Darfur tests international resolve

By Mark Doyle
World affairs correspondent, BBC News

The Sudanese government has confirmed that it will not allow the African Union military mission in the Darfur region to transform itself into a larger United Nations force.

The US has called the actions of the Sudanese government "genocide"

This implies that the African mission will leave when its mandate finishes at the end of September.

It was sent to try to end the mass killing of civilians by Sudanese government-backed forces during the crushing of a rebellion of indigenous Darfuri groups.

The deadline will highlight the response of the international community to what the United States has called government-backed genocide in Darfur.

The international community now faces a big test.

The US has led the way in describing the actions of the Sudanese government in Darfur as "genocide". Anti-genocide campaigners say this requires the US and others to act, possibly even through military means.

But Sudanese officials have threatened to fight any such intervention and the US seems unlikely to lead another force in a Muslim country, given its problems in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Economic sanctions

The anti-genocide group, the Aegis Trust, says the next step could be to persuade China to pressurise Sudan into accepting a UN force.

China has invested heavily in Sudanese crude oil production and is not viewed with suspicion by the Islamist government in Khartoum in the same way that Western countries are.

However, China has traditionally avoided political interference in the African countries it trades with.

Another avenue Western countries may pursue is economic sanctions against Sudanese officials alleged to have been involved in genocide.

But, so far, UN Security Council resolutions against the Khartoum government have not been effective, partly because high oil prices have strengthened the Sudanese hand.

However, anti-genocide campaigners say that if there was real political will to end the death and destruction in Darfur, strongly-targeted sanctions could have an effect.