[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
The UN has suspended its relief operations in parts of the Sudanese state of South Darfur due to fighting between government and rebel forces, and a reported build-up of armed groups in the area, a spokesperson said. 
Radia Achouri, spokesperson for the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS), told IRIN on Thursday that fighting between government troops and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) had continued in areas east and southeast of Nyala town. 
"The security situation is particularly tense around the town of Muhujariya and two international NGOs have relocated staff from Muhujariya to Sheriya as a result," Achouri said. 
Fighting, UNAMIS reported, had also occurred in the South Darfur villages of Bashom, Eida, Ishma, Um Zehefa, Reil and surrounding areas on Monday and Tuesday. The clashes intensified days after two relief workers employed by the NGO, Save the Children (SC-UK), were killed. 
A helicopter patrol of the African Union ceasefire monitoring operation also reported that two villages - Um Zehefa and Konkoro - seemed to have been abandoned and burned to the ground. 
"All UN operations have been suspended along the main road between Mershing and Duma [where the SC-UK aid workers were killed], the road between Nyala and Kass camp, and between Nyala and Zalingei," Achouri told IRIN. 
UNAMIS, however, reported that the security situation in North Darfur had improved slightly, although it had received unconfirmed reports of fighting on Tuesday between government forces and the SLA, northeast of Al Fasher. 
"The situation remains tense," Achouri noted. 
The latest confirmed fighting in the area occurred in Thabit last week and reportedly resulted in four civilian fatalities and 20 injuries, according to UN officials who had assessed the situation on the ground. 
The officials said about 16,000 displaced people had already fled to Thabit, following the 22 November attacks on the town of Tawillah. They had now scattered in the surrounding areas after the recent attacks. 
The war in Darfur pits the Sudanese government troops and militias, allegedly allied to the government, against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. 
The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45-million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has described the Darfur problem as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. 

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
The settlement of the long-running conflict in southern Sudan between Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), is key to solving the humanitarian crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, a UN envoy said. 
Jan Pronk, the Secretary-General's representative in Sudan, told a news conference in New York on Tuesday that a peace accord in the south would lead to a new constitution and a new government which would be sympathetic to the situation in Darfur and more open to negotiation. 
With a 31 December deadline for concluding a peace agreement between the government and the SPLM/A fast approaching, Pronk urged the major global players - including the five permanent members of the Security Council - to present a unified position. 
"If the Sudanese government and the rebels were faced with a unified front, with the powerful nations in the world saying that they would not tolerate non-compliance with the Council's resolution, the parties would have no choice but to come up with a negotiated political solution," Pronk was quoted by UN News service as saying. 
The Sudanese government and the SPLM/A last month signed a memorandum of understanding at an extraordinary session of the Security Council in Nairobi, Kenya, pledging to conclude a final peace accord by the end of the year. 
"The mood is good and I would say the chances are positive," Pronk said, adding there still remained the "extremely difficult" bone of contention on the size and financing of the army. 
Pronk was in New York to discuss preparations for a possible deployment of more personnel for the UN Advance Mission in the Sudan (UNAMIS). He said he already had several firm offers for troops "from a number of South Asian countries". 
In Khartoum, UNAMIS spokeswoman, Radia Achouri, told reporters that fighting had continued in areas east and southeast of Nyala town in South Darfur. 
"In addition to the incident involving SC-UK staff members, fighting was reported in the villages of Bashom, Eida, Ishma, Um Zehefa, Reil and surrounding areas to the east of these locations on 12 and 13 December," she said. "The reported build-up of rival armed groups in these areas has raised serious concerns in the humanitarian community." 
In its latest "humanitarian profile" on Darfur, released on Tuesday, UNAMIS reported that an estimated 1.65-million people had been displaced by fighting in Darfur, while more than 2.2 million had been affected by the conflict. 
The war in Darfur pits the Sudanese government troops and militias, allegedly allied to the government, against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. The UN has described the Darfur conflict as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. 
The war between the SPLM/A and the Sudanese government in the south erupted in 1983 when the rebels took up arms against authorities based in the north to demand greater autonomy. 
The peace talks between Khartoum and the SPLM/A have been going on in the Kenyan town of Naivasha since mid-2003

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
The UN has strongly condemned the murder of two relief workers in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and called on the Khartoum government, rebels and militia to respect the principles of international humanitarian law. 
"The fact that [relief] workers themselves seem to have become the target of fighting poses severe difficulties for humanitarian access, with grave consequences for assistance in the future," Jan Pronk, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Sudan, said in a statement. 
The two Sudanese employees of the international relief organisation, Save the Children UK (SC-UK), were killed on Monday in South Darfur state, after coming under fire while travelling in a convoy of three clearly marked humanitarian vehicles on the main road between the localities of Mershing and Duma. 
"Two other vehicles in the convoy managed to flee the scene unharmed," Radia Achouri, spokeswoman for the United Nations Advance Mission in Sudan, told IRIN on Tuesday. 
"We deplore this brutal killing of humanitarian workers in Darfur," Ken Caldwell, SC UK's director of international operations, said in a statement. "Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of our Sudanese colleagues." 
The NGO said it would suspend its humanitarian operations in the state while African Union (AU) officials, charged with monitoring the ceasefire in the region, were investigating the incident. 
SC UK operates a number of feeding centres and medical clinics throughout camps in South Darfur, serving an estimated 130,000 displaced people, Laura Conrad, SC UK's senior media officer told IRIN from London on Tuesday. 
On 10 October, two other SC UK workers, a British programme manager and a Sudanese Sudanese water engineer, were killed by a landmine in North Darfur. Their driver was seriously injured. The AU blamed rebel forces for the landmine incident. 
The war in Darfur pits Sudanese government troops and militias allegedly allied to the government against rebels fighting to end what they have called the marginalisation of and discrimination against the region's inhabitants by the state. 
The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has described the Darfur problem as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. 

The President of Sudan, Omar el Beshir, has asked parliament to extend by another year the state of emergency in the country (due to expire on 31 December) due to the conflict in the remote western region of Darfur, the state news agency Suna has said today. Beshir has also asked parliament to prolong by six months the current legislature and the mandate of some government officials, whose names have not been made known. The same source claims that the two measures will allow the government to deal with the implications of the signing of a definitive peace accord with the secessionists of South Sudan (expected before the end of the year) and prepare the six-year transitional period that should end with a referendum on self-determination for the population in the south of the country. Meanwhile, the African Union-sponsored peace talks in Abuja (Nigeria) between the government of Khartoum and the two armed movements active in Darfur hang in the balance. On Monday, the representatives of the two rebel groups, SLA-M (Sudan’s Liberation Army-Movement) and JEM (Justice and Equality Movement), suspended their participation in negotiations due to alleged repeated attacks by Sudanese government forces against their positions. In particular, the rebels claimed to have information of a large military operation planned by Khartoum for the next few days. Both sides have long accused the other of violating the April ceasefire agreement – claims that have been verified by mediators for the pan-African organisation, who calculate that the number of ‘certified’ infringements (namely those recognised by the special ceasefire commission) have doubled in the last two months, rising from 13 in September to 52 between October and early December. The AU mediators are trying to persuade the representatives of the two rebel movements to return to the negotiating table but for now SLA-M and JEM are showing no sign of changing their mind.

Abhakar el Tayeb, a medical assistant, and Yacoub Abdelnabi Ahmed, a mechanic, are the two local ‘Save the Children’ staff members killed in an ambush in South Darfur yesterday, sources at the British non-governmental organisation (ngo) have said. The ngo told MISNA that a convoy of three clearly marked ‘Save the Children’ vehicles was travelling along the road between Mershing and Duma at around 16.00 local time when it came under fire. In addition to the two fatalities, an unspecified number of people were also injured in the attack and are now receiving hospital treatment. Save the Children operates tented medical clinics for internally displaced people in both Mershing and Duma. Operations have been suspended in the State – one of three making up the war-torn Darfur region – pending investigations by the African Union, which has a monitoring mission in the region. In a recent statement, the NGO recalls that this is the second fatal incident involving its staff in Darfur in the last two months: on 10 October Rafe Bullick (a British Programme Manager) and Nourredine Issa Tayeb (a Sudanese water engineer) were killed by a landmine in North Darfur, where the charity also has projects.

Two Sudanese aid workers were killed on Sunday in the State of South Darfur, ‘Save the Children’, the British non-governmental organisation for which the victims worked, has said in a statement. The two local staff members were reportedly killed after their convoy of clearly marked humanitarian vehicles came under fire. The organisation has decided to suspend operations in South Darfur – one of the three states that make up the Darfur region in western Sudan - while investigations are carried out. The crisis in Darfur exploded in February 2003 when two popular self-defence movements took up arms against the government of Khartoum, accusing it of neglecting the region and of backing the militias of Arab predators known as Janjaweed, who have brought death and destruction to the area for years; since then, an unknown number of people have died (tens of thousands according to the United Nations, ‘just’ 5.000 according to the Sudanese government), while over 1.5 million people have been internally displaced and at least 200.000 people have sought refuge in neighbouring Chad.

Sudan faces a political crisis following the announcement by the al-Umma Reform and Renewal Party that it is to abandon the government led by President Omer al-Bashir. The vice president of the party, Zahaoui Ibrahim Malek, announced the resignation of 14 “executive leaders” of this political movement – four central government ministers and ten representatives of the regional states – at a news conference last night, explaining the decision to break the alliance with the National Congress (NC) of al-Bashir: “We have not found the understanding from NC needed to reach the hoped-for oasis of peace,” he said. Born of a split within the al-Umma Party, al-Umma Reform and Renewal joined the government in August 2002. It leaves the executive at a particularly difficult time for Khartoum, which is grappling with a peace process in South Sudan (a definitive agreement is pending) and with the complex military and humanitarian crisis in the remote western region of Darfur.

“Egypt’s position regarding sanctions against Sudan is clear: Egypt is opposed to all sanctions or UN resolutions in this sense,” presidential spokesman Magued Abdel Fattah said after a series of meetings between the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Sudanese and Nigerian counterparts, Omar El Bashir and Olusegun Obasanjo respectively, in Cairo at the weekend. “It is not a question of imposing sanctions, but of helping Khartoum to uphold its commitments and the African Union to perform its duty,” he added. The pan-African organisation has already deployed several hundred observers to the war-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur and it hopes to increase this number to around 4.000; Khartoum is allegedly working to strengthen the tribal leaders and reduce the power of the armed militias. The foreign ministers of Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Nigeria and Libya have also discussed the situation on the basis of recommendations formulated at the five-party summit in Tripoli recently. Meanwhile, the government ‘Sudan Media Centre’ reports that Chad has agreed to mediate between the Sudanese government and ‘National Movement for Reform and Development’ (NMRD), a third rebel group active in Darfur. Two other factions, SLA-M (Sudan’s Liberation Army-Movement) and JEM (Justice and Equality Movement) – originally local self-defence groups – took up arms in February 2003, accusing the Islamic government of Khartoum of neglecting the region and of backing the Janjaweed militia, which are held responsible for atrocities against the local black African population.

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
Continuing violence in Darfur is derailing efforts to find a political roadmap out of a crisis that has pitted the Sudanese government against rebel groups for almost two years, delegates at AU-sponsored talks said on Monday. 
The December round of talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, was supposed to focus on a political solution to the conflict, which has forced more than 1.6 million people from their homes. 
The AU wanted to have a declaration of principles by the time talks wrapped up on 22 December that would deal with the equitable distribution of power and wealth in Darfur, as well as the integration of all ethnic, cultural and religious groups. 
But mediators have been forced to revisit old sticking points after an escalation of violence has left previous accords in tatters. 
The fourth round of talks formally opened at the weekend but it was only on Monday that the warring parties met face-to-face and then it was just to hear monitors rattle off a volley of ceasefire violations that both sides had committed. 
The AU said on Monday that 13 ceasefire violations had been recorded in September, but that number had leapt to 52 for October, November and the first week of December. 
"The spate of attacks, counter-attacks and retaliation have reached unacceptable levels and require the concrete and specific actions of the parties to end them," said Sam Ibok, chief AU mediator at the talks. 
The violence is continuing despite accords signed by both sides in November to improve security in the western region of Sudan and guarantee aid workers access to civilians caught up in the crisis. 
"It's difficult to see what new progress the sides can make at this round when the limited gains achieved at the last round appear to be unravelling before their very eyes," said Tom Cargill of London-based independent research body, Chatham House. 
Delegates representing both Khartoum and the rebels, demanding a better economic and political deal for Darfur, warned that the violence was poisoning the latest peace meet. 
"The situation is sad and efforts should be exerted to stop the violations and make the atmosphere conducive for negotiations," Mohammed Ibrahim, part of the Sudanese government team, told IRIN. 
Khartoum has accepted responsibility for some of the violations but defends its actions saying that "lawless elements" needed to be cleared from roads to allow aid workers access. The rebels, who have also been blamed for attacks, have demanded that the government pull back its forces from rebel held areas. 
Abduljabbar Dofa of the rebel group, the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement presented an equally bleak view. 
"We need to do some confidence-building to sort this out, otherwise the talks might collapse," he said. 
And even the official AU spokesman at the Abuja talks admitted that earlier achievements like the security and aid access accords, were being thrown into question. 
"It doesn't make sense to have these agreements if they're not being implemented," Assane Ba told reporters. 
Underlining just how much work remains to be done in terms of security and humanitarian access, Save The Children said that two of its aid workers had been killed in southern Darfur on Sunday when their convoy came under fire. The charity said it had suspended operations in the area for the time being. 
The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003 when the rebels took up arms against the government, accusing Khartoum of years of neglect and oppression. The Sudanese government tried to put down the rebellion using an Arab militia, known as the Janjawid, which has also been accused of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the villagers in Darfur. 
The UN calls Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of people have died and about 2.3 million more are in desperate need of aid. 

The Sudanese government has agreed to suspend the military offensive underway in Darfur, the vast western region on the border with Chad that has been the scene of clashes and violence and a resulting humanitarian crisis for almost two years, African Union (AU) mediators at the peace talks in Abuja (Nigeria) said today. The move could pave the way for the resumption of negotiations, which ran aground on Monday after the representatives of SLA-M (Sudan’s Liberation Army-Movement) and JEM (Justice and Equality Movement) withdrew in protest against recent government attacks. Sam Ibok, head of the AU mediators, stressed that “once it has been ascertained that the government military offensive has been suspended, negations will finally be able to resume”. The crisis in Darfur exploded in February 2003 when two popular self-defence movements took up arms against the government of Khartoum, accusing it of neglecting the region and of backing the militias of Arab predators known as Janjaweed, who have brought death and destruction to the area for years; since then, an unknown number of people have died (tens of thousands according to the United Nations, ‘just’ 5.000 according to the Sudanese government), while over 1.5 million people have been internally displaced and at least 200.000 people have sought refuge in

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
The African Union (AU) on Friday strongly criticised Sudan's government and rebel groups for launching attacks in December and late November respectively in the strife-torn western region of Darfur, ahead of a new round of peace talks between the two sides. 
Government troops carried out an attack at the localities of Bilel and Isham on 8 December to "clear roads of lawless elements" around El Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, the AU said in a statement. The attack, however, sparked renewed fighting between government troops and rebel forces, the AU said. 
Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the AU Commission, described the violation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and Darfurian rebel groups as "serious and unacceptable." 
The AU's statement came amid preparations in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, for the resumption of AU-mediated peace talks between the government of Sudan and two rebel groups in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). 
In the strongly worded statement, which was released from the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Konare also condemned the rebels for attacks in North and South Darfur in late November. 
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan, Jan Pronk, expressed concern on 9 December over the possible negative impact on the Abuja talks of the escalation of violence in Darfur. "This round of negotiations is headed for failure if the parties do not show restraint," Pronk said in a statement. 
George Somerwill, deputy spokesperson of the United Nations Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS), told IRIN by telephone from Khartoum on Friday that, according to the African Union, fighting also took place between government forces and the SLM/A on Wednesday in the town of Thabit, 50 km southwest of El Fasher in North Darfur. 
Somerwill said unconfirmed reports indicated that government helicopter gunships bombed the area, but no information regarding casualties was yet available. 
In a related development, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday that it had written to the current AU chairman, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, urging the pan-African body to speed up its deployment of troops to Darfur and to seek to include the protection of civilians in their mandate. 
"The African Union still has only 900 troops and monitors on the ground in Darfur, and these forces lack the mandate to protect the hundreds of thousands of civilians who remain at risk of attack," Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in a press release. 
The AU forces "need to secure the rural areas of Darfur as quickly as possible so that 1.8 million people can return home safely and voluntarily," Takirambudde added. 
Despite the insecurity in Darfur, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) managed to deliver more than 22,000 mt of food to nearly 1.3 million people during November, WFP reported on 9 December in a press release. 
The assistance reached more people than were fed in October, when armed clashes, civil unrest and banditry restricted WFP deliveries to only 1.1 million of the 1.6 million Darfur residents confirmed by the food agency to be in need, according to WFP. 
"We are encouraged by our performance in November, but we are still a long way from reaching all those currently in need of assistance in the Darfurs," the press release quoted Carlos Veloso, WFP's Emergency Coordinator for Darfur, as saying. 
Of the three states, North Darfur was hit hardest by hostilities and WFP was forced to suspend operations across large areas there in November. WFP estimated that at least 200,000 people in North Darfur did not receive food assistance in November because of insecurity. 
The war in Darfur pits Sudanese government troops - and militias allegedly allied to the government - against rebels fighting to end what they have called the marginalisation of and discrimination against the region's inhabitants by the state. The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. 

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
The high number of among dying women in Sudan from causes linked to pregnancy, childbirth and low prevalence of natal care was of serious concern, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said on Thursday during its annual country programme review in Khartoum. 
"With the current gap in primary health facilities and the overall number of people affected by the emergency, the situation requires additional efforts to meet the current needs," Nimal Hettiaratchy, UNFPA representative for Sudan, said in a press statement. 
The remarks were made during the annual review of the 2002-2006 country programme of the government of Sudan and UNFPA, which focuses on reproductive health, population and development strategies, and awareness on various population issues. 
"UNFPA's main goal is the attainment of Millennium Development Goal No. 5 - the reduction of maternal mortality by 75 percent by 2015," Hettiaratchy told the meeting. "In the Sudanese context, this means that the maternal-mortality ratios have to fall down to 178 per 100,000 live births, from the current nationwide average of 509 per 100,000 live births - still one of the highest in the world," the UNFPA official continued. 
UNFPA said it was contributing to better use of quality reproductive health services and information by the population with a special focus on vulnerable groups like adolescents, youths, internally displaced persons and refugees. For the coming year, "an additional focus is needed on female genital mutilation, adolescent health, HIV/AIDS and family planning," UNFPA Deputy Director Hassan Mohtashami said. 
"This cooperation and aid have had a great impact on the improvement of population and development issues," Yousif Sulaiman Takana, Sudanese minister of international cooperation, said at the annual review meeting. 
UNFPA has responded to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur by opening 3 sub-offices in the region. It has allocated US $1.4 million to start extensive programmes on responsible motherhood, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and gender-based violence. 
The 2005 work plan presented at the review contained 30 projects for which financing worth more than US $44 million is being sought. The minimum requirement considered to meet the emergency was $6 million, including recovery and post-recovery phases in Darfur. 
UNFPA will also further widen its activities to the south, in anticipation of a comprehensive peace deal between the government and the rebel Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), expected by the end of the year. 
Takana agreed that the signature of the comprehensive peace agreement would only be the first step in the right direction. 
"This agreement will not ensure the continuity of a long-lasting peace unless we start implementing a comprehensive programme for rehabilitation and development to meet the urgent and long-term needs of the returnees, the internally displaced people, refugees and others, who were affected directly or indirectly by the conflicts and wars," Takana noted. 
To this end, UNFPA has allocated $250,000 in 2004 in support of Sudan's Central Bureau of Statistics to prepare for a comprehensive population census. In 2005, the Population Fund will fundraise $27 million to be used for the preparatory phase of the census, which will cover all of Sudan, including SPLM/A controlled areas. 
"The census is one of the essential tools for maintaining peace, as it provides detailed disaggregated data for fair resource allocation, proper policy planning and, thus, development, " Hettiaratchy explained. 
The war between the SPLM/A and the Sudanese government erupted in 1983 when the rebels took up arms to demand greater autonomy for the south. The peace talks have been held in the Kenyan town of Naivasha since mid-2003 and are expected to be concluded by the end of this year. 
The war in Darfur pits Sudanese government troops - and militias allegedly allied to the government - against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

Representatives of the two rebel movements active in war-torn Darfur resumed talks with the mediators of the African Union this morning. The pan-African organisation, which is trying to find a negotiated solution to a 20-month conflict that has generated a humanitarian crisis of vast proportions, defined the talks as preliminary to the real peace negotiations involving the government delegation this afternoon. However, according to the UN secretary-general’s special envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, the meeting in Abuja (Nigeria) between SLA-M (Sudan’s Liberation Army-Movement) and JEM (Justice and Equality Movement) on one side and the government of Khartoum on the other risks getting off to a bad start. Pronk has recently expressed his concern over the recent escalation of violence in Darfur, where independent sources have reported the resumption of fighting and action by both sides. “The reports that are coming out of Darfur represent open violations of the ceasefire undersigned by the government and the rebels in April and of the two protocols signed by both sides in the earlier phase of negotiations. It is clear that they can only have a negative impact on the peace talks,” said Pronk after presenting the Security Council with a report on the situation in Darfur in November, which revealed a clear deterioration in the security situation in the region due to the numerous episodes of violence. Negotiations were suspended on 11 November after the first concrete achievements: the signing of two separate accords, one concerning security and the other concerning the humanitarian situation. So far the crisis in Darfur has claimed an unknown number of lives (tens of thousands according to the United Nations, ‘only’ 5.000 according to the Sudanese government), displaced over 1,5 million people internally and sent at least 200.000 refugees into neighbouring Chad.

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
The UN Security Council expressed deep concern on Tuesday over the recent escalation of violence in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and called on all parties to the conflict to stop renewed clashes. 
"The members call on all parties to cease all acts of violence and implement provisions of Security Council resolutions," the Council President for December, Algerian Ambassador Abdallah Baali, said in a press statement. 
The call followed a briefing by the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, Kieran Prendergast, who said the humanitarian situation in Darfur was "dire". He said the number of people affected by the conflict had risen to almost 2.3 million - more than a third of the total population since the November. 
Prendergast said November had been characterised by violence and a marked deterioration in the security situation. The percentage of vulnerable people who could be reached, for example, fell from about 90 to 80 percent due to increased insecurity and the onset of the rainy season. In North Darfur, where tens of thousands were cut off from relief aid, the percentage fell to 67 percent. 
"The SLA [the rebel Sudan Liberation Army] is thought to be responsible for instigating much of the violence, although it has denied this," Prendergast said. 
Aerial bombings by the government in retaliation, if confirmed, would also be in breach of the humanitarian and security protocols signed by all warring parties in Abuja, Nigeria, on 9 November, Prendergast noted. He added that the Sudanese foreign ministry had continued to deny the reports of aerial bombings, despite the African Union (AU) saying it had evidence to that effect. 
He said increased activity by Janjawid and other pro-government militias threatened to plunge Darfur into chaos. 
"The militias have become a destabilising factor, posing a dilemma for existing mechanisms intended to deal with ceasefire violations," Prendergast said. "They are not included in any of the political negotiations, nor are they signatories to the ceasefire agreement. 
"The international community must send an unequivocal message to all Sudanese parties that violence and hostile military actions are not an acceptable means to achieve political gains," he added. "Regrettably, the government has made no progress in disarming the Janjawid." 
Prendergast added that the AU Ceasefire Commission had confirmed it had not been invited, so far, to verify any disarmament activities by the government. 
He praised the efforts of the AU and called upon the international community to provide all the necessary support to enable the AU to increase its capacity in Darfur; so far consisting of only 800 troops and just over 100 military observers for its monitoring and mediating tasks. 
The war in Darfur is between Sudanese government troops and militias allegedly allied to the government, and rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
Reports of sexual violence, including rape, have persisted in Sudan's strife-torn western region of Darfur, despite agreements between Khartoum and rebel groups, aimed at improving the security situation in the area, the UN human rights agency said. 
Incidents of sexual assault had aggravated the sense of insecurity among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) spokesman, José Luis Díaz, told reporters in Geneva on Friday at a briefing on the findings of the agency's monitors in Darfur during November. 
Women and young girls were afraid to leave the camps in some areas and fighting continued to put civilians at risk in various places, Díaz said. He cited the launching of 18 mortars by government forces into the village of Masteri in West Darfur in response to an attack from that region. 
Clashes continued despite accords signed in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on 9 November between the government and two rebel groups - the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement - aimed at improving the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur. 
Diaz said IDPs continued to distrust and fear the police, and that widespread impunity continued, with reports that police still refused to record complaints of attacks. In South Darfur, there was an escalation in the number of forced relocations of IDPs, he said. 
He added that during the reporting period, there were apparently no arrests or trials of members of a militia, popularly known as the Janjawid, who have been accused of committing atrocities against civilians. There were also cases of reported abduction of civilians by the rebel SLA in West Darfur, he said. 
Fighting in Darfur started in 2003 when indigenous communities took up arms, accusing Khartoum of decades of neglect and oppression. In its efforts to pacify the region, President Omar El-Bashir's government is widely believed to have backed the Janjawid, an Arab militia accused of subjecting black African villagers in Darfur to brutal attacks. 
About 1.45 million people have been displaced, while another 200,000 are living as refugees in neighbouring Chad. 

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
The Sudanese Vice President Ali Uthman Taha and the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), John Garang, were engaged in high-level talks on Monday in their latest attempt to end two decades of war in the south, officials said. 
The resumption of talks, the officials added, had raised hopes that a comprehensive peace accord between the two parties could be signed before the end of the year, as agreed in a memorandum of understanding signed by them in November. 
"The SPLM/A is optimistic and determined to have a comprehensive peace agreement before the end of the year," spokesman Yasser Arman, who is attending the talks in the Kenyan town of Naivasha, told IRIN on Tuesday. 
"The one-on-one talks between Taha and Garang will go on until Christmas Eve," he added. 
The two leaders arrived to resume high-level negotiations more than a week after delegations from both parties had started discussing details of a permanent ceasefire and technical security measures. 
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, spoke to both Taha and Garang on Monday and Tuesday, urging them "to maintain a constructive atmosphere of compromise," Radia Achouri, spokesperson for the United Nations Advance Mission in Sudan, told IRIN. 
Pronk also met Gen Lazarus Sumbeiywo, the chief mediator of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a regional organisation, which is spearheading the peace process, to discuss the level of progress made so far by the parties towards achieving a comprehensive peace agreement. 
"The political willingness of both parties is there and they are quite optimistic that the outstanding issues will be resolved before 31 December," Achouri said on Tuesday. "They are fully aware of the commitment they made to the international community last month." 
Both parties signed the Memorandum of Understanding at an extraordinary session of the UN Security Council held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 18 and 19 November, pledging to reach a comprehensive peace agreement by the end of the year. 
"The parties declare their commitment to expeditiously complete negotiations on ceasefire agreement and implementation modalities, so as to conclude and sign the comprehensive peace agreement no later than 31 December 2004," the memorandum said. 
The Sudanese state minister in the office of the president, Yahya Hussein Babikar, signed on behalf of the government, while the SPLM/A main negotiator, Nhial Deng, signed for the southern-based rebel movement. 
In May, the government and the SPLM/A had signed six key protocols, covering power-sharing arrangements and the administration of three contested areas during a six-year interim period that will precede a referendum to determine whether the south would remain part of Sudan. 
The main outstanding issues that remain to be resolved include the details of a permanent ceasefire, the financing of the SPLM/A-army during the interim period and the modalities for integrating the fighters into the regular Sudanese army. 
The war in the south erupted in 1983 when the SPLM/A took up arms against government authorities based in the north to demand greater autonomy. Talks have been going on in Naivasha since mid-2003. 

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
Clashes between government troops, armed militias and suspected rebels were reported on Thursday in the western Sudanese state of South Darfur, two days after attacks were reported in neighbouring North Darfur state, relief workers in the region told IRIN. 
The African Union (AU) warned that it might resort to force to protect its peacekeepers deployed in Darfur. AU spokesman Assane Ba told IRIN on Thursday that the current 830-strong peacekeeping force in the region would "not give in to intimidation". 
The warning came after a Chadian AU ceasefire monitor was shot in the shoulder on Wednesday when their convoy came under attack in South Darfur. 
"This is the first time we have come under attack since we arrived in Darfur," Ba said in Addis Ababa. "This is unacceptable. It comes as we are increasing our presence there so we think this may be to intimidate us, but this will not stop us." 
"If they come under fire, then they will shoot back. They have to protect their lives - and they will," he added. 
The latest fighting erupted in a government stronghold southwest of Nyala in South Darfur following shooting at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kalma, UN News reported. There were also reports of tensions in West Darfur around north El-Geneina following an ambush of policemen on Wednesday. 
The latest reports of fighting, relief workers said, had come only a day after aid workers were reported to have started returning to Tawillah, the base of the North Darfur region, where rebels launched an attack last week in violation of ceasefire accords. 
On Tuesday, armed men had attacked a village in the western Sudanese state of North Darfur forcing about 2,000 IDPs to flee from their homes, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported. 
"We are not sure who was behind the attack," Wyger Wentholt, MSF regional information officer told IRIN in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. "What our people on the ground were told by the IDPs was that the attackers were suspected to be a pro-government militia." 
The shooting of the AU peacekeeper occurred as a team of ceasefire monitors were travelling to the village of Adwah in north Nyala, to investigate an alleged bombing by the government in breach of a ceasefire agreement with rebels. 
The AU brokered a peace deal agreement between rebels and the government to end the conflict, signed on 9 November in Abuja, Nigeria. However, there have been several breaches, according to the AU, who have called on both sides to respect the ceasefire agreement. 
Ba said a full 3,320-strong peacekeeping mission, which would cost US $220 million a year, would be in place by early January 2005. A Senegalese and Nigerian contingent is due to fly into the region in the next two weeks, he added. 
Sudanese troops and rebels of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) started clashing just days after the UN Security Council met in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 18 and 19 November. The Council adopted a resolution demanding that the government, rebel forces and other armed groups in Darfur cease all violence. 
On 22 November, Save the Children-UK flew its staff out of Tawillah as a result of fighting in which the SLA took control of the town. The rebels had previously attacked the West Darfur town of El-Geraida, forced the police to leave and raised their flag. Some 50-60 SLA fighters also attacked a police station near Kalma in South Darfur, killing a policeman. 
On Monday, the UN said the clashes had subsided and several thousand IDPs, who had fled their camps, had returned. A team of UN and AU officials visited Tawillah, where the most intense clashes occurred after government troops took back the town, to assess the situation and try to locate IDPs who had fled their camps. 
Fighting in Darfur started in 2003 when indigenous communities took up arms, accusing Khartoum of decades of neglect and oppression. In its efforts to pacify the region, President Omar El-Bashir's government is widely believed to have backed the Janjawid, an Arab militia accused of committing atrocities against unarmed civilians. About 1.45 million people have been displaced, while another 200,000 are living as refugees in neighbouring Chad. 

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
Armed men attacked a village in the western Sudanese state of North Darfur on Tuesday forcing about 2,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) to flee from their homes, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported. 
"We are not sure who was behind the attack," Wyger Wentholt, MSF regional information officer told IRIN in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. "What our people on the ground were told by the IDPs was that the attackers were suspected to be a pro-government militia." 
MSF, which was providing medical care to the displaced civilians at the time of the attack, said many of those who fled were forcibly displaced from their original home villages several days previously and had sought refuge in Saraf Ayat village, 50 km west of the state capital El-Fasher, at the time. 
"When the MSF team arrived in Saraf Ayat yesterday morning, there were about 1,500 displaced people sheltering in the village," MSF said in a statement. "They had fled their homes three days beforehand, after assaults on 27 November targeted villages north of the town of Tawillah - MSF had just started providing medical assistance when an attack caused both displaced people and residents to flee and forced the MSF team to evacuate." 
According to MSF, its team was forced to evacuate from another town, Korma, a week earlier because of escalating insecurity. The team had, however, returned to Korma on Sunday "to assess the situation and give medical consultations". 
"The fact that people are being forced to repeatedly escape from one place to the next and cannot find a secure place of refuge is extremely worrying," Jerome Oberreit of MSF Brussels was quoted as saying in the statement. "Mortality studies carried out by MSF show that during the early phases of the Darfur conflict, the pattern of repeated violence and consequent displacement was the cause of very high mortality [rates]." 
Meanwhile, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, has called for respect of international humanitarian law following a visit to the western Sudanese region of Darfur, the ICRC said. 
"Kellenberger's key message was that access to conflict-affected civilians, as well as their security, had to be guaranteed," Marco Jiménez Rodríguez, ICRC spokesperson for Africa, told IRIN on Wednesday from Geneva. 
"Around two-thirds of the population of Darfur is still living in their own communities," Rodríguez added. "If a deterioration in the security situation forces them to flee their homes too, it will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis." 
Kellenberger, who spent three days in Darfur, visited the towns of El-Fashir, Kutum and Zalingei. ICRC said he had, however, acknowledged that access to people affected by the conflict had "improved substantially" since his last visit in March 2004. 
Sudanese troops and rebels of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) clashed just days after the UN Security Council met in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 18 and 19 November. The Council adopted a resolution demanding that the government, rebel forces and other armed groups in Darfur cease all violence. 
On 22 November, Save the Children-UK flew its staff out of Tawillah as a result of fighting in which the SLA took control of the town. The rebels had previously attacked the West Darfur town of El-Geraida, forced the police to leave and raised their flag. Some 50-60 SLA fighters also attacked a police station near Kalma in South Darfur, killing a policeman. Three SLA fighters also died in that event. 
On Monday, the UN said the clashes had subsided and several thousand IDPs, who had fled their camps, had returned. A team of UN and African Union officials visited Tawillah, where the most intense clashes occurred after government troops took back the town, to assess the situation and try to locate IDPs who had fled their camps. 
The clashes forced the UN World Food Programme to temporarily suspend its operations, except in the state capital El-Fasher, affecting some 300,000 people. The UN said escalating violence threatened ongoing relief activities, violated recently signed ceasefire accords between the government and rebels, and placed tens of thousands of civilians at risk. 
Fighting in Darfur started in 2003 when indigenous communities took up arms, accusing Khartoum of decades of neglect and oppression. In its efforts to pacify the region, President Omar El-Bashir's government is widely believed to have backed the Janjawid, an Arab militia accused of committing atrocities against unarmed civilians. About 1.45 million people have been displaced, while another 200,000 are living as refugees in neighbouring Chad. 

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
The African Union (AU) will launch a fourth round of peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels in the country's Darfur region, in the Nigerian capital Abuja on December 10, the organisation said in a statement. 
At the previous round of talks in Abuja from 21 October to 10 November, the Sudanese government and the two rebel movements in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), signed protocols on improving security and allowing humanitarian organisations to operate more freely. 
The parties signed a provisional ceasefire agreement in April and a team of AU monitors, backed by a protection force which will eventually number 3,000 troops, has been charged with observing the truce. 
But in practice heavy fighting has continued on the ground. This has so far displaced an estimated 1.4 million people from their homes within Darfur and has sent a further 200,000 fleeing as refugees into eastern Chad. 
The AU statement, issued on Tuesday, said the previous round of talks, chaired by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in his capacity as AU chairman, had laid the groundwork for a draft declaration of principles on the political issues. 
"The (AU) Commission hopes that the next Round will enable the Parties to finalize the Draft Declaration of principles and engage in the substantive discussion of the remaining issues on their agenda," it added. 
Hopes are high at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia that a deal can be struck soon to end the devastating conflict. It began in February 2003 when indigenous communities in Darfur took up arms, accusing Khartoum of decades of neglect and oppression. 
In its efforts to pacify the region, President Omar El-Bashir's government has been widely charged with backing the Janjawid, an Arab militia accused of committing systematic atrocities against unarmed civilians. 
The UN has described the situation in Darfur as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Tens of thousands of people have died. 

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 
The Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) have committed themselves to end the 21-year-old war in the south, but relief workers are concerned that mines and unexploded ordnance (UXOs) are likely to affect reconstruction efforts in the war-ravaged southern areas. 
According to relief workers, widespread mine and UXO contamination has already discouraged millions of displaced Sudanese from returning to their homes and resuming agricultural activity. It has also affected the delivery of vital emergency assistance. 
"One suspected mine can close down a road or a field for a long time," Stephen Robinson, technical advisor for the Southern Sudan Regional Mine Action Office, told IRIN. In October, for example, 75 percent of food assistance to the region had to be delivered by air because of the poor conditions of the roads and the suspected presence of mines, he added. 
Although the estimated number of mines in Sudan is believed to be smaller than that in some other conflict-affected areas in the world, their impact is high because many of them have been planted in unpredictable ways, rather than as part of larger minefields. 
"According to our latest estimates, there are about 10,000 mine victims in Sudan," Jab Swab, senior technical advisor for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Sudan, told IRIN on 21 November in the capital, Khartoum. "The capacity to provide physical rehabilitation and psychological assistance is very limited, especially in the south." 
Robinson estimated that 80 percent of the casualties in Sudan resulted from explosive remnants of anti-tank mines and 20 percent had resulted from anti-personnel mines. 
"[The] opening up of transport corridors and airfields, to allow for the safe return of displaced people and the delivery of relief aid, are key demining priorities - particularly in the light of the 800,000 to one million people that the UN predicts may come back to south Sudan in 2005, if peace returns," he added. 
Tony Connell, programme manager of the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action estimated that landmines in southern Sudan had affected three million people. 
UN trying to reduce risk 
In anticipation of a peace accord between Khartoum and the SPLM/A, both warring parties invited the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in September 2002 to assist them in creating a national mine action strategy and to jump-start demining efforts in Sudan. 
The accord, expected by the end of the year, could trigger a substantial influx of aid for development and reconstruction into the region. However, since the widespread presence of mines in the area would slow down these efforts considerably, UNMAS is coordinating emergency demining efforts that aim to open up strategic transport corridors. 
"From the moment UNMAS started its operations in Sudan in September 2002, we have received 907 reported cases of deadly mine incidents," Takuto Kubo, external relations officer for the National Mine Action Office told IRIN in Khartoum. "We estimate that 3,000 or more people have been killed by landmines." 
"The main problem we face is a lack of capacity and a lack of access," Kubo added. "There are about 250 deminers for all of Sudan and an average deminer can clear between 10-20 sq mt a day." 
Mine-risk education is a crucial part of the UNMAS mission. In Kapoeta, for example, the need for awareness-raising activities is obvious, as young boys herd their cattle or goats right through suspected minefields, ignoring lines of white and red stones or danger signs marked with skulls. 
Kapoeta is a regional centre in the southeastern state of Eastern Equatoria - about two hours drive from the Kenya border. The town, in the middle of SPLM/A-controlled territory, was occupied by government forces from 1992 until June 2002, when it was recaptured by the SPLM/A after a fierce battle. 
Two years later, the signs of war are still present. About half the buildings in the town are no more than shells with only parts of the walls still standing. Other buildings that are still intact are riddled with bullet holes. 
The town is littered with the remains of tanks, trucks, and armoured vehicles and most of the entrance roads still bear the signs of manholes and makeshift bunkers. 
"Three cows were killed [by landmines] in November," SPLM/A Brigade Commander in the area, Elias Lino, told IRIN in Kapoeta. 
Private firm clearing mines 
A private South African demining company, MECHEM, has been clearing the notorious 90 km of mined road between Lokichokio in Kenya and Kapoeta. Contracted by UNMAS, MECHEM has cleared some 60 mines along this road since February. Its officials said vehicles delivering international aid could now pass safely. 
However, lines of red stones along certain parts of the road remind truck drivers that the safe passage can be dangerously narrow. On 25 September, a truck that tried to go around a deep mud puddle, hit an anti-tank mine next to a newly reconstructed road outside Kapoeta. 
Given the neglected state of most roads in southern Sudan, demining activities have to be integrated with road reconstruction efforts to make them suitable for use by heavy trucks, UNMAS officials said. 
Even when rehabilitation efforts were properly planned and executed, logistical difficulties in such remote locations remain daunting. On 24 November, for example, the Kapoeta region received 87mm of rain in one day, turning a newly constructed road into a thick and muddy mess. MECHEM lost a jeep in a shallow stream, which suddenly turned into a dangerously powerful river. 
MECHEM uses sophisticated demining equipment, including trained dogs, vehicle-mounted, mine-detection systems and vacuum cleaner-type machines to analyse air particles. According to Ritiev Horn, a 35 year-old former South African soldier, the elevated armoured vehicles used in demining were previously used in apartheid South Africa for "riot-control, urban warfare, border-control and during the wars in Namibia and Angola." 
Another demining group working in Kapoeta is Operation Save Innocent Lives (OSIL), which was established by the SPLM/A in 1996 and mainly employs ex-SPLM/A soldiers. Using much less sophisticated equipment, they were clearing a site, planned as a future food distribution centre. 
Akech Atheo, a 37-year-old former SPLM/A soldier from the Upper Nile province, who was released from the SPLM/A to head the OSIL demining team, told IRIN: "OSIL has had one accident so far - one team-member lost a leg in the southern Blue Nile province in 2000." 
Demining and peacebuilding 
Besides making the country safer and facilitating the return of displaced people and the delivery of humanitarian assistance, demining activities help to foster peace. According to relief workers, an important aspect of every peace process is the demobilisation of ex-combatants, which can put a heavy load on already fragile communities. 
"UNDP is employing former soldiers to assist in the demining of community land, which provides them with some money and facilitates their social re-integration into their communities," Swab explained. 
The creation of the joint north-south strategy to deal with Sudan's mine problem has also facilitated the peace process. 
"Former enemies were forced to work together, cross enemy lines into each other's territory to identify and clear minefields and coordinate demining activities in the same area," Robinson told IRIN on 25 November. 
Local people want peace 
"People have been talking about peace for 10 months now," John Deng Duit, ammunitions carrier for the SPLM/A - since he was 14 years old - told IRIN. "It has been too long. It is important that peace comes quickly, otherwise, anything can happen." 
The Sudanese government and the SPLM/A signed a memorandum of understanding on 19 November in which they agreed to conclude a final peace deal by the close of the year. The agreement was signed during a mee ting of the UN Security Council in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. 
The war in the south erupted in 1983 when the SPLM/A took up arms against authorities based in the north to demand greater autonomy. In May, the government and the SPLM/A signed six key protocols in Naivasha, covering power-sharing arrangements and the administration of three contested areas during a six-year interim period that will precede a referendum to determine whether the south would remain part of Sudan. 
Sudan is taking part in the deliberations of a global summit on landmines that opened in Nairobi on Sunday. The summit is reviewing the mine ban treaty, which was formulated in Ottawa, Canada, in 1997 and entered into force in 1999. So far, more than 150 out of 191 UN members have signed. 
ALSO SEE: IRIN Web Special on Humanitarian Mine Action at:
http://www.irinnews.org/webspecials/HMA/default.asp 

The head of the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani, yesterday received a telephone call from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) leader, John Garang, on the outcome of the Sudanese peace talks in Cairo, Nairobi and Karen in Kenya. 
The NDA's official spokesman, Hatim al-Sir, told Khartoum based Al-Sahafah that the SPLM leader briefed the NDA leader on the outcome of the proceedings of the technical committee in charge of finding ways of implementing a future peace agreement with the government. 
According to the NDA spokesman, Al-Mirghani said there was not any competition between the three dialogue platforms, i.e. Cairo, Nairobi and Abuja, and described them all as efforts complementing each other in the search of a radical solution to the country's problems. 
Material from the BBC Monitoring Service

The top U.N. envoy to Sudan warned the Security Council Thursday that Darfur could easily descend into anarchy with warlords in control unless African Union troops deploy quickly and peace negotiations speed up. 
Jan Pronk said the 20-month conflict in the vast western region is changing, with the government not in control of its own forces and a leadership crisis within the rebel movements. He accused both sides of violating an April cease-fire agreement and seeking more territory in Darfur, which is about the size of France. 
While there was slow progress on the political front in October, Pronk said, violence and insecurity increased and in recent days "the situation deteriorated and tension rose to a level unprecedented since early August." 
"Fighting is breaking out in more and more places. Parties are provoking one another. Militias are ganging up. Governmental authorities are not able to exert a moderating influence, or they respond with untimely and even counter-productive measures," he said. 
"If this negative trend is not reversed it is a recipe for disaster," Pronk warned. "If the fighting continues crops will fail. Then the whole population of Darfur will become dependent on humanitarian assistance." 
The United Nations has called Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis, saying the conflict there has claimed 70,000 lives since March -- mostly from disease and hunger. 
Violence started after two non-Arab rebel groups launched attacks in March 2003. Originally a clash between black African farmers and Arab nomads over the distribution of scarce resources, the conflict has grown into a counterinsurgency in which pro-government Arab militia have raped and killed people and burned villages. 
According to a monthly report from Pronk, which was sent to the council Wednesday by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the estimate of people affected by the conflict rose during September from 1.8 million to 2 million and is expected to continue climbing in the months to come because of growing insecurity. 
The increase stems mainly from the growing number of people who have fled their homes, now 1.6 million, the report said. A further 400,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance. 
"Darfur may easily enter a state of anarchy; a total collapse of law and order," Pronk warned. "The border lines between the military, the paramilitary and the police are being blurred." 
"Within the rebel movements, there is a leadership crisis. There are splits. Some commanders provoke their adversaries by stealing, hijacking and killing, some seem to have begun acting for their own private gain," he said. 
Pronk warned that "we may soon find Darfur is ruled by warlords" unless rebel commanders start taking responsibility for civilians in their areas. 
The U.N. envoy said the possibility of "survival of the fittest and death for the weakest" can only be reversed by a three-pronged approach. 
Official and self-selected political leaders must be held accountable "for ongoing violations of agreements and further human misery," he said, and armed groups must be told that their rebel status "does not exonerate them from a moral obligation towards their people." 
The expanded African Union force must deploy rapidly to "effectively deter violations," Pronk said, urging the Security Council to consider new ways to increase financial and logistical support to get troops where they're needed most. 
Political negotiations on Darfur and on ending the 21-year civil war between the government and rebels in southern Sudan also must be speeded up "to get a grip on the security situation on the ground," he said. 
The Security Council will be holding a rare meeting on Nov. 18-19 in Nairobi, Kenya, where talks to end the civil war are taking place. Pronk said it offered "an excellent opportunity" to promote robust negotiations. 
On Darfur, he said, the council should press government and rebel negotiators in Nigeria to adopt a declaration of principles and a time frame and detailed agenda for political negotiations by the end of the year. The council should also press for completion of the final stage of north-south negotiations to end the civil war by the end of the year.

Rebels have attacked a convoy of Nigerian pilgrims as it drove across Darfur, killing seven people, the African Union mission said Thursday. 
The rebels ambushed three trucks as they drove through the Khor Tawaila area on Tuesday, said Maj. Mac Dorbi, the Ghanian chief operations officer for the African Union mission in Sudan. 
Dorbi said it was the fourth attack in recent weeks on Nigerian Islamic pilgrims crossing northern Sudan on their way to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. 
Firing Kalashnikov rifles, the rebels killed four pilgrims and two Sudanese soldiers who were escorting the convoy. A fifth pilgrim, a young woman, apparently died of a heart attack, Dorbi said. 
Eight pilgrims were wounded and are being treated in hospital, Dorbi said in a phone interview with The Associated Press in Cairo. 
The official Sudan News Agency reported the attack, but said three people were killed and an undisclosed number of pilgrims were treated in hospital in El Fasher, the capital of north Darfur. 
"We suspect the rebels were the Sudan Liberation Army," Dorbi said. 
Representatives of the SLA could not be reached for comment Thursday. 
The SLA is the larger of two Darfur rebel groups that took up arms against the government in early 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglecting their province and discriminating against Sudanese of African origin. 
When the first truck was attacked, the other two trucks managed to turn around and flee the scene, Dorbi said. Later Sudanese soldiers arrived and captured two rebels, whom they are holding, Dorbi added. 
The soldiers found the first truck had been looted. 
The pilgrims who survived the attack had come to the African Union mission and asked for help, Dorbi said. 
The mission was set up this year to monitor a cease-fire between the rebels and government and allied militia. It is currently being expanded to more than 3,300 cease-fire monitors and troops. 
The conflict provoked a counterinsurgency in which pro-government Arab militia have raped and killed people and burned their villages, displacing hundreds of thousands of people. 
The United Nations says conflict has claimed 70,000 lives, mostly from disease and hunger, and displaced about 1.6 million people.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail said here Thursday that Sudan would continue cooperation with the United States in war on terror. 
"There are agreements with the US administration on issues related to terrorism," Ismail said in a press statement, adding " the Sudanese government will continue cooperation with the US administration to end what we started." 
"It is not necessary to completely compromise in views with the US administration but we enhance the issues that we agree on to form a starting point," the minister said. 
Ismail said Sudanese President Omar el-Basher had sent congratulation messages to US President George W. Bush on his re- election. 
He added that Sudanese First Vice-President Ali Othman Taha also sent a similar message to his US counterpart Dick Cheney. 
He said the Sudanese leadership also expressed hope in the messages for a better bilateral tie. 
Ismail noted that the government considered the Sudanese-US relations over the last four years as positive. 
"Despite some excitements and tiredness that covered our relations, there were positive sides like the ceasefire in the south of Sudan and the progress in the peace process in Sudan," added Ismail. 
He expressed hope that the two countries would continue cooperation in the coming four years to conclude the peace process in Sudan and enhance development programs in Sudan. 
"Sudan's cooperation with the United States will not be restricted to relations only. We are looking for cooperation in more fields," said Ismail.

The French foreign ministry Wednesday expressed deep concern over the forceful movements of refugees and displaced persons in the troubled western Darfur region of Sudan. 
"If confirmed, such operations violate resolutions 1.556 and 1.564 of the UN Security Council and the agreement between the Sudanese government and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). 
"The agreement indicates that displaced persons should return home voluntarily under IOM supervision," said Anne-Cécile Di Borgo, French Foreign Office spokesperson. 
Di Borgo condemned the repeated violations of the cease-fire, and urged "all Sudanese stakeholders, the Khartoum government as well as the rebel movements, to fully observe the cease-fire agreement". 
"France calls on all Sudanese parties to take advantage of the on-going talks in Abuja, Nigeria to genuinely and positively negotiate," she told a press conference here. 
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the forceful refugee movements by Sudanese authorities in the Nyalla area of southern Darfur. 
In that area, 18 persons have allegedly been kidnapped by the Sudan Liberation Army, one of the two rebel movements fighting the Khartoum government. 
Approximately 70,000 people have been killed in the Darfur war, according to UN statistics, which also indicated that 150,000 others sought refuge in neighbouring Chad due to the fighting between the army and Sudanese rebels.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan has described the Sudanese army’s forced transfer of refugees in camps around Nyala (State capital of South Darfur) as a violation of international humanitarian law. The UN chief has urged Khartoum to cease all transfer operations – which allegedly began yesterday – and to facilitate the return of those people who have been moved to “inappropriate areas”. Yesterday UN and humanitarian sources denounced the progressive deterioration of security around some refugee camps both in the war-torn western Sudanese region and in neighbouring Chad. Tension rose on Monday night after army and local police squads surrounded camps in the Nyala area in response to last week’s kidnapping of 18 Sudanese citizens of Arab origin while they were travelling by bus between Zalingie and Nyala, forcing the UN agencies and humanitarian organisations working in the camps to suspend operations and withdraw their staff. Fred Eckard, UN spokesman, said from New York that after surrounding one of these camps (Al Geer, near Nyala) the army and police began loading people onto 15 or so trucks used in their transfer. The movement of armed men and the arrival of the trucks sent a wave of fear through the remaining inhabitants of the camp; many took flight towards the city. After meeting with the Security Council, the UN special envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, told journalists that pressure on the internally displaced population in Darfur is ongoing and looks ever more ‘violent’ despite the memorandum of understanding signed by the government. Darfur has been the scene of intense fighting and violence since February 2003, when two local armed self-defence movements created by the local black African population took up arms against the Islamic central authorities of Khartoum, accusing the government of neglecting the region and of backing the ilitias of Arab predators called ‘Janjaweed’, who are seen as the main perpetrators of the violence to have displaced over 1,5 million people within the region and sent a further 200.000 over the border into Chad.

Violence has increased in Sudan's Darfur region and the U.N. Security Council should put more pressure on the government and rebels to stop the fighting, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday. 
Attacks are on the rise on all sides, a new rebel movement has emerged and there has been no verified progress in disarming fighters in the region, as the rebels and the government have promised, Annan said in his latest progress report on Darfur to the Security Council. 
As a result, the 15-nation council "may wish to consider creative and prompt action to ensure effective implementation of the demands set out in its earlier resolutions," he said. 
Previous council resolutions have threatened sanctions if the government failed to meet commitments to end attacks on civilians, rein in Arab militias and prosecute those responsible for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. 
A Nov. 18-19 council meeting in nearby Nairobi, Kenya, will be a major opportunity to discuss next steps, Annan said. 
Darfur, the site of what the United Nations says is the world's worst humanitarian crisis, has been torn by violence since rebels took up arms against the Khartoum government in February 2003, saying it had neglected and marginalized the impoverished region. 
The rebels accuse the government of arming mounted Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing in an area where Arab nomads and mostly non-Arab farmers have fought over resources for years. 
"Political leaders, on any side, who deny the facts on the ground, neglect the sorrow of poor and vulnerable people living in areas under their control and use delaying tactics in negotiations and implementation procedure are acting irresponsibly," Annan's report said. 
"There have been more breaches of the cease-fire. Overall, violence seems to be increasing and impacting civilians indirectly as well as directly," he said. 
Too little is being done to punish those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which appear to be occurring "on a large and systematic scale," his report said. 
While the vast majority of those battered by the fighting in Darfur are getting food and other aid, many are not and the number of needy is still growing, Annan said.

The top U.N. envoy to Sudan accused security forces in southern Darfur of forcing several thousand people who had taken refuge in a camp to move against their will in "flagrant violation" of international law. 
Jan Pronk [photo] demanded that all those rounded up and forced to leave the El Geer camp at 3 a.m. Tuesday be returned immediately from the Sherif camp, where they were taken. 
"It has to stop -- not only in El Geer but as a policy everywhere," Pronk said, demanding that the government keep its agreement with the United Nations barring the forced transfer of any internally displaced people, known as IDPs. Refugees, in legal terms, are those who have crossed borders. 
The U.N. envoy, who is scheduled to report to the U.N. Security Council Thursday on the situation in Darfur, confirmed that the "overall" security situation in the vast western region -- which is the size of France -- has deteriorated in the last few weeks. 
Pronk said the early morning incident at El Geer, a camp close to the city of Nyala where about 30,000 people have taken refuge, was the most important but "there are other activities also in other places," which he did not disclose. 
At a hastily called news conference, Pronk said "a couple of thousand" people were taken early Tuesday to Sherif, a location "desired by the government" that is outside Nyala and not as desirable for displaced people trying to earn money. 
He said the people who were forced to move from El Geer had "the right to resist." He said he couldn't confirm reports that the Sudanese forces used tear gas, but said there were no reports of injuries. 
While he blamed Sudanese forces in southern Darfur, Pronk left open the possibility that the forced transfer from El Geer was not carried out on instructions from the government in Khartoum. 
But he was clearly outraged that those rounded up in the middle of the night were erroneously told that the United Nations had approved the move. 
"The government has told these IDPs that this was happening in close consultation with the United Nations and in consultation with non-governmental organizations, which is not the case," Pronk said. 
In a statement issued later by his spokesman, Secretary-General Kofi Annan echoed Pronk's words and strongly urged the government "to halt immediately all such relocation operations and to facilitate the return of the affected persons from the inappropriate sites to which they have been taken." 
Pronk said he expected a strong international protest against the forced moves not only by the United Nations and non-governmental organizations working in Darfur but also by the United States and European governments. 
The violence in Darfur began in January 2003 when two black African rebel groups took up arms over alleged unjust treatment by the Sudanese government and ethnic Arab countrymen. Pro-government militias called Janjaweed reacted by unleashing attacks on villages. 
The conflict has killed at least 70,000 people and forced 1.5 million people to flee their homes, creating what U.N. officials say is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. 
U.N. officials said Tuesday's action was in apparent retaliation for the abduction of 18 Arabs by the rebel Sudan Liberation Army. 
Annan urged the rebels to release the hostages and called on the Arab militias who have mobilized thousands in west and south Darfur to "stand down," warning that "the SLA and the militias risk sparking a new round of violence that could claim the lives of thousands of civilians." 
He also urged the parties to respect a cease-fire signed in April.

Sudanese government officials and rebel delegates have welcomed - some cautiously - proposals from African Union (AU) mediators on security in Darfur, which has long been a sticking point between the two sides at peace talks in the Nigerian capital. 
"It does seem to be quite a reasonably fair document," Abdel Rahim Kalil, Sudan's ambassador to Nigeria, told reporters in Abuja on Tuesday. He said the government delegation would hold consultations before giving a formal response to a draft agreement that includes the proposals. 
Mahgoub Hussain, the spokesman for the main Darfur rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), was more emphatic. "It meets all important the things we've been asking for and we'll sign this protocol," Hussain told journalists. 
Under the AU draft agreement, both sides would have to give the location of their forces and Khartoum would have to make good on its pledges to the international community to disarm the Janjawid militia, accused of waging a campaign of slaugher, rape and destruction against people in Darfur. The draft document does not require the rebels to disarm. 
AFP, quoting an independent observer at the talks, said the proposal also included a "ban on undertaking hostile military flights to and in the Darfur region". The rebels have said that government planes have still been bombing villages in the western Sudan region, which is the size of France. 
Failure to agree on a security protocol at the first round of peace talks in Abuja in September scuppered the signing of a humanitarian deal, which would have paved the way for a massive aid intervention. 
On Tuesday the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) told IRIN that some international relief agencies were scaling down their operations or pulling out altogether because of increased insecurity and rising tensions in the region. 
And Reuters news agency reported that the Sudanese army had surrounded camps of people displaced by the fighting in Nyala, southern Darfur, impeding access for international aid workers. 
The UN estimates that 70,000 people have died from malnutrition and diseases since March and that fighting has forced more than 1.5 million people from their homes since the conflict broke out at the beginning of 2003. 
Both sides are under pressure from the international community to progress along the path to peace, but government officials and rebels continue to accuse each other of violating the ceasefire. 
On Monday the SLA and the smaller Justice and Equity Movement (JEM) had threatened to quit the talks, alleging that government forces had continued launching attacks against their positions despite an existing ceasefire agreement.

Some international relief agencies are scaling down their operations, or pulling out altogether, following increased insecurity and rising tensions in the west Sudanese region of Darfur, the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) told IRIN on Tuesday. 
"A large number of people among the nomadic communities are extremely angry as a result of a number of recent incidents in the region," George Somerwill, deputy spokesperson of UNAMIS, said. 
"The increased incidence of cattle rustling around the town of Zalingei in west Darfur has upset the nomadic community," Somerwill continued. "The alleged abduction of 15 to 18 young nomadic people of Arabic origin on 26 October has turned these tensions into anger." 
Given the large number of displaced persons in Darfur - who are, to a large extent, dependent on international assistance - the idea of down sizing assistance introduces a grave dilemma. Somerwill did say, however, that the situation was "understandable, given the circumstances". 
Adding to the tension, the Sudanese army has surrounded camps hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs) near Nyala in southern Darfur, impeding access by international aid agencies, Reuters news agency reported today. 
Meanwhile, the international relief agency, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), released a report today warning that the violence against civilians in Darfur has been pervasive and ongoing. 
"The leading cause of death for those over the age of 5 years in Darfur was violence, rather than disease or malnutrition, according to all retrospective mortality surveys conducted by MSF through the spring and summer of 2004," the report said. 
In September 2004, MSF completed a survey among the estimated 66,000 IDPs living in Kalma camp in south Darfur. "According to this survey, violence was the cause of 78% of the reported deaths of those aged between 18-49 years," the emergency manager of MSF-Holland, Ton Koene, told IRIN. 
While the violence continues, these IDPs are now faced with a second calamity due to a massive public health crisis induced by a lack of shelter, water, food, proper sanitary environment and access to essential health care. 
"Neither the international community nor the government of Sudan have taken effective measures to ensure the cessation of violence against civilians," the report concluded. "Nor have they provided adequate aid and assistance." 
The war in Darfur pits the Sudanese government troops and militias, allegedly allied to the government, against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. 
The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has described the Darfur problem as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. 
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 

Peace talks between the Sudanese government and the main southern rebel group would resume here in late November aimed at ending Africa's longest-running civil war, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday. 
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Sudanese government would restart their talks on Nov. 27, Yasser Arman [photo], spokesman for the SPLM was quoted as saying. 
The two sides have been engaged in a string of peace talks for more than two years in Kenya. The last round of talks adjourned on Oct. 16 for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 
The Sudanese civil war, which started in 1983 when Khartoum tried to imposed Islamic sharia law on the mainly animist south, has killed an estimated 2 million people, mostly through famine and disease. 
Oil and ideology have complicated the conflict, which is separate from the war in the western Darfur region that has also brought tremendous international pressure on Khartoum. 
The government and the SPLM appeared to be very close to the finish line at the last round of talks in Kenya. They have agreed on six protocols on key political issues, leaving only technical issues on a comprehensive ceasefire and security arrangements to be hammered out.

Police and military have surrounded three displaced camps in the area of Nyala, capital of South Darfur, one of three States that former the western Sudanese region. The news was referred by MISNA sources, specifying that Sudanese security forces began positioning yesterday after sundown around the camps of Golu, Zalingie and Nertetie. The report was also confirmed by United Nations sources in Geneva, indicating that the security forces today denied access to the camps to humanitarian personnel that bring aid and assistance to the thousands of displaced people gathered in these structures. The WFP (UN World Food Programme) referred that 88 of the 91 aid workers, all members of international Non-Governmental Organisations and UN agencies, were transferred from the three camps. According to some sources, the joint police-military operation was decided in response to the kidnapping of 18 Sudanese of Arab origin, taken hostage last week on a bus between Zalingie and Nyala. Darfur is theatre since February 2003 to fighting and violence and a consequential humanitarian crisis. Two self-defence groups, created by the black stational populations of Darfur (JEM and SLA/M), rose against the central government of Khartoum for neglecting the region and backing the Arab militias (known as Janjaweed). The Janjaweed are widely attributed responsibility for the violence in the region, that based on UN estimates, has caused over 1.5-million people to abandon their homes for the many displaced camps in Darfur and refugee camps in neighbouring Chad. Despite strong international pressures, the peace talks organised by the African Union (AU) in Nigeria appear however to be blocked at the starting point. The African and international mediators last night consigned a new document on security (main point of divergence) to the sides and are attending a reaction. The document reportedly contains some requests made by the rebels (to end “hostile military air operations” by the Sudanese air force) and some by Khartoum (a mapping of rebel positions on the field). Indiscretions indicate that both sides have accepted the document with major satisfaction. While in the past hours, the number has increased of African nations willing to participate in the military mission wanted by the AU to monitor respect of the cease-fire in Darfur. After Nigeria and Rwanda, the first to deploy men on the field, also South Africa, Gambia, Tanzania, Chad and Kenya have placed their soldiers at disposal for the AU mission.

President George W. Bush has extended sanctions against Sudan by a further year. The decision comes on the eve of voting to elect the next President of the United States. Sanctions have been in force against Khartoum since 1997, when they were introduced by the then Head of State, the democrat Bill Clinton, in response to the African country’s connections with international terrorism and its repeated violations of human rights. Bush has reconfirmed the ban on all imports from Sudan and on all dealings by US citizens with the government of Khartoum due to “the actions and policies pursued by the government of Sudan, which continue to present an unusual and particular threat to national security and the foreign policies of the United States”.

The absence of flooding in many parts of southern Sudan has increased the uncertainty over the yield of fish and water lily between November 2004 and May 2005, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) told IRIN today. 
"These wild food sources sustain households during the November to May dry-season, making up at least 50 percent of households' annual food basket in most parts of southern Sudan," FEWS NET's representative for southern Sudan, Everlyn Muchomba, explained. 
The lack of flooding is a result of below average rainfall in many of the catchments of southern Sudan, including the Ethiopian highlands and Lake Victoria. Fish and water lily production is, to a large extent, dependent on the rising water levels as a result of increased water inflow from these catchment areas. 
FEWS NET's Food Security Update for southern Sudan, dated 26 October, observed the reduced availability of these important wild foods could pose a serious threat to food levels when combined with this year's below normal crop performance. The situation is expected to become most critical between January and May 2005 and needs to be closely monitored. 
Improved rains during August and September helped the main crops of sorghum and groundnuts to recover from the June to July dry period in some southern regions. These crops are now being harvested and will slightly improve with the food security situation over the next months. 
However, the rains were not sufficient to offset deficits accumulated during the June to July dry spell, FEWS NET warned. 
A rapid-needs assessment in southeastern Sudan, conducted by the World Food Programme (WFP) during 1 to 20 September, concluded that besides the below-normal rainfall, crop yields had also been negatively affected by inter-ethnic conflicts and reported militia attacks. 
WFP's public information officer, Marcus Prior, who visited the region in late October confirmed the outcomes of the assessment. 
"In the southern Sudanese state of Bahr el Ghazal, the harvest has been very poor this year because of the lack of rain," Prior said. "In addition, a much smaller area than previous years has been cultivated because of hostilities in the region." 
The anticipated return of a large group of former refugees, following the signing of the final peace agreement, could further compromise the delicate food security situation, the WFP report added. 
The WFP assessment recommended that the current level of food assistance, targeted for 860,000 people, had to be extended to cover the hunger period. 
The 21-year war in southern Sudan between the government and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) has displaced an estimated four million people internally, with over 500,000 Sudanese living in neighbouring states as refugees. The bulk of these refugees live in Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya, according to UNHCR. 
However, hope for a peaceful resolution to the southern conflict has grown with ongoing negotiations between the SPLM/A and the government, being conducted in Kenya. In May, both sides signed six key protocols covering power-sharing arrangements. They also agreed to the creation of an administration to control three contested areas during a six-year period, at the end of which, a referendum will be held to determine whether the south would remain a part of Sudan. 
The protocols outlined the arrangement of a decentralised government of national unity and devolution of power to Sudan's individual states. The south would, during the interim period, have its own constitution that would conform with the transitional national constitution. 
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 

UNICEF welcomed today the ratification by the President of Sudan, Omar el-Bashir, of two UN Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of Child. 
The Optional Protocols aim at strengthening the protection of children from recruitment into armed forces and from sexual exploitation.
Sudan joins more than 70 other countries worldwide that have ratified both Optional Protocols. Sudan is amongst the first Arab countries to do so. Only six have ratified it, though Kuwait's ratification is imminent. 
The Optional Protocols were adopted by the UN General Assembly in May 2000. One aims at combating the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. 
The second aims at putting an end to the involvement of all children under the age of 18 in armed conflict. The Government of Sudan signed only the Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict in 2002. 
A period of legislative review of both protocols followed. Now, with the President's signature, the two protocols are ratified, which makes them obligatory under international law. 
The two protocols were signed by the President on 11 September, with official notification to the UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors the implementation of the protocols globally, on 28 October. 
"We congratulate the Government of Sudan for its commitment to enhance the protection of children's rights in all regions of Sudan," said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. 
"This is a tumultuous period in Sudan's history and all eyes are on the country. UNICEF views the ratification of the protocols as acknowledgement by the Government of its responsibility to remove children from the fighting forces and to protect children from sexual exploitation and trafficking." 
Various parties involved in Sudan's two decades of conflict are known to have recruited children into their fighting forces, sometimes forced and sometimes voluntary. As recently as April 2004, evidence indicates that children from the Nuer tribe were taken into militias in Bentiu and Malakal, southern Sudan. 
Likewise, although no evidence of systematic forced recruitment has been documented, children are seen among the fighting forces in the troubled western region of Darfur 
Both boys and girls are known to be associated with the fighting forces in Sudan. "Often, combatants take girls as 'informal wives', abandoning them if they become pregnant. Boys are used as soldiers and as servants, sometimes as young as eight years old", said JoAnna Van Gerpen, UNICEF Representative in Sudan. 
Secretary General of the National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW), Dr. Yassir Ibrahim, was satisfied with the President's ratification of the Protocols. "By ratifying the two Optional Protocols, Sudan is confirming its political and moral commitment to child care and protection. 
This commitment emanates from Sudan's traditional religious and social values that are expressed in national legislation in compliance with international and regional instruments related to child care and protection." 
Van Gerpen called on all fighting forces in Sudan to tackle the sensitive issue of children associated with the fighting forces. "This should happen now. It doesn't have to wait for conclusion of the peace agreement," Van Gerpen said. 
"We hope that the task force on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration created last year in the context of the peace talks will be empowered to immediately remove children under 18 years from the fighting forces and reintegrate them into their families and communities."

An estimated 2,000 people, mainly women and children, have entered Uganda during the past three months after fleeing hunger in southern Sudan, local officials in northern Uganda said on Friday. 
"We estimate that up to 2,000 of them have crossed over to Moyo district," Akumu Mavenjina, the Resident District Commissioner in charge of Moyo told IRIN by telephone from Moyo town. 
"Some started moving over following reports a few months ago suggesting that the [rebel] Lord's Resistance Army [LRA] was targeting them in villages and killing dozens of them, but of late there has been increased [people] and many are complaining of hunger." 
She said that many of the refugees who arrived recently reported leaving their homes because of drought-related food shortages. 
"There has been an increased number of arrivals in the past days and our staff are up there are registering them to see how they could be taken to refugee settlements in the region," said Dennis Duncan, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kampala. 
An estimated 185,000 refugees who fled civil war in southern Sudan live in refugee settlements in northern, northwestern and western Uganda.

The situation in the strife-ridden, western Sudanese region of Darfur has not improved during the past month, according to the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk. 
"Darfur remains grim and humanitarian access is limited," Pronk told reporters in Khartoum on Thursday ahead of his visit to New York to report on the Darfur conflict to the Security Council. 
Two rebel groups - the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) - are responsible for much of the recent violence in Darfur, he said. 
The humanitarian situation is also deteriorating, the spokeswoman for the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS), Radhia Achouri, told IRIN on 21 October. 
"The repeated ceasefire violations of the past month have had a very serious impact on the UN's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance to affected populations," she said. 
Humanitarian agencies have had to limit operations in North Darfur State. Following hijackings in the area, UN security has declared the area too dangerous for the transport of aid supplies. 
UN News reported that forces from the SLA hijacked seven commercial trucks on Saturday, about 120 km east of the state capital, Al Fashir. 
For their part, the SLA claimed that the Sudanese air force had been violating the ceasefire by conducting bombing raids on Tuesday and Thursday in Allaiat, a town in eastern Darfur, killing 26 civilians. 
The deputy spokesperson for UNAMIS, George Somerwill, told IRIN on Friday that he was aware of the SLA's allegations, but that the aerial bombardments had not yet been officially confirmed. 
The Sudanese government agreed in July to take steps to disarm the Janjawid militias, who are considered responsible for the majority of attacks against civilians in Darfur. 
Pronk will present a monthly report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council early next week, on what Khartoum is doing to meet its pledges. 
A Goodwill Ambassador for the Office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Angelina Jolie, told reporters at a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday that conditions were too dangerous for the region's vast population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return to their homes, UN News reported. 
On Thursday, a contingent of 50 Nigerian soldiers arrived in Darfur aboard a US military plane. They are the first reinforcements for the 390-member African Union (AU) mission in Darfur. The mission is to be expanded to 3,320 people by the end of November. 
Human rights groups have called for the AU to protect IDPs, but the soldiers' mandate is limited to protecting ceasefire monitors and safeguarding civilians only if they are under imminent threat. 
The Nigerian troops arrived in Darfur as peace talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, continued into a fourth day with little progress. The two Sudanese rebel groups are refusing to sign a humanitarian accord that would guarantee aid workers access to refugees, insisting that the accord be signed along with a security pact that would disarm the Janjawid. 
More than 1.45 million people in Darfur are internally displaced and another 200,000 live as refugees in Chad. 
An estimated 70,000 people have died through disease and malnutrition since March, according to the UN. There are no reliable figures on how many people have killed in the fighting. 

An estimated 2,000 people, mainly women and children, have entered Uganda during the past three months after fleeing hunger in southern Sudan, local officials in northern Uganda said on Friday. 
"We estimate that up to 2,000 of them have crossed over to Moyo district," Akumu Mavenjina, the Resident District Commissioner in charge of Moyo told IRIN by telephone from Moyo town. 
"Some started moving over following reports a few months ago suggesting that the [rebel] Lord's Resistance Army [LRA] was targeting them in villages and killing dozens of them, but of late there has been increased [people] and many are complaining of hunger." 
She said that many of the refugees who arrived recently reported leaving their homes because of drought-related food shortages. 
"There has been an increased number of arrivals in the past days and our staff are up there are registering them to see how they could be taken to refugee settlements in the region," said Dennis Duncan, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kampala. 
An estimated 185,000 refugees who fled civil war in southern Sudan live in refugee settlements in northern, northwestern and western Uganda. 
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 

The African Union (AU) began boosting its peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region on Friday with the arrival of 50 Nigerian troops. A further 237 soldiers from Rwanda are expected to arrive on Saturday to help try and end violence that has driven more than 1.5 million people from their homes, the AU said. 
"More troops from Nigeria and from other African countries are expected to be deployed in the following days," the AU said in a statement from its headquarters in Addis Ababa. The 53-nation AU announced earlier in October that it would boost its force in Darfur from 390 to 3,320 troops and civilian police. 
The force will include 450 unarmed military observers, a major increase from the 80 currently deployed there to monitor a shaky ceasefire between two rebel groups fighting government troops and allied militia. 
An armed security force of 310 troops is protecting the observers. The force will be increased to 2,341. The new mission will also include 815 civilian police officers and 164 civilian staff. 
The US $220-million (?175 million) one-year operation will be funded mainly by the European Union and the United States. 
"These new deployments, together with the 310 military personnel from Nigeria and Rwanda that the AU had already sent to Darfur earlier in August, will bring the military component of the African mission in Sudan to 597 troops," the AU added. 
Darfur's troubles stem from long-standing tensions between nomadic Arab tribes and their African farming neighbours over dwindling water and agricultural land. Those tensions erupted into violence in February 2003 when two African-rebel groups took up arms over what they regard as unjust treatment by the government in their struggle with Arab countrymen. 
An estimated 70,000 people have died since the conflict broke out, according to UN figures. Nearly 1.5 million more have fled to refugee camps. 
American Secretary of State Colin Powell said in July that Sudan's government and allied Arab militia, the Janjawid, had committed acts of genocide against Darfur's non-Arab villagers. 
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] 

In a meeting with some local administrators of Darfur, reported yesterday by the national 'Al Anbaa' newspaper, Sudanese President Omar el Beshir accused western nations of fomenting the conflict in the western region of the nation, since February 2003 theatre to fighting and violence that have caused thousands of victims and serious humanitarian crisis with over 1.5-million internally displaced and refugees in neighbouring Chad. President Beshir alleged that some unspecified elements aim to definitively make the crisis “break out” and then defined the international humanitarian organisations operating in Darfur as “enemies”. Since February 2003 two armed groups (JEM and SLA-M), founded as people’s self-defence groups, rose against the central government of Khartoum, accused of neglecting the region because prevalently inhabited by ‘blacks’ and backing the Arab nomad militias (known as Janjaweed), widely attributed responsibility for the violence against the ethnic African non-Arab farming populations.

All member of the military observation mission of the African Union (AU), set to arrive in the next weeks in the west Sudanese region of Darfur, theatre since last year to violence, fighting and a consequential humanitarian emergency, will undergo AIDS tests. The news was reported by the Sudan Media Center, citing the words of Health Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman, who emphasised that the precautionary measure was decided for the “safeguarding of the health of the people of Darfur”. Around 1.5-million r