Annan heads for Darfur
2005-05-23 21:48
Washington - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will travel to Sudan this week to see for himself the state of relief efforts in the troubled Darfur region and to meet Sudanese government representatives in Khartoum, UN officials said on Monday.
"The secretary-general is returning to Darfur to see at first hand one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and the progress being made in meeting the people's needs on the ground," said Stephane Dujarric, adding that Annan was due in to arrive in the Sudan on Friday.
"By going to Darfur, he hopes to rally support for the AU's (African Union's) security presence, revitalise the AU-mediated political process, and focus attention on the need to sustain the vital and massive UN-led humanitarian assistance activities underway there," said Dujarric.
An African Union force monitors the fragile ceasefire in Sudan's western region.
Before travelling to Sudan, Annan was to stop in Ethiopia where he was to co-chair a donors' conference to help bolster the AU's peace force in Darfur.
Annan and AU executive chair Alpha Oumar Konare will jointly lead the meeting in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on May 26, aimed at rounding up assistance for the AU's Darfur mission.