The time has not yet come to impose international sanctions against Sudan's government, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's envoy Jan Pronk said on Monday, calling instead for a large observer mission to its strife-torn, crisis-ridden Darfur region.
"You should always keep sanctions in mind as a last instrument but it is not yet time to use the last instrument," Pronk told reporters during a visit to Oslo, following talks with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen.
"Sanctions, don't forget, is a very cheap instrument," he said.
His comments came almost a week after the expiration of a UN ultimatum to Sudan, in which it gave Khartoum a 30-day deadline to disarm its proxy Arab militia, the Janjaweed, who are accused of atrocities against Darfur's people of black African origin.
The government was also to withdraw its regular forces from around the camps for displaced people in the western Darfur region and ensure free access to the area for aid agencies.
Pronk said he had detected some progress being made by the government, such as a marked improvement in security and the suspension of "the disastrous policy of forced returns".
But he said that "the key chapter" - the disarmament of militias - was still not accomplished.