Sudan calls on UN to lift remaining sanctions to help transition
The security situation in the Darfur region of Sudan is improving to such an extent, the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations has told a meeting of the UN Security Council, that the UN arms embargo on Darfur should be lifted.
Ammar Mohammed Mahmoud Mohammed said the security situation in Darfur was ‘steadily improving’ and that the regional ceasefire had not been breached since its declaration. Further, he said, the Sudanese government ‘is collecting unlicensed weapons, upholding the national plan for the protection of civilians and adopting measures to prevent intercommunal fighting’ – also assisting ‘children affected by conflict, with specific units for the protection of women and children incorporated into the Sudanese armed forces.’
In the light of those developments, he said, punitive measures, including sanctions, that were imposed on Sudan 15 years ago pursuant to Resolution 1591 (2005), and subsequent resolutions, ‘have completely lost their grounds and are no longer justified’.
But the chair of the committee convened pursuant to that resolution, Sven Jürgenson of Estonia, said the targeted measures and the arms embargo on Darfur ‘serve the sole purpose of helping Sudan to achieve peace,’ concluding that the sanctions ‘ultimately serve the purpose of preventing further proliferation of arms’.
