LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Saturday condemned the United States for pursuing sanctions against his country over Darfur, the BBC quoted Sudan TV as reporting. "We are amazed why USA is continuing with sanctions after a time when we agreed with the U.N. on the heavy support package," he said. Sudan agreed on June 12 to a combined United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force of more than 20,000 troops and police, but many diplomats doubt Khartoum will keep its word. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week accused the Khartoum government of repeatedly breaking its promises to end the violence in the remote western region of Darfur. Rice also said Sudan must face "consequences" -- code for new U.N. sanctions -- if it failed to allow the force in. "Will these sanctions return the displaced and refugees to their villages? Will these sanctions help in providing services to the people?" Bashir asked during a live media conference. He said the aim of the sanctions was to weaken the economy. An international meeting in Paris, which included major aid donors, the Group of Eight industrialised nations and Sudan's ally, China, ended on Monday with few concrete steps on how to end the conflict in Darfur. International experts estimate 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven into miserable camps during more than four years of violence in the region bordering Chad. Washington calls the rape, murder and looting in Darfur genocide, a term Khartoum rejects. Bashir puts the death toll at only 9,000.
