The European Union should consider backing tougher international action against Sudan, including a British-proposed "no- fly zone" over Darfur, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern told EU colleagues last night.
During private talks in Brussels, Mr Ahern said EU efforts to pressurise the Sudanese government "cannot really be regarded as successful", according to sources.
"We should also start considering what further the EU can take to encourage a change in attitude on the part of the Sudanese government," he told fellow foreign affairs ministers.
"Given the ongoing deterioration and the growing public concern within Europe, we should look at what additional measures, whether extending targeted sanctions or imposition of a no-fly zone, the EU might be prepared to support," the Minister is understood to have said.
He said the EU should "discreetly canvass" against Sudan taking over the chair of the African Union in January, particularly since it has a 7,000-strong military force in Darfur.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor's decision to investigate new atrocities in Darfur is "significant", he said: "The culture of impunity must end."
Sudan has rejected a UN Security Council resolution that authorised a 22,500-strong military and police force for Darfur, where, human rights groups say, 200,000 people have been killed since 2003.
Unusually, the EU foreign ministers did not release the conclusions of their discussions about the Middle East and Afghanistan, which are now due to be published early today.
However, sources close to the talks indicated that the Israelis' decision yesterday to bar Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh from returning to Gaza was discussed.
The Israelis blocked Mr Haniyeh from bringing in $35 million in cash donated by Iran, carried in suitcases, when he tried to return to Gaza through the border with Egypt.
EU leaders said they would continue to monitor progress to meet the union's commitments to increase aid for Africa to nearly 0.3 per cent of the EU's gross income by 2010.
They also welcomed the resumption of informal talks to break the logjam in the Doha world trade talks and urged all sides "to act in the same spirit of constructive commitment" to bring the negotiations to a successful end.
In another development, the Polish government has softened its opposition to a EU/Russia trade deal, if the Russians, in turn, drop their ban on Polish meat imports shortly after talks between Brussels and Moscow begin.
Polish president Lech Kaczynski held talks last night with the Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, and Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen. Up to now, the Poles have been prepared to let the EU/Russia partnership talks proceed if Moscow committed to dropping the import ban 50 days after negotiations begin, but it is now prepared to ease this demand.
