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HRES 740 IHEH

Whereas, on September 29, 2007, an estimated members of a 1,000 heavily-armed rebels in rebel group Darfur overran a small base in Haskanita, Darfur, Sudan, occupied by the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), brutally killing 10 peacekeepers--seven Nigerian peacekeepsoldiers and three other soldiunarmed military observers and civilian police officers from Mali, Senegal, and Botswana--and wounding seven other peacekeepers, with 50 soldierspeacekeepers still missing;

Whereas, in an assault described by the African Union commander as `deliberate and sustained', the rebel group broke into the AMIS base in 30 vehicles with heavy artillery and mortars and battled for hours until AMIS forces ran out of ammunition;

Whereas the attacks were the worst attacks on AMIS peacekeepers since the deployment of the peacekeepers to Sudan in July 2004;

Whereas the United Nations Security Council condemned the `murderous attack' on AMIS peacekeepers and demanded that `no effort be spared' to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the attacks;

Whereas, in the aftermath of the attacks, the Government of Sudan secured the area reportedly to facilitate the evacuation of AMIS peacekeepers, but later was accused of burning has been burned Haskanita to the ground, driving more than 15,000 civilians into the bushwilderness or neighboring towns;

Whereas the attacks have been openly condemned by the United States Government, the African Union, the international community, and civilized people everywhere; and

Whereas the Government of Sudan has not publicly spoken out against or condemned the attacks; andWhereas the attacks occurred amid international peace efforts to deploy a hybrid African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force to Darfur, Sudan, and convene peace talks scheduled for October 27, 2007, in Tripoli, Libya: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on African Union peacekeepers that occurred in Haskanita, Darfur, Sudan, on September 29, 2007;

(2) expresses its condolences to the people and Governments of Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, and Botswana, the families and friends of those individuals who were killed or missing in the attacks, and expresses its sympathies to those individuals who have been injured;

(3) expresses the solidarity of the people and Government of the United States with the African Union and the African Union peacekeepers as they recover from these cowardly and inhuman attacks;

(4) expresses its readiness to support efforts to bring to justice those individuals responsible for the attacks and efforts to detect, pursue, disrupt, and dismantle the networks that plan and carry out such attacks;

(5) expresses its support for the people of Darfur, Sudan, in their continued struggle against extremism and violence and support for their efforts to secure a permanent peace, justice, and return to their restored villages and homes; and

(6) encourage all parties involved in the conflict to commit to negotiate a final and binding peace agreement at the peace talks scheduled for October 27, 2007, in Tripoli, Libya.