UN envoy urges Sudan's Government to hold back after rebel attack in Darfur

The top United Nations envoy for Sudan today called on the Government to exercise restraint, refraining from air raids and ordering the Janjaweed militia to avoid any action that would lead to further escalation after rebels attacked a town in the western Darfur region in clear violation of recently signed security accords.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, co-chaired a session of the Joint Implementation Mechanism (JIM) dealing with Sudan that met at the request of the Sudanese Government to consider the recent developments in North Darfur, particularly the fighting in the Tawila area.

The Mechanism includes the UN, the Government and several regional and donor countries.

Mr. Pronk expressed concern at the recent fighting and noted that the rebel Sudanese Liberation Army's responsibility had been clearly established.

Sudan's Foreign Minister denied reports of Government bombing in the Tawila area and said the Government was ready to investigate the matter.

Tomorrow, Mr. Pronk is to head to Cairo for two days of talks with senior Egyptian and Arab League officials on the deteriorating situation in Darfur and on the peace talks in Naivasha, Kenya, that seek to end Sudan's other civil war in the south.

The UN has termed the conflict in Darfur, a region the size of France, the world's worst humanitarian crisis. About 1.45 million people have been internally displaced and Janjaweed militias stand accused of killing and raping thousands of villagers after the rebels took up arms last year to demand a greater share of economic resources. Another 200,000 are living as refugees in neighbouring Chad.