Annan heads to Darfur

2004-07-01 09:12

Khartoum - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan left here on Thursday morning to visit Sudan's war-torn western region of Darfur, which the United Nations has described as the worst humanitarian situation in the world, a UN official said.

He is slated to visit a refugee camp in El-Fasher, in North Darfur state, before heading on to neighbouring Chad, which is giving refuge to some 100 000 refugees from Darfur.

The UN chief arrived in Sudan on Wednesday, where US Secretary of State Colin Powell was already pressuring Khartoum to ease the situation there.

After Powell visited Darfur on Wednesday, and following a stern warning to Khartoum the day before, Sudan announced steps to ease the situation.

Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said the government would send more government forces to provide security, ease restrictions on humanitarian groups and speed up negotiations with rebel groups.

"We will do our best to bring more police and more armed forces to that area. We will combat any militia or Janjawid to protect civilians," he said, referring to pro-government Arab militias blamed for a wave of killings of indigenous groups in Darfur since rebels rose up in February 2003.

"We're going to enhance the speed of political negotiations. Hopefully in a very short time we will reach agreement with the rebels," he said.

More than 10 000 people have died in Darfur and more than a million driven from their homes since a revolt against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum broke out among indigenous ethnic minorities in February 2003.

- AFP