The United States put forward a new draft UN resolution on Tuesday, threatening to impose sanctions on Sudan's oil industry if the Sudanese government fails to end the bloodshed in its troubled Darfur region.

The draft resolution still maintains the sanctions that were opposed by several UN Security Council members when a previous version was circulated last week. But Washington now says the decision rests with the Security Council if Sudan does not comply.

The resolution calls for efforts to strengthen a force from the African Union (AU) already on the ground to monitor the cease-fire between the Sudanese government and rebels who rose up against the government in February 2003.

The resolution also calls for the UN secretary-general to establish an international commission of inquiry to investigate violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in Darfur, western Sudan.

Meanwhile, the deadlock on the Darfur peace talks between the rebels and Sudanese government held in Nigeria continued Tuesday as the two rebel groups -- the Movement for Equality and Justice and the Sudan Liberation Movement -- refused to sign the humanitarian protocol.

The groups met with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in capital Abuja in an effort to restart the peace talks on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, which reached the deadlock Friday following a major disagreement by the rebels.

Obasanjo, who is also chairman of the AU, had hoped to get the two rebel groups to agree to sign the humanitarian protocol so that the four-week talks could continue.

According to the rebel leaders, there were a number of issues that were not addressed in the protocol. They accused the Sudanese government of refusing to allow foreign troops free access to Darfur and allegedly bombarding the area in violation of the cease-fire agreed earlier in Chad.

But the leaders of the two rebel groups admitted that Obasanjo had understood their position, saying that they agreed to study the document again and then report to the mediators and the AU team Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Majzoub Al-khalifa, head of the Sudanese government delegation, stated that the government was ready and willing to continue the talks and sign the humanitarian protocol.

He said the government was also working with the international community in Darfur to end the humanitarian crisis.

Sudan accuses US of worsening conflict

The Sudanese government has accused the United States of using the Darfur crisis, saying US Secretary of State Colin Powell's description of the Darfur situation as "genocide" is worsening the conflict in the region.

In a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja, Counselor Mohammed Omer Musa of the Sudanese Embassy in Nigeria faulted the premise upon which the US State Department arrived at that conclusion.

In a testimony before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, Powell declared the Darfur tragedy a "genocide," a pronouncement seen as a prelude to UN sanctions on Sudan.

Musa claimed that Powell's stance was only based on so-called observations of a US team that had "never set foot in Darfur."

Powell's characterization was in stark contrast to the more thoughtful assessment made by the European Union, the African Union, the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement and the International Red Cross, he added.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail also accused the United State over the Darfur crisis, saying "the US administration is using the Darfur issue to serve a political agenda -- the presidential elections."

He told reporters in Cairo, where the Arab League is holding a meeting, that Washington wanted to "divert the world's attention away from the problems in Iraq and for the sake of the elections."

Source: Xinhua