Top UN envoy off to East Africa
2007-11-24 21:02
New York - United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes will embark on a week-long tour of Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya next week for talks with the government and UN officials as well as representatives of other aid agencies, says his office.
Holmes, head of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), was due to arrive in Addis Ababa next Monday for a two-day stay in the country that would include a visit to the Ogaden region for talks with people affected by the conflict there.
On Sunday, rebels of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) accused the Ethiopia's air force of "carpet-bombing" villages and nomadic settlements in its oil- and gas-rich Ogaden, leaving a trail of casualties.
Holmes was then to head for Khartoum next Wednesday before traveling to Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region from November 30 to December 01 to meet with displaced people.
The OCHA chief was to wrap up his African tour in Nairobi, Kenya, before heading back to UN headquarters on December 03, said his office.
- AFP