Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/president-bush-levies-new-sanctions-against-sudan Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript In an attempt to help end the bloodshed in Darfur, President Bush announced new U.S. sanctions Tuesday that targeted the oil industry and Sudanese individuals involved in the region's violence. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte provides details. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. RAY SUAREZ: The president followed through today on a threat he made six weeks ago: to stiffen economic sanctions against Sudan.GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing, murder and rape of innocent civilians. My administration has called these actions by their rightful name: genocide. The world has a responsibility to help put an end to it. RAY SUAREZ: The four-year conflict has centered on Sudan's western region, Darfur, where the U.N. estimates at least 200,000 people have been killed. More than 2.5 million people have been displaced, but the U.N. has stopped short of labeling the killing "genocide."The fight pits ethnic African rebels against the Arab-dominated government. Government-backed militias, called the Janjaweed, have been accused of waging a campaign of rape, murder and extermination against the people of Darfur, a charge they deny.The Sudanese government, led by President Omar al-Bashir, has repeatedly stalled on an agreement reached last year for a U.N. force to bolster the 7,000 African Union troops already in the country. GEORGE W. BUSH: Last month, I announced that the United States was prepared to take new steps if the government of Sudan did not allow the full deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force, if the government did not begin living up to its many commitments that the United States would act. RAY SUAREZ: The latest sanctions zero in on 31 companies owned or controlled by the Sudanese government. The firms will be barred from dealings with U.S. banks and companies. Many of the Sudanese companies are involved in the country's oil industry.A handful of Sudanese individuals are also targeted, including two high-level government officials accused of fueling the violence in Darfur. The president has also stepped up pressure on the United Nations, demanding stronger sanctions and expanding an arms embargo.Reaction to Mr. Bush's announcement was swift. In Khartoum, Sudan's government angrily dismissed the sanctions and urged other nations to ignore them.The Save Darfur Coalition, a U.S. group, said it may be too late. Director David Rubenstein added, "The Darfuri people don't have that much time. The president must set a short and firm deadline for fundamental changes in Sudanese behavior."China, the largest consumer of Sudanese oil, said the sanctions are counterproductive.LIU GIUJIN, Chinese Envoy to Darfur (through translator): Persistent pressure and sanctions will not resolve these issues. They can only make the problems more complicated. RAY SUAREZ: China is also one of the five permanent Security Council members. It has blocked efforts to send U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur without the Sudanese government's consent. At the U.N. today, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he wanted more time for a diplomatic solution.Europeans also pushed forward with a plan to end the violence in Darfur. The new French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, today proposed opening a corridor through Chad to bring humanitarian relief to hundreds of thousands of Darfurians stranded in refugee camps in Darfur and Chad.