News Article by AFP posted on October 06, 2000 at 16:55:38: EST (-5 GMT)
US steps up anti-Sudan campaign as UN Security Council seat vote nears
WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (AFP) - The United States on Friday stepped up
its
campaign to deny Sudan a seat on the UN Security Council as next
week's vote
to replace half of the body's non-permanent membership
nears.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United
States would
increase its lobbying against Sudan and push for its
preferred candidate,
Mauritius, in the vote which is scheduled for
Tuesday in the UN General
Assembly.
"We really do believe that Sudan is unsuitable for this position
and would
in fact undermine and weaken Africa's representation on
the council," Boucher
told reporters, running through a litany of
complaints against Khartoum.
"Sudan is under UN sanctions for supporting terrorism, they have
shown no
concern for human rights or the humanitarian welfare of
their own citizens,
nor have they shown any economic or political
leadership in Africa," he said.
Boucher noted that Sudan continued to bomb civilian positions in
the
rebel-held south, including strikes that had forced the
suspension of UN
humanitarian relief flights.
"We have worked this issue ... and we will continue to quite
hard on this
issue," he said, offering strong praise for the
candidacy of Mauritius to the
two-year temporary seat on the
15-member security council.
"We believe that Mauritius would make an excellent addition to
the
security council," Boucher said. "It is a vibrant democracy, it
has a strong
market economy, has a history of constructive
engagement in regional and
international fora."
He said at least 15 African nations had expressed their support
for
Mauritius which along with Sudan is in line for the African seat
on the body.
Despite Washington's very public campaign against it --
announced by US
officials during last month's UN Millennium --
Khartoum has refused to take
itself out of the running and has
continued to press its case for membership.
Less than two weeks ago, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa
Ismail said his
country "will not withdraw from the nomination
battle unless it deems that
the battle is against African interests,
something which we we so far have
not seen."