UN’s emergency relief chief postpones Sudan visit

By Bill Rigby

UNITED NATIONS, April 19 (Reuters) – The United Nations’ emergency relief coordinator has postponed a visit to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region after the Sudanese government asked for a delay, U.N. sources said on Monday.

Jan Egeland, the U.N. coordinator for humanitarian affairs, had hoped to arrive in Darfur on Sunday to assess what he has described as a “scorched earth” campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Arab militias are looting and burning African villages in the area, driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

Egeland has called Darfur one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters and accused the Sudanese government of doing little to prevent the problems.

“The trip was postponed,” said a U.N. official. “The Sudanese government requested a delay.”

With a recent humanitarian ceasefire undermined by continuing fighting, the Sudanese government suggested the trip be put off a week, but Egeland is unable to make the trip then, leaving plans for the visit unclear, the official said.

The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement launched a revolt in Darfur last year, accusing Sudan’s government of neglecting the poor area and arming Arab militias to loot and burn African villages, a charge the government denies.

Last week, U.N. officials said a team of human rights experts sent to investigate charges of ethnic cleansing around Darfur had ended its mission without getting permission to visit the region.