Sudan demands U.N. action on Darfur rebels

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sudan will demand that the U.N. Security Council take action against rebels in its war-torn Darfur region whom Khartoum accuses of killing five Chinese oil workers, Sudan's U.N. envoy said on Monday.

Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem told Reuters he would raise the issue on Tuesday when the 15-nation council meets to discuss deployment of a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID.

He said Sudan wants the council to issue "a strong condemnation" but added that this would not be sufficient.

"The leniency of the council has encouraged them," Abdalhaleem said of the Darfur rebels. "It is time for ... taking measures against those who destroy the peace process and take the lives of ordinary citizens."

Sudan's Foreign Ministry blamed the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Darfur rebel group, for seizing and killing the five Chinese. Two others escaped and two more were still in the hands of the kidnappers, the ministry said on Monday. A London-based JEM official denied the group was involved.

Asked if the killers were trying to sabotage Khartoum's relationship with China, Abdalhaleem said yes.

"The choice is very clear," Abdalhaleem said. "It is consistent with their positions declared before against China."

CHINA'S STANCE

He said Beijing had condemned the violence and assured Khartoum that it would not let such violence undermine its relationship with Sudan. China is the biggest foreign investor in Sudan and one of Khartoum's strongest allies.

Abdalhaleem said that the Security Council had spent too much time focusing on the Sudanese government while keeping silent about what rebel groups like JEM have been doing.

Council diplomats say that they are not opposed to slapping sanctions on rebel groups like the JEM, if they are truly undermining the peace process in Darfur. The government and rebels routinely trade accusations of human rights violations in Darfur, where a bloody conflict has raged since 2003.

Western council members insist that any sanctions against the rebels would have to be balanced with penalties against Khartoum for what they say is its role in undermining the peace process, such as creating obstacles that have slowed down the full deployment of UNAMID.

But the Chinese, who are permanent veto-wielding members of the council, are reluctant to support sanctions against the Sudanese government, council diplomats say.

The kidnapping was the third such incident in the energy-producing state of South Kordofan in the past year.

Analysts say the underdeveloped region could become another violent flashpoint. If the JEM did indeed carry out the kidnapping, it might indicate that insecurity could be spreading from neighboring Darfur.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman )