annan traveled to Sudan earlier this month and threatened the country with an unspecified UN Security Council action.

"They both think it’s time to get together now to look very carefully at the situation, as the Security Council is currently doing, and to see what more they can do to try to get progress on the ground," Boucher said.

A first version of the US resolution, which would have slapped sanctions on the Janjaweed militias but did not call for similar steps against the government, did not garner much support from council members.

But British ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said he thought the 15-nation council could now "quite speedily" agree on an amended resolution that would send a "very firm" message to Khartoum.

"The primary purpose of the Security Council now is to ensure effective action on the ground," Jones Parry said.

Annan said Wednesday, July 21, that Sudan had made little progress in preventing Janjaweed militias from allegedly terrorizing African villagers.

"Serious crimes have been committed and there has been gross and systematic abuse of human rights. We, the international community, must intensify our efforts to protect the innocent in Darfur," he added.

He UN chief said he did not want to set an "artificial deadline" for further international action if it was determined that Sudan had not kept its commitment to ease the crisis. He said any such date was "a judgment call."

Sudan, in an agreement with Annan two weeks ago, pledged to protect displaced civilians, disarm the Janjaweed and other armed groups, suspend visa and travel restrictions on relief workers, allow African Union human rights monitors and punish those responsible for the crisis.