Kofi Annan

"Serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross violations of human rights have taken place. This cannot be allowed to stand and action will have to be taken," Annan told reporters during an African Union summit in Nigeria.

"The Security Council had considered sanctions and had not been able to move forward because of some divisions in the council, but I believe that sanctions should be on the table," he said.

Annan has received a key U.N. report detailing abuses in the vast desert region where 1.8 million people have been forced from their homes.

The report would be made public after it is presented to the Security Council shortly, Annan said.

Western powers argued for imposing sanctions on the Sudan government last year, but opposition by China, which has oil interests there, and Russia, which supplies arms, blocked the motion.

The Darfur conflict began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Army and allied Justice and Equality Movement took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin.

The government responded with a counter-insurgency campaign in which the Janjaweed, an Arab militia, committed wide-scale abuses against the African population.

Hardships including disease and malnutrition are believed to have killed more than 70,000 of Darfur's displaced people, but many more have been killed in fighting.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 5, 2005
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