UN : Sudan promises aid workers access to strife-ridden Darfur

Tuesday February 10th, 2004.

GENEVA, Feb 9 (AFP) -- Sudan has promised to provide aid workers access to the rebellious Darfur region, marking a breakthrough in attempts to help hundreds of thousands of people who have fled their homes in the western province, the United Nations said.

The statement by Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir was contained in a letter delivered to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, the UN said in a statement.

"This represents a breakthrough since for months we have been prevented from reaching large numbers of displaced civilians in what is one of the worst emergencies in Africa," UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said.

"The United Nations is ready to seize this opportunity to increase the amount of assistance we provide within Darfur," he added.

More than 110,000 Sudanese have fled across the border into Chad from Darfur, where government forces and militias have been fighting local rebels since February 2003.

Another 700,000 more Sudanese are believed to be displaced in the largely arid region and aid workers fear they are short of food, water and shelter.

A total of three million people -- half of Darfur's population -- are estimated to be in need of aid, and UN agencies said Tuesday that they have been able to reach only 15 percent of them.

The UN special envoy to Sudan, Tom Vraalsen, has been asked to return to the country as soon as possible to follow up on the Sudanese offer.

The UN statement said President Beshir "has promised to provide access to aid workers so they can reach millions of suffering civilians in the Darfur region".

Some 3,000 people have been killed by the war in Darfur, pitting government troops and their Arab militia allies against rebels drawn mainly from the area's non-Arab minorities.

The uprising was launched because of the government's alleged economic neglect of the Darfur region.

Beshir said Monday that the Darfur rebellion had been crushed, but a spokesman for one of three rebel groups insisted his fighters remained in position.

Sudan's government has refused to take part in talks with rebels on February 14 and 15 in Geneva whihc were proposed by a Swiss non- governmental organisation and another European Darfur organisation.