Annan to visit strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur: report

KHARTOUM, June 16 (AFP) — United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will pay a visit to Sudan in the coming days to see for himself the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur region, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The official Al Anbaa daily quoted State Foreign Minister Tigani Salih Fidhail as saying his ministry had been informed of the visit by its diplomatic mission in New York.

Fidhail said the government expects to receive a formal request during the next few days after which consultations would be made between Khartoum and Annan on the timing and programme of the visit.

Meanwhile, the newspaper reported that the European Union has agreed to release 60 million euros of 407 million euros in assistance for humanitarian operations in Darfur that had been frozen.

International Cooperation Minister Yusuf Suleiman Takanah was quoted as saying half of the money would help meet the food shortages and the balance be spent on water, health and educational services.

The minister said the fund would be handed over to the European humanitarian affairs agency and disbursed in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, the UN children’s fund UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme, in addition to national civil society organisations.

On Tuesday, UNICEF director Carol Bellamy said in Khartoum that a humanitarian disaster was looming in Darfur and that it was a “race against time” to get aid there before the rainy season sets in next month.

And in Geneva, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees appealed for 55.8 million dollars of extra funds to help refugees forced to flee Darfur into neighbouring Chad.

The crisis was prompted by an uprising that started in February 2003, with rebels complaining that Khartoum had neglected their impoverished region.

The uprising led to a fierce, and widely condemned, retaliation by government forces and allied militia.

An estimated 10,000 people have died and one million people have been displaced, according to UN figures.