US urges countries supplying weapons to Sudan’s warring parties to stop, warning of a new genocide

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States is imploring all countries supplying weapons to Sudan’s warring parties to halt arms sales, warning that history in the vast western Darfur region where there was a genocide 20 years ago “is repeating itself.” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after an emergency closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council Monday that El Fasher, the only capital in Darfur not held by paramilitary forces, is “on the precipice of a large-scale massacre.” She urged all countries to raise the threat that “a crisis of epic proportions is brewing.” Britain’s deputy ambassador James Kariuki echoed her appeal saying: “The last thing Sudan needs is a further escalation on top of this conflict that’s been going on for a whole year.”