The United States has launched new measures against
Sudan that freezes assets of major government bodies and lays the groundwork
for an international arms embargo on Khartoum.
On Monday, President George Bush signed into law legislation that could
result in an international arms embargo on Sudan. The legislation was signed
into law as fighting continued in eastern and southern Sudan. The battles
are said to have included troops from neighboring Eritrea.
"The government of Sudan must choose between the path to peace and the
path to continued war and destruction," Bush said. "If it makes the right
choice, that course will mean improvement in the lives of all Sudanese,
better bilateral relations with the United States, and the beginning of its
reacceptance into the community of peace loving nations."
Both the House and Senate passed the Sudan Peace Act by wide margins
earlier this month. The legislation seeks to end the 19-year civil war in
Sudan by increasing intervention and threatening the Khartoum regime with
additional sanctions.
The key punitive measure would be an arms embargo on Sudan. Khartoum has
bought weapons from China and Russia in an effort to bolster its military.
Congress also called on the president to certify every six months that
Khartoum and the rebels are negotiating in good faith. If the president
determines that this is not the case then the United States must work in the
United Nations for a Security Council resolution that would impose an arms
embargo on Khartoum.
The legislation also condemns violations of human rights by the regime
and Sudanese rebels as well as calls for an end to the slave trade and
aerial bombardment of civilian targets.
Other sanctions would commit the United States to work against the
granting of international loans to Sudan and deny Khartoum access to oil
revenues in the war-town south. Companies from Canada, China and Malaysia
have been developing Sudan's oil sector.
"Take all necessary and appropriate steps to deny government access to
oil revenues in order to ensure that the funds are not used for military
purposes," a State Department fact sheet on the new legislation read.
The legislation allocates $100 million a year for the next three years
for aid to rebel areas. The aid would help bolster agriculture, education,
democracy, health and infrastructure.
Congress also called on the administration to collect information on war
crimes. Such a report must be submitted to the secretary of state within six
months of the enactment of the legislation.
In another measure, the Bush administration ordered the freezing of
assets of 12 Sudanese firms and bodies. They included Sudan's state-owned
electronic media.
The Treasury Department also placed the state-owned Sudanese Petroleum
Corp. on a list that would result in the freezing of assets by U.S.
authorities. No reason was given for the decision, published on Monday in a
bulletin by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
