Portable Planet

U.S. officials say President Bush will announce new economic sanctions against Sudan Tuesday to pressure Khartoum to stop the violence in its western Darfur region.

The officials say Mr. Bush will ban another 31 Sudanese companies from doing business in the U.S. or having access to the U.S. financial system. The officials released a draft of Mr. Bush’s speech to the media late Monday.

The draft shows Mr. Bush also will call for a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would expand an arms embargo to all of Sudan, not just Darfur.

In another move, President Bush is likely to announce punitive measures against at least two senior Sudanese officials.

China’s special envoy on African affairs, Liu Guijin, criticized the U.S. plans for additional sanctions on Sudan, saying they will only make the Darfur problem more difficult to solve.

In his speech, Mr. Bush is expected to accuse Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir of finding new ways to obstruct U.N. plans to send peacekeepers to Darfur to bolster an African Union contingent.

More than 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and more than two million have been displaced since 2003. Government-backed militias are accused of atrocities in battling Darfur rebels.

Source: VOA