Sudan was confronted yesterday with the prospect of stiffer sanctions over its failure to allow UN peacekeepers in Darfur, after Tony Blair threatened tougher action and a top US official warned of measures targeting the country's economic interests.
Britain will press for a broader UN arms embargo applying to the whole of Sudan, rather than just Darfur province, and targeted sanctions against a longer list of people and organisations linked to the ethnic cleansing there, the prime minister said.
"We must show we are prepared to take tough action if the situation doesn't change," Mr Blair said yesterday. "We cannot let this slip down the agenda."
In Washington George Bush was preparing to impose sanctions on Sudanese companies which would, among other things, block international transactions involving US dollars, according to the presidential envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios. "I don't want to presuppose the decision that the president is going to make," Mr Natsios told humanitarian groups. "It is pretty clear the president is angrier than anyone else. He gets very upset when he talks to me about the situation. He gets very frustrated by it."
Britain, meanwhile, will begin lobbying for a new sanctions package in the UN security council and in the EU, which the prime minister believes should be taking a leading role on the issue.
The diplomatic offensive come in the wake of a letter from Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon. In the letter Mr Bashir asked to renegotiate a deal that he had agreed late last year allowing UN peacekeepers to reinforce the 7,000-strong African Union force, which has been powerless to stop the killing in Darfur.
More than 200,000 people have died so far, mostly civilians at the hands of the janjaweed militia allied to the Khartoum government. Well over two million people have been forced to flee their homes - 80,000 fled in January and February alone, according to a UN report issued yesterday. The violence is spreading to the Central African Republic and Chad.
In his letter to Mr Ban President Bashir argued that the plan to create a hybrid AU-UN force violates a peace deal with Darfur's main rebel group. Mr Ban said the letter included "some positive elements" but also appeared to "challenge" tenets of the November deal with the UN.
The British-inspired sanctions on Sudan will not be proposed at the UN until a text has been agreed in the security council over Iran's decision to ignore a UN ultimatum to stop enriching uranium. That may not be until next week.
On both issues Britain and the US need to overcome Russian and Chinese resistance. China has been Sudan's main defender on the international stage, but British officials believe the Khartoum government has alienated even Beijing by reneging on the November deal.
"We're seeking to keep a broad coalition behind a gradual increase in pressure, but that should not limit countries who want to go further," a Downing Street official said yesterday.
Islamic countries said yesterday that they would try to stop the UN human rights council from considering yesterday's report, which accuses Sudan of orchestrating atrocities in Darfur, on the grounds that the mission that produced it did not visit the region.
Instead, a new UN mission should be appointed, with members approved by the Sudanese government, so that human rights violations in Darfur can be investigated properly, senior officials of the Organisation of Islamic Conference told reporters.