October 3, 2007

Lawmakers vs Darfur genocide

Lawmakers angry over the "genocide" in Darfur vied to damage Sudan's economy by requiring US investors to pull out of foreign companies seen as propping up the Khartoum regime. But the US administration insisted that now was not the time for new sanctions from Congress, citing progress towards a peacekeeping force and reconciliation talks for the vast blood-stained region in western Sudan. At a hearing of the US Senate's powerful banking committee, Democrat Robert Menendez said the world had often said "never again" to the mass killings of civilians.

Conflict and famine in Darfur have left at least 200,000 people dead and two million displaced since Khartoum enlisted Janjaweed Arab militia allies to put down an ethnic minority revolt in 2003.

No comments: