Annan Urges Security Council Warning on Sudan

Kofi Annan today called on the UN security council to issue "the strongest warning" to forces fighting in Sudan to bring an end to the civil war in the south and the crisis in the western Darfur region.

The UN secretary general was speaking in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, at an extraordinary meeting of the security council, called for by the US, which has convened outside New York for the first time in 14 years.

The council is due tomorrow to adopt a new resolution on Sudan with human rights groups calling for a tough line, such as imposing an arms embargo or threatening sanctions against Sudan's government.

A draft of the resolution promises financial and political support for any peace agreements in Sudan, but members had yet to agree on whether to threaten sanctions or take other actions against parties that violate ceasefires or obstruct aid agencies.

The outgoing US secretary of state, Colin Powell, has called the violence in Darfur genocide and in September accused four security council members - China, Russia, Algeria and Pakistan - of valuing business with Sudan over humanitarian concerns. All four abstained from an 11-0 vote to set up a commission to investigate the charges of genocide against Sudan.

At the meeting today the Sudanese vice-president, Ali Osman Taha, told the security council that he was committed to peace and John Garang, leader of the rebels fighting in the civil war in the south, said he could foresee a peace deal being reached by the end of the year.

But Mr Annan castigated the government and rebel forces for the violence, especially that in Darfur, where tens of thousands of people have died this year. Mr Annan told the council: "I regret to report that the security situation in [the western region of] Darfur continued to deteriorate despite the ceasefire agreement signed earlier. Both the government and its militias as well as the rebel groups have breached these agreements."

Meanwhile, Oxfam also said the situation on the ground was worsening with banditry rife, putting 200,000 people at risk from lack of food and water, Reuters reported. The aid agency said road ambushes were common across the region, forcing it to airlift supplies into five towns by helicopter.

Jemera Rone of New York-based group Human Rights Watch, said the civil war in the south was linked to the crisis in Darfur and called for tough UN intervention. Ms Rone said: "Unless they are held accountable for abuses in the south, the Sudanese authorities will continue to believe they can get away with murder in Darfur."

The US ambassador to the United Nations, John Danforth, called the meeting in Nairobi to give security council members a chance to meet with experts working to end the fighting and suffering in the Darfur region, as well as those hoping to clinch a peace deal in southern Sudan. A civil war has been on going in the south for 21 years.

The council was due to hear representatives of the African Union and the US Intergovernmental Authority on Development and will vote on a resolution tomorrow after a brief meeting with Nairobi-based aid agencies and civil groups.

The southern war has pitted Sudan's Muslim government against rebels seeking better treatment and a greater share of the country's wealth. The conflict has killed more than two million people, largely through war-induced hunger and disease.

The separate conflict in western Sudan started in February 2003, when two non-Arab African rebel groups took up arms for a greater share of power and resources. The government responded by backing Arab militias, who are accused to targeting civilians.

The conflict in the west has driven 1.8 million people from their homes, and at least 70,000 people have died since March in the region because of disease, hunger and hardships.

"The strongest warning to all the parties that are causing this suffering is essential," Mr Annan said. "When crimes on such a scale are being committed, and a sovereign state appears unable or unwilling to protect its own citizens, a grave responsibility falls on the international community, and specifically on this council."