Powell insists Sudan hew to U.N. edict

KUWAIT CITY – Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Sudan on Saturday to accept a new U.N. resolution aimed at ending violence in the western province of Darfur and use the next 30 days to rein in a marauding Arab militia that has killed more than 30,000 people and forced more than a million to flee their homes.

The resolution, which passed in the Security Council Friday on a 13-0 vote with two abstentions, warned of unspecified punitive action if the government failed to follow through on promises to crack down on the militia, known as the Janjaweed, restore security and facilitate international aid to alleviate a growing humanitarian crisis.

“The issue now is to move forward to help the suffering people of Darfur,” Powell said after a meeting with Kuwaiti officials. “I hope the Sudanese government will use the period in the resolution to do everything it can to bring the Janjaweed under control.”

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said the resolution did not go beyond commitments Sudan made in early July to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to rein in the militia.

“If we look closely at this matter, we will find out that there is no reason to reject the resolution as it doesn’t contain anything new, anything other than what already has been signed on in the agreement with the United Nations,” Ismail said, according to the Associated Press.