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Annan to Address Security Council on Urgency of Darfur Situation
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Security Council divided on issues such as sanctions on Sudan U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan has scheduled a meeting with the Security
Council Monday to discuss the situation in Sudan, particularly Darfur.

In the past, Mr. Annan has called the situation for hundreds of
thousands of displaced persons in Dafur a "little short of hell on
earth" and he has urged the international community to take swift
action.

The Security Council is divided on issues such as sanctions on Sudan,
which the United States is pushing, and action has been slow. A small
force of African troops, about 1,700, are mandated only to monitor a
frequently violated ceasefire between government-backed Janjaweed
militia and rebel fighters.

But U.N. spokesperson Fred Eckhard said Mr. Annan believes the
situation on the ground in Darfur urgently needs attention. "I think
all would agree that not enough is being done to bring the security
situation in Sudan under control. I think the council members share
that assessment with the secretary general. We all know the kinds of
difficult issues that the council is grappling with as they debate
approving the secretary general's proposal for a peacekeeping mission
and I think he wants to discuss with them what practical options are
available to them to act more decisively to deal with the continuing
killing, rape that is going on in Sudan, particularly in Darfur," he
said.

U.N. Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland is currently in southern Sudan
meeting with aid workers, U.N. staff and members of the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement, which recently signed a peace accord with
Khartoum.

The United Nations says hundreds of thousands of displaced persons in
the south are ready to return to their communities, but few of the
necessary resources to support their return are in place. Mr. Egeland
will also visit Darfur.


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