§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the Sudanese Government's military offensive in the south, which is intensifying the hardship suffered by the civilian population and increasing the flow of refugees, they will propose a fuel and arms embargo on Sudan in the United Nations Security Council.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyWe have not ruled out recourse to the UN Security Council but we would not want to pursue this option unless we were confident that this would be constructive.
We have deplored the latest outbreak of fighting in the south, and have condemned the bombing by the Sudanese Air Force of civilian targets. On 21 February we and our EU partners issued a declaration to this effect, a copy of which has been placed in the Libraries of the House. We are discussing with our EU partners the possibility of imposing an EU arms embargo on Sudan. Latest reports indicate that the fighting has abated in recent days.