Sudan Says No as U.N. Backs Force For Darfur

The resolution was approved by a vote of 12 to 0, with China, Russia and Qatar abstaining. Assistant Secretary of State Kristen Silverberg said the abstentions were "inexplicable, in light of the very grave and serious and deteriorating security situation." But Chinese and Russian officials said they wanted Sudan's consent before the resolution was adopted, out of concern that the move might result in even more bloodshed.

John Prendergast of the nonprofit International Crisis Group, who was in Darfur over the weekend, said there has been a major new government offensive there in recent days. ""It has already started," said Prendergast, who has returned to his office in Washington.

Rebel commander Abubakar Hamid Nur, speaking by satellite phone from northern Darfur, said that government Antonov planes have been bombing villages as dozens of government gun trucks and thousands of troops have moved north from the provincial capital of El Fasher. Nur said the rebels have been retreating rather than clash with better-equipped government troops.

But he predicted an outright battle in the days ahead. Many of the civilians who were attacked have left on camels and horses to gather weapons.

"The coming days, there will be very big fighting in Darfur," Nur said. He said the government offensive is an effort to grab land in anticipation of the U.N. force eventually arriving. "They are killing and dancing over the skeletons of the people of Darfur," Nur said.

Major new fighting in northern regions of Darfur began Tuesday, according to Sam Ibok, an African Union official in Khartoum overseeing the implementation of the Darfur peace deal. Ibok said more than 20 civilians have been killed and more than 1,000 have been displaced, according to reports from affected areas. Those areas, he added, are beyond where African Union troops can travel safely.

"It's like a 'no-go' area for our forces," he said. Ibok said the fighting of the past three days was the worst so far this year. "The magnitude of this has not been reported before. This represents some kind of escalation," he said.

Manuel da Silva, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, predicted a steady deterioration in food, clean water and medical care in the weeks ahead as aid groups retreat from the countryside in northern Darfur because of the growing danger.

But Rabie Abdul Atti, a senior adviser to Sudan's information minister, said the recent violence is strictly between rebel groups that signed the pact and those that had not. "The government has taken no part in the fighting at all," Atti said.

Prendergast, who said he "could not point to anything good happening now" in Darfur, criticized the administration's strategy of offering incentives to Sudan's government rather than pressuring Khartoum with sanctions or possible war crimes indictments. He said that the peace agreement is terribly flawed, and that the departure of Zoellick and his aides left U.S. policy in limbo.

"The Darfur Peace Agreement is allowing the government to resume the war," Prendergast said. "This is a grotesque abuse of the intentions of those who crafted the peace deal back in May."

Timberg reported from Khartoum, Sudan.