Government defiant

last updated 8 January 2015

Khartoum, Sudan

The U.N. said last week that the government of Sudan might face sanctions if it does not rein in the Arab militias that have been killing blacks in Darfur. Some 50,000 civilians have been killed and 1.4 million driven from their homes as the government-backed Janjaweed militias have battled the black rebels. Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said that the U.N. resolution was unfair. “The government does not fear the Security Council resolution or the U.N.,” Beshir said, “and it will not surrender or kneel down except to Allah.” Still, he said the U.N. resolution was not as bad as the original U.S. draft, which threatened immediate sanctions, and he thanked those countries, such as Pakistan and Russia, that voted to water it down.