US said to be planning deeper engagement with Sudan

The United States plans deeper engagement with Sudan's government, rather than further isolating Khartoum as President Obama advocated last year, a U.S. official said on Saturday. The policy change envisages a mix of "incentives and pressures," but there are no immediate plans to ease sanctions on Khartoum, which the United States has accused of genocide in the war-ravaged western Darfur region, the official said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was due to unveil the new approach on Monday but there could still be changes, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Some human rights groups, frustrated by the world's failure to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, have expressed disappointment at Washington's failure to take the tough line on Sudan that Obama supported during his campaign. The United Nations estimates that as many as 300,000 people have died and more than two million have been driven from their homes in Darfur since 2003, when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government. Khartoum puts the death toll closer to 10,000.