UN official cuts Darfur visit short for denied travel
Politics, 11/18/2006

The top United Nations aid official yesterday cut short his visit to Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region and returned to Khartoum after the Government denied him permission to travel outside the state capitals, warning it was too dangerous, a UN spokesman said.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland, who is making his fourth visit to Darfur, met some of those displaced by the escalating violence in the region yesterday, when he said security was now worse than ever.

"(Egeland) .. returned to Khartoum today, two days earlier than scheduled, after he was denied permission to travel beyond Darfur's state capitals by the Government of Sudan, for unspecified security reasons," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

"Mr. Egeland had originally planned to visit six locations in Darfur to meet with actors on the ground and review the humanitarian situation in those critical areas. But when the Sudanese Government said no to four of those locations, Mr. Egeland cut short his trip with regret, saying that he refused to 'go and just sit in the offices.'"

This latest development comes less than a day after Sudan's Government agreed with the UN, the African Union (AU) and representatives from Security Council countries and others to allow UN peacekeepers into Darfur alongside those of the AU mission already there trying to halt the violence.

Details of the agreement are still being worked out but the deal comes after Sudan's leaders previously refused to allow a UN force into the region despite the killings. At present, the UN assists a 7,000-strong African Union mission (AMIS) in Darfur and is currently working on a $21 million support package.

The violence in Darfur has already spilled over into neighboring countries, especially Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), and a spokesman confirmed that a UN assessment team will be traveling to both countries this weekend, made up of political, military, police and humanitarian experts on a two-week fact-finding mission.

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