Head of WHO to visit Sudan’s stricken Darfur region

GENEVA, July 9 (AFP) — The head of the World Health Organisation, Lee Jong-wook, is to visit the strife-torn region of Darfur in western Sudan next week, his spokeswoman said Friday.

Lee will arrive in Khartoum on Monday for talks with the Sudanese government and then travel to Darfur for a two-day visit to assess the medical situation in the region, spokeswoman Christine McNab said.

More than 10,000 people are estimated to have died in Darfur and at least 1.2 million have been driven from their homes since a revolt against the Arab-dominated government broke out among indigenous ethnic minorities in February 2003.

In retaliation, the pro-government Arab Janjaweed militias have carried out what UN officials say is a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against black Africans.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that Sudan must honour its pledge of immediate action to stop bloodshed in the region or face the wrath of global sanctions.