By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - The U.N.'s special envoy to Darfur said on Wednesday Washington's delay in imposing new sanctions against Sudan had given him "diplomatic space" to pressure Khartoum and try to bring warring factions together. U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson said he understood U.S. patience was limited but the timing had to be right for more punitive measures, and he cautioned that governments often blamed their problems on sanctions imposed by the outside world. "In my negotiations it's not bad to have the drums (threat of sanctions) in the background but you also must understand that we have worked very hard to open a little bit of diplomatic space," he told the Atlantic Council of the United States. "The parties certainly hear the drums in the background," he added. Last month, U.S. President George W. Bush said he would hold off on imposing new sanctions against Sudan in order to give the United Nations more time to negotiate with Khartoum over accepting a hybrid U.N./African Union force in Darfur. U.S. officials told Reuters the White House was becoming impatient that not enough progress was being made and could within the next week announce the new sanctions. But they stressed a final decision had not yet been taken. One possibility was to announce new measures on Friday -- exactly one month after Bush said in a speech at the Holocaust Museum in Washington that Sudan had one last chance to stop the violence in Darfur or new sanctions would be imposed. Since 2003, more than 200,000 people have died in the conflict, which flared when rebels took up arms against the government, accusing it of neglect. Aid groups estimate more than 2.5 million people have been displaced. The United States already has sanctions in place. The new measures would include the barring of an additional 29 companies owned or controlled by Sudan's government from the U.S. financial system. In addition, Washington would enact sanctions against individuals responsible for the violence, and Bush has raised the possibility of an international no-fly zone aimed at preventing Sudanese military aircraft from flying over Darfur. Eliasson, who declined to say whether he supported or rejected new U.S. sanctions, said any new measures should be as precise and targeted as possible. The U.N. envoy, who was in Sudan last week, said people in the south of the country, in particular, were very concerned over the threat of new sanctions. "If they feel that the outside world is hurting their economic interests, they will have weakened positions," Eliasson said. U.S. special envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, who also attended the speech, declined comment on the sanctions issue. Sudan's government has agreed to a "heavy support package" for Darfur, consisting of about 3,000 troops, but has not approved the hybrid force of more than 20,000 troops and police, which the U.N. authorized last August. Eliasson said the 3,000 new troops would not be deployed during the upcoming rainy season and he did not supply a date for their arrival. Getting the Sudanese to agree to the heavy support package was, he said, "like pulling out a tooth -- the old way."
