UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council on Friday formally condemned a recent attack by Sudanese troops on a supply convoy of UN-African Union troops in west Darfur and threatened action against any party hampering the peace process.
The 15-member council unanimously agreed on a non-binding statement in which it "condemns in the strongest terms the January 7 attack by elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces, as confirmed by the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) on a UNAMID supply convoy."
It dropped an earlier reference to the attack having targeted "a clearly marked UNAMID" convoy.
The text, read out by Libya's UN ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, the council chair this month, expressed the council's readiness "to take action against any party that impedes the peace process, humanitarian aid or the deployment of UNAMID."
US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters after the meeting that the action contemplated clearly referred to appropriate political, economic or military sanctions.
The council welcomed Khartoum's commitment to undertake a complete and full probe of the incident jointly with UNAMID.
Thursday, Sudan's defense minister admitted his forces were responsible for an attack on the convoy but insisted the peacekeepers were to blame for not announcing their route.
Sudan's UN envoy Abdalmahmood Mohamad, who Wednesday asserted that Chad-backed rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) carried out the attack on the convoy, said Friday that Khartoum did not approve the attack.
"It is not the policy or intention of Sudan to attack UNAMID," he told reporters.
The statement called on Khartoum to accept non-African contingents of UNAMID, facilitate access to land and water as necessary, grant flight clerances, issue visas in a timely manner to UNAMID personnel and finalize an appropriate Status of Forces Agreement.
It urged member states in a position to do so to provide 24 sorely needed transport and light helicopters "necessary to ensure UNAMID's success."
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