Jack Straw to visit Sudan Monday

LONDON, Aug 21 (AFP) — Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will travel to Sudan, and may proceed to the embattled region of Darfur the following day, the Foreign Office said

A spokesman refused to confirm the onward journey to Darfur for security reasons.

Straw will meet with Sudanese leaders at the beginning of what is a critical week for the Darfur region, beset by a full-scale humanitarian crisis.

Talks among warring Sudanese factions are set to resume on Monday in Abuja, Nigeria. Also on Monday, the United Nations Security Council is due to receive a preliminary report on the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur.

Straw’s plans to visit Sudan were first announced on July 22.

Some 200,000 refugees from Darfur have already fled to Chad. The UN says there are more than a million more people who have been displaced from their homes inside Sudan, and up to 50,000 people killed.