Sudan said today it would comply with a UN resolution threatening it with sanctions if it failed to restore security in the crisis-hit Darfur region.
"Sudan is not happy with the Security Council resolution, but we will omply with it to the best of our ability," Mr Osman Al Said, Sudan's ambassador to the African Union, told a news conference in Ethiopia.
"Because should we fail to do so, we know our enemies would not hesitate to take other measures against our country," he added, in remarks that backed down from Sudan's initial rejection of the vote.
The resolution was approved 13-0 last night, with China and Pakistan abstaining. After the vote Sudan's information minister said it went against a previous agreement with UN secretary-general Mr Kofi Annan.
"Sudan expresses its deep sorrow that the issue of Darfur has quickly entered the security council and has been hijacked from its regional arena," information minister Mr El-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik said in a statement.
But the three African countries on the council - Algeria, Angola and Benin - strongly supported the resolution.
"We are particularly satisfied that the security council has requested the secretary-general to assist the African Union with planning and assessment for its mission in Darfur," Algeria's UN ambassador Mr Abdallah Baali told the council, speaking on behalf of the three countries.
"We believe that the international community cannot be passive and indifferent to the ongoing humanitarian crisis ... or to the horrendous crimes committed against the civilian populations."
China and Pakistan insisted the Sudanese government was trying to rein in the pro-government Arab militias accused of slaughtering thousands in a brutal campaign to drive out black African farmers that the US Congress has called genocide.
The 17-month-old conflict over dwindling resources has led to 30,000 deaths in a western region the size of Iraq that has a population of about six million.
The United States, the lead sponsor of the resolution, did not specify what sanctions might be considered but said the council issued a tough warning to Sudan to rein in the militias, known as Janjaweed.
"The resolution in stern and unambiguous terms puts the Sudanese government on notice" that it must fulfil its commitments, US ambassador Mr John Danforth said.
"Sudan must know that serious measures - international sanctions - are looming if the government refuses to do so."
Mr Danforth told journalists that the resolution alone was never the goal.
"The real question is what will happen next for the people of Darfur," he said.
Sudan's UN ambassador Mr Elfatih Mohamed Erwa told the council his government was "in a race against time in order to implement the agreement" with Mr Annan.
"We will do the right thing in spite of the way we have been treated," he told said.
Sudan promised Mr Annan in a July 3rd agreement that it would crack down on the Janjaweed militia and other armed groups, but humanitarian organisations and US officials say it has failed to honour that pledge.
Mr Annan said in a statement that he hopes "the resolution will ensure that concerted action is taken to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur".
Agencies