EU envoy to discuss Darfur crisis in Khartoum next month

THE HAGUE, Aug 20 (AFP) — Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot whose country currently presides the European Union will discuss the disarmament of Arab militias in Darfur with the Sudanese government during a trip to the country September 9, his ministry announced.

“Mr Bot will make a short visit to Khartoum and the militia’s disarmament will be discussed,” his spokesman Bart Jochems told AFP.

Bot will not travel to Darfur in western Sudan, where fighting has pitted rebel groups against pro-government forces since February last year and a million people face hunger.

The conflict has already claimed between 30,000 and 50,000 lives, according to UN figures, and nearly 1.5 million people have become homeless, of which 200,000 have fled to neighboring Chad.