Genocide pays

The Security Council is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a resolution that would offer Sudan at least $500 million in economic development and reconstruction aid, and more than 10,000 UN peacekeeping troops, after the civil war ends. Completing their peace agreement and signing a peace agreement by the end of this year, Council members have agreed on a text, Agence France-Presse reported.

The resolution also promises "possible'' debt relief. Sudan owes the World Bank and International Monetary Fund nearly $2 billion, spokesmen for the groups said.

The Netherlands has pledged $130 million and the U.K. has pledged $186 million in development aid, according to Carl Ulrich, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. He said Norway was organizing a donors' conference to raise more money for Sudan.

"There is no time to waste,'' UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a speech to the Security Council, according to a copy given to reporters at the UN in New York. "The speedy conclusion of the North-South talks would not only curb the further spread of conflict to other parts of the country, it would serve as a basis and a catalyst for the resolution of existing conflicts.''