High Time for Oil Revenue for Food and No-Fly Zone in Darfur

January 18, 2008 — It is high time that the United States of America (U.S.A) together with other interested international partners should take tough steps for drafting a resolution at U.N to impose a no-fly zone and target the Sudanese military Air Force that continues to defy United Nations ban on offensive military actions in Darfur. Given the relatively high oil revenue in Sudan, it is equally important for the international community to consider forcing the Government of Sudan to shoulder cost of feeding Darfur IDPs and Refugees within a programme of an internationally monitored oil for food programme.

On Independence Day, 1st January 09, twelve newly purchased MIG-29, 4 Sukhoi Su-25s (known as Frog-foot) fighter planes were unveiled in a public parade in Khartoum. The planes were later seen in action bombing civilians in all three States in Darfur. At the Independence day celebrations, the fighter planes were displayed together with scores of tanks, anti-aircraft guns, Iranian multi-barrelled rocket launchers and armoured personnel carriers, apparently to remind ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo of what Al-Bashir could do if the arrest warrant against him is issued. And in a rare show of defiance, the regime in Khartoum blatantly announced, on 14th Jan 2009, that it carried out offensive attacks in Southern Darfur against the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

According to U.S based ‘Human Rights First’ campaign group, Iran and Russia have joined China and Pakistan and nine other countries to become direct weapon suppliers to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Their action is in direct defiance of U.N resolutions and arms embargo, imposed in 2004.

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