The United States today modified slightly a threat of sanctions on Sudan's oil industry in a revised text of its UN resolution on atrocities in the country's Darfur region.
The new version is aimed at getting broader backing for the resolution, opposed by several key UN Security Council members, including China and Russia.
It says the council "shall consider" punitive measures, such as actions "to affect Sudan's petroleum sector" if atrocities in the Darfur region continue and Khartoum fails to cooperate with an expanded monitoring force from the African Union.
Previously, that provision declared that the council "will take further actions" if Sudan did not comply with its demands.
The draft resolution, backed by European nations, faces opposition from China, Russia, Algeria, Pakistan, and other members of the 15-nation council on the threat of sanctions.
The same countries also opposed a request to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to establish a commission that would determine whether crimes in Darfur amounted to genocide. But the new resolution left this paragraph intact.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell last week said acts of genocide had been committed, but no other country has gone that far, a key reason why a new probe has been requested.
China last week threatened to use its veto power on the council if major changes were not made. Diplomats said Beijing was bound to demand more alterations to the new text.
US Ambassador Mr John Danforth still hopes to get a resolution adopted this week, before presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers address the UN General Assembly next week. But diplomats said a vote could spill over to next week.
The text still declares that Sudan had failed to significantly guarantee the security of the civilian population, where Arab militia men, called Janjaweed, have been accused of killings, rape and uprooting African villagers.