Nigerian leader visits Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region

KHARTOUM, Jan 8 (AFP) — Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo flew to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region Saturday to assess the crisis there following talks with his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Beshir, an AFP correspondent reported.

“I came here to congratulate President Omar al-Beshir on the New Year and, in advance, on the peace agreement that will be signed tomorrow,” said the Nigerian leader, shortly before he left the Sudanese capital.

Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) are due on Sunday to sign an historic peace agreement in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to end the continent’s longest-running conflict, which has claimed some 1.5 million lives.

But the deal does not cover the conflict in Darfur between ethnic minority rebels and the government in which tens of thousands have died and more than 1.6 million displaced.

Obasanjo has been leading efforts aimed at resolving the conflict in his capacity as chairman of the African Union, which has hundreds of military observers on the ground monitoring a truce between the warring parties.

Peace negotiations between Khartoum and Darfur’s main rebel movements in the Nigerian capital Abuja were suspended in December, as the parties accused each other of violating the April 8 ceasefire agreement.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday released a report on the situation in Darfur which highlighted the failure of negotiations and deteriorating security there.

“A build-up of arms and intensification of violence, including air attacks, suggest the security situation is deteriorating,” he said.

Obasanjo was due to visit El-Feshir, the capital of South Darfur state, and meet with local officials and members of the AU Ceasefire Commission in the city.

The Nigerian leader said he would present a report to the AU’s Peace and Security Council Monday on the situation in the region.