Annan says UN will team with regional group on peacemaking in Somalia, Sudan

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today offered the world body's collaboration with East Africa's Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), meeting to focus on its quest for peace in Somalia and the Sudan, and said the Security Council would investigate violations of the arms embargo against Sudan.

In a message read by one of his special advisers, Mohamed Sahnoun, to the meeting in Kampala, Uganda, Mr. Annan said the progress in peace building in Sudan "paves the way for a successful completion of talks on many other matters, including power- and wealth-sharing."

"With the adoption on 10 October of a presidential statement by the Security Council, the United Nations now has the mandate and responsibility to start preparatory work in search of a peace agreement," he said. The UN would also do its utmost to gather maximum international support for the implementation of a future peace accord, he added.

By contrast, since the signing of Somalia's Eldoret Declaration, saying opposing parties would stop fighting, "serious hostilities have hindered the delivery of essential humanitarian and development assistance," Mr. Annan said.

"I urge Somali leaders to honour their commitment to ensuring the delivery of such assistance, as well as the safety of international and national aid workers."

IGAD's members are Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, and Sudan. They were meeting today and tomorrow in Kampala, Uganda.

"The (UN) Security Council is deeply concerned about the (Sudan's) persistent cycle of violence and the continued flow of weapons and ammunition supplies and has called on all States and other actors to comply scrupulously with the arms embargo. It has also decided to re-establish the Panel of Experts to further investigate violations of the arms embargo," Mr. Annan said.