WHO chief flies to Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region
KHARTOUM, July 13 (AFP) — World Health Organisation chief Lee Jong-wook headed to Darfur to see first hand the medical situation in the war-torn region of western Sudan, WHO officials said.
Lee is to visit camps in southern and western Darfur set up for those who have fled villages to escape fighting which has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst current humanitarian crisis.
Thousands of refugees have fled to camps created for Internally Displaced Persons since a revolt broke out in Darfur in February 2003 against the Khartoum government. Many thousands more have fled into neighbouring Chad.
The Sudanese daily al-Sahafa quoted the WHO chief as warning against a further deterioration in health conditions in Darfur, especially with the onset of the rainy season.
Hassan al-Jazairi, the WHO regional director for the Middle East, is accompanying Lee and the newspaper quoted quoted him as saying that bad roads were hampering the delivery of medical and other supplies to the region.
Jazairi added that his agency was prepared to work with the Sudanese government to improve the access of people of Darfur to free medical care.
He also said the WHO had called on the international fund for the control of AIDS and malaria to release an annual 12 million dollar aid payment to Sudan which has been withheld for three years now.
The WHO delegation is expected to return to Khartoum on Wednesday to discuss its findings with government officials, including the health minister.
More than 10,000 people are estimated to have died in Darfur and at least 1.2 million driven from their homes since the revolt against the Arab-dominated government broke out among indigenous ethnic minorities.
In retaliation, the pro-government Arab Janjaweed militias have carried out what UN officials say is a brutal campaign against black Africans.
Western officials and aid agencies have accused the Khartoum government of deliberately hindering access to Darfur and supporting the militias in a brutal reign of terror.
On Monday, the UN Security Council was looking at a US resolution to impose sanctions on the militias in Sudan.
The council held its first talks on the draft last week and diplomats said that opposition to the measure was stronger than had been expected, even though the United States vowed to press ahead with council action within days.
Sources said Pakistan and Algeria had led calls for the Sudanese government to first be given a chance to make good on pledges to rein in the militias responsible for the bloodshed and chaos in the giant western region.
The European Union on Monday threatened sanctions against Sudan if it fails to end the crisis.
“We want to see in the coming weeks whether the Sudanese government is serious when it says that it wants to stop the bloodletting and the fighting,” said Foreign Minister Bernard Bot of current EU president the Netherlands.
“We are waiting for the signals in the coming days, and in the light of the situation we will then consider whether we will have to increase pressure on the government and impose sanctions,” he said after an EU meeting in Brussels.
The draft resolution would slap an arms and travel embargo on the Janjaweed militia and leaves open the possibility of further sanctions against the government in Khartoum after 30 days.