United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is seeking to speak
to Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir after Khartoum
reportedly banned a visit by the top UN relief official to the
troubled Darfur region.
"The secretary-general regrets that the under-secretary-general
for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Jan
Egeland, was not permitted by the government of Sudan to visit
Darfur," said a statement issued by a UN spokesman on Tuesday.
"The pressing and urgent humanitarian requirements of Darfur are
a priority for the United Nations and coordination efforts to
sustain this large program were at the center of Egeland's
visit."
"The secretary-general will be seeking to speak to President
Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir on this matter," the statement
added.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland's
plane was refused permission to land on Sunday at the start of what
was to have been a five-day visit to Africa's largest country.
The world body has been heavily involved in trying both to ease
the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and to promote the rehabilitation
of the recently pacified southern Sudan. The Darfur conflict, which
pits the government, militias and rebels, has killed many people
and uprooted millions.
Egeland eventually flew from Uganda to Juba, capital of southern
Sudan, by commercial plane but, after spending a day in the town of
Rumbek, he left the country when the government's refusal to let
him visit Darfur aborted the trip.
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006 )
