Islamic Regimes Defy United Nations

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By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
September 06, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - The United Nations is facing two major instances of defiance from Islamic regimes, and it shows little willingness to act collectively against either.

Within weeks, a cash-strapped and overstretched African Union (A.U.) peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region is due to depart, handing over its mission to a U.N. force that is three times larger and mandated to protect civilians caught in the fighting.

But Khartoum's Islamist government repeatedly has rejected the idea of a U.N. force.

The A.U. mission's mandate expires at the end of September, and it says it lacks the money and equipment to stay any longer. Now Sudan wants the A.U. force to accept additional funding from the Arab League and extend its stay.

If the African body rejects the proposal, Khartoum says, it must withdraw its troops from Darfur. An estimated 200,000 people have died during the three-and-a-half year conflict.

The A.U. already has said that it wants to hand over the mission to the U.N., and that its presence would end on September 30.

Sudan's stance is in direct defiance of last week's Security Council resolution, backed by the U.S. and Britain, which called for more than 20,000 U.N. personnel to take over from the A.U.

The resolution was passed without the support of permanent members China and Russia. The two abstained, along with non-permanent council member Qatar, which represents the Arab League -- which has been supportive of Khartoum.

China said it supported the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers but wanted Sudan's approval while Russia called the resolution hasty, and said it had wanted "continued consultation" with Sudan.

China, a key partner in Sudan's oil industry, and Russia have both opposed attempts to impose sanctions on Sudan because of the atrocities in Darfur.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, speaking in Egypt Tuesday, repeated his assertion that the peacekeepers' intention was not to invade Sudan - as alleged by President Omar al-Bashir's administration - but to help the government to protect its citizens.

Last week's resolution "invites the consent" of the Sudanese government to the troop deployment.

It's not clear whether the U.N. would send peacekeepers in the absence of approval from Khartoum, but without consensus on the issue among the Security Council permanent five (P5) - the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China - such a step appears unlikely.

The council is holding a high-level meeting on Darfur next Monday, and it has invited the Sudanese government, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to participate.

'Ad infinitum negotiation'

Meanwhile, six days after a Security Council deadline for Iran to stop enriching uranium, Tehran has shown no sign of backing down, even as its economic partners among the council members -- Russia and China -- continue to express reservations about sanctions.

At the end of July, Russia and China voted for a resolution that said if Iran did not meet the deadline, it would face the prospect of sanctions. But, at their insistence, the resolution's wording made it necessary for further discussions to be held before any sanctions are actually imposed.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Annan at the weekend he was ready to talk about the nuclear program but would not accept a suspension of enrichment as a precondition to talks. A European Union trio, Britain, France and Germany, earlier attempted to negotiate a diplomatic solution to the standoff, but the effort collapsed last fall.

Despite the passing of the Aug. 31 deadline, the E.U. has now effectively given Iran another two weeks to change its position.

E.U. foreign ministers at a weekend meeting in Finland supported the idea of E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana holding more talks with Tehran ahead of another E.U. meeting on September 15.

Solana is expected to meet in Vienna Wednesday with Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.

Asked whether the U.S. objected to other countries talking to Iran about its program at this point, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said keeping open channels of communication was laudable.

But, he said, the Iranians would "like to have their cake and eat it, too."

"They would like very much to negotiate ad infinitum while they continue progress along their nuclear weapons program. The world has said no, we've seen this movie before, we're not going to pay for it twice."

On Thursday, representatives of the P5 along with Germany (P5+1) are due to meet in Berlin for further discussions on what to do about Iran.

In reference to sanctions, McCormack recalled Tuesday that members of the Security Council and the P5+1 had "a deal," and all members were expected to live up to it.