UN secretary general calls for high-level meeting on Darfur

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for a high-level meeting in Ethiopia this weekend involving the US, European Union, Russia and China to discuss the deteriorating situation in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

The announcement yesterday came as the UN reported nearly 40 civilian deaths in the last few days in attacks in Darfur by Arab militiamen, some backed by Sudanese military vehicles.

Annan and the African Union invited representatives from the five permanent members of the Security Council to attend the meeting Saturday in Ethiopia's capital, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Several African countries, the League of Arab States and the EU were also asked to take part.

Dujarric said Annan would attend, as would representatives from Sudan's government.

The African Union currently has 7,000 troops in the violence-plagued region to monitor a shaky cease-fire signed earlier this year by the government and one rebel faction.

A UN resolution has called for the world body to take control of the peacekeeping mission when the AU mandate expires on Dec. 31. But Sudan has staunchly opposed a UN takeover, insisting that it provide money and logistics to the AU troops instead.

"It's a crucial moment in the discussion of what to do in Darfur, mainly because the African Union mandate is coming to an end and the situation in Darfur is clearly not improving. The time has come to decide how to move the peace process forward," said Yves Sorokobi, associate spokesman for the secretary-general.

He said the goal of the meeting was to develop a comprehensive package of initiatives that can be taken to an AU summit later this month in the Republic of Congo.

The African Union force has been unable to curb violence in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced since the conflict began in February 2003, when ethnic African rebels rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.