UN staff and others complete three-day observer mission to Darfur, Sudan

An observer group of United Nations staff, Sudanese officials and representatives of concerned countries today wrapped up its three-day visit to troubled Darfur, where local civilians have been fleeing deadly militia attacks, by touring a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region's west.

The group - which is attempting to verify whether Sudan is meeting its pledges to disarm the Arab Janjaweed militias and restore security to Darfur - will report its findings to the next meeting of a joint Sudanese-UN body charged with making sure the commitments are achieved, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told a press briefing today.

After visiting the camp for IDPs at the town of Mornei in West Darfur, the group headed back to Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, Ms. Okabe said.

The UN and Sudan set up the Joint Implementation Mechanism (JIM) after signing a communiqué on 3 July outlining their pledges to alleviate what has been described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. This week's observer mission was organized through JIM.

Ms. Okabe said the security situation remains highly unstable in Darfur's north, with humanitarian agencies there reporting that the Sudanese Government is pressuring IDPs to leave the temporary camps and return to their home villages.

But the residents of two camps, at Abu Shouk and Zam Zam, have said they remain afraid to go home. There have also been daily attacks on commercial trucking in the area.

About 1.2 million IDPs are scattered across Darfur, a region the size of France, while at least another 180,000 refugees have escaped to neighbouring Chad. The displacement began last year when two rebel groups began fighting Government forces and the Janjaweed started attacking civilians.

At UN Headquarters in New York, Security Council members scheduled consultations on a draft resolution designed to address the crisis.

Meanwhile, in West Darfur, officials from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and other UN humanitarian agencies have interviewed women at one IDP camp who were raped recently by Janjaweed members as they searched nearby for firewood or briefly returned to their home villages to retrieve belongings.

In a separate development, the UN has received another $13 million for its humanitarian appeal for Darfur and Chad since Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke out last week about the major shortfall in funds.

So far, however, only $158 million has been received - well below the target amount of $349 million.

Also today, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that the first 25 of 120 all-terrain trucks have arrived in Port Sudan to help distribute relief supplies in Darfur, where many roads have become impassable to regular vehicles because of the annual rainy season.

The trucks will be loaded with food and then driven more than 2,600 kilometres across Sudan, Africa's largest country, to Darfur. WFP said the journey could take as long as three weeks because of the conditions.