UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Visits Ethiopia & Darfur for Peace Talks

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan is set to support African Union's mission in the Darfur region of Sudan to progress peace efforts. As the severe war in Sudan between rebels and the government with linked militias has been going on for the past two years, thousands of deaths and millions of people have been displaced as a result.

The UN had worked with the African Union (AU) to package their needs and has also assisted with planning and logistical preparations. Mr Annan also expressed at the UN Headquarters in New York that there are plans to increase the AU peacekeeping forces in Darfur. In addition the UN hopes to revitalise the AU-mediated but stalled political negotiations, and focus attention on the area's humanitarian needs.

Before meeting Sudanese Government officials, AU officials and UN system representatives in Khartoum, Mr Annan is scheduled to hold a donors meeting in Ethiopian Addis Ababa on 26th May, together with former president of Mali, currently AU Commission Chairperson, Alpha Oumar Konare.

European Union's top foreign policy official Javier Solana and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer are also expected to participate in the conference with many other represented countries. After the donor's conference Mr. Annan is scheduled to go to the troubled Darfur.

Later on in Rumbek, the Secretary-General will meet the Chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which fought a war against the Government for many years before reaching a peace agreement and getting some autonomy for southern Sudan this year.

Mr. Annan is returning to Darfur after his visit last July, "To see at the first hand one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and the progress being made in meeting the people's needs on the ground," said a UN spokesman and is expected to return to the UN Headquarters on 1st June.