Annan meets Sudanese officials and US Secretary Powell to discuss Darfur crisis
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan held talks today with Sudanese Government ministers and United States Secretary of State Colin Powell about the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region as he began a three-day fact-finding visit to Africa's largest country.
After arriving in Khartoum this morning on a flight from Qatar, Mr. Annan discussed the situation in Darfur with senior officials from UN agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) based in the Sudanese capital.
The meetings focused on the obstacles that aid workers face as they try to bring relief to the estimated two million people affected by the Darfur crisis, according to a UN spokesman.
Mr. Annan later spoke to Mr. Powell, who is also visiting Sudan to study the Darfur crisis first-hand, about what steps are being taken by the international community to relieve the suffering.
UN agencies and NGOs have warned of a large death toll by the end of the year unless more humanitarian aid gets through to civilians.
More than one million people are internally displaced and at least another 150,000 others have become refugees in neighbouring Chad since Government forces started fighting two Darfur rebel groups early last year.
During a separate meeting Mr. Annan asked a group of Sudanese Cabinet members to help disarm the Janjaweed militias and to remove all impediments to humanitarian relief, such as delays in granting visas to aid workers or releasing essential equipment from customs.
The Janjaweed, bands of Arab fighters that are often armed or recruited by Khartoum, have also attacked Darfur's black African population. Two UN reports last month found that the Janjaweed had committed many human rights abuses, including killings, rapes and the destruction of villages.
Tonight the Secretary-General is scheduled to attend a working dinner hosted by Sudan's First Vice-President, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha. He will then travel to Darfur tomorrow to inspect camps for internally displaced people (IDPs).
Mr. Annan is visiting Sudan as part of a three-week official trip that is taking in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) today began an airlift of food supplies from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to Darfur. The WFP plans to transport 2,000 tons of enriched flour during the airlift from Addis Ababa - enough to feed about 300,000 people for a month.