Annan makes fresh appeal on Darfur

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 24 (AFP) — UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday made another urgent appeal to the international community to help stop the bloodshed and suffering in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.

“The whole world is watching this tragedy unfold and it is watching us,” Annan told a meeting of the UN Security Council. “The humanitarian emergency in Darfur is growing.”

An estimated 50,000 people have died and around 1.2 million have been displaced in Darfur, where the Sudanese government is accused of backing the marauding Arab militias blamed for widespread killing and looting.

The UN Security Council last week passed a resolution threatening sanctions on Sudan if it does not rein in the militias and calling for a beefed-up African Union (AU) force of up to 5,000 troops to help stop the bloodshed.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current AU chairman, has said the union has the troops but needs money from the international community to fund the operation.