Clinton: U.S. to engage Sudan, warns on backsliding

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday said it would renew tough economic sanctions on Sudan later this week, but also promised broad engagement with Khartoum in an effort to end genocide in Darfur.

"If the government of Sudan acts to improve the situation on the ground and to advance peace, there will be incentives; if it does not, then there will be increased pressure imposed by the United States and the international community," President Barack Obama said in a statement.

Unveiling the new U.S. policy toward Sudan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said genocide was taking place in Darfur and the U.S. focus would be on protecting civilians, helping displaced persons and ensuring that militias were disarmed.

There has been a strong debate inside the administration over what policies to adopt for Sudan, including whether genocide is still taking place in the western Darfur region.

"We must seek a definitive end to conflict, gross human rights abuses and genocide in Darfur," Obama said.

The United Nations estimates that as many as 300,000 people have died and more than 2 million have been driven from their homes in Darfur since 2003, when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government. Khartoum puts the death toll closer to 10,000.

The new Obama policy toward Sudan will include "a menu of incentives and disincentives," Clinton said. She refused to specify what they might be.

Obama's new special envoy, Scott Gration, has argued that Sudan's many problems can only be resolved with the cooperation of the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. In March, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Bashir for war crimes.

The Bush administration relied on sanctions as its key leverage against Bashir's government. Clinton said Obama's administration was committed to sanctions as a tool to put pressure on Sudan's government.

Some human rights groups, frustrated by the world's failure to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, have expressed disappointment at Washington's failure to take the tough line on Sudan that Obama supported during his campaign.

(Reporting by Deborah Charles and Sue Pleming)