Sudan ethnic cleansing not grabbing Arizona leaders' focus

From the "Business Journal of Phoenix"...

Arizona's political leadership is not overly engaged in efforts to stop the ethnic cleansing and religious war in Sudan [sic] -- a conflict that has resulted in more than 2 million refugees and more than 200,000 deaths.

The state's elected officials tend to back economic sanctions and international peacekeepers, but not U.S. troops, in the Sudan's Darfur region.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., are the only elected officials who responded to Business Journal requests for the comments on what they are doing when it comes to the North African conflict, and what role business sanctions and the U.S. should play there.

Franks is co-chairman of a congressional task force on international religious freedom, and that group is making Sudan a priority, said Franks spokeswoman Bethany Barker.

McCain and Franks both support economic sanctions against the Sudanese government and a peacekeeping force put together by the United Nations and [the] African Union. They also support humanitarian efforts in the Darfur region.

Franks wants to see pressure placed on companies and countries that do business in Sudan or rely on natural resources from that region for their products, said Tina Ramirez, a policy adviser to Franks.

U.S. [Reps.] Raul Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat, and Ed Pastor, a Phoenix Democrat, have co-sponsored business prohibitions and resolutions condemning the religious and ethnic persecution in Sudan.

State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, is leading a state effort to make sure Arizona pension funds do not make investments in the North African state.

The rest of the state's congressional delegation (four other Republicans and four Democrats) and Gov. Janet Napolitano did not respond to requests for comment on Sudan.

Sudan exports oil and gum arabic, which is used in sodas, medicines, and food products.