Annan calls on al-Bashir to settle Darfour crisis

The UN secretary general Kofi Annan stressed the need of accelerating efforts to settle the political crisis in Darfour district in the west of Sudan.

Assistant spokesman for the UN, Steven De Jarick, said yesterday that Annan had sent a message to the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in which he urged him to discuss the crisis in Darfour and asked him " to comment on the fears expressed last week by "senior officials in the UN on conditions in Sudan." De Jarick indicated that Annan noted the importance of halting cease fire in order to facilitate the arrival of workers to provide humanitarian aids and deploy observers from the African federation in the region.

Last Thursday the acting Commissioner general for human rights Pertrand Ramitchran criticized the laws imposed by the Sudanese government in Darfour and described what is taking place there as "mass cleansing." A matter which is considered by Sudan as groundless accusations.

However, the World Food Program WFP executive director warned against a real humanitarian catastrophe in Darfour and Chad that might affect security in the region and result in killing scores of thousands of victims.