As government and rebels resume talks in Kenya, there is mounting
international concern about the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Darfur -and of Khartoum’s complicity in creating it. Announcing his intention to visit Sudan in July to see for himself what is going, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that "terrible crimes have been committed" in Darfur.

Pressing the Sudanese Government "to allow humanitarian workers – UN and NGO – to be given free access to Darfur and allow supplies and equipment to come in," he stressed: "It is the responsibility of the Government to protect the population and we need to encourage it and must insist it does it." While there have been improvements, he said, "much more needs to be done."

After hearing reports of a "reign of terror in Darfur" the Security Council issued a statement expressing "deep concern" at reports of "widespread
attacks on civilians, rapes, forced displacement, and other violence".
Demanding those responsible be held accountable, it condemned acts which "jeopardize a peaceful solution to the crisis."  Ex-US President Jimmy Carter said success in Kenya was "reached under the shadow of the terrible
events in Darfur, and continued fighting in other areas of Sudan.

"Former governor of Darfur, Ahmed Diraige warns that "without Darfur there will be no peace." Currently leader of the of the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance, Diraige claims that the deal simply divides power between the
Government and SPLA without any share for the other parties and can only be a short term solution at best. "They agree that non-Moslems will be exempt from the Sharia in Khartoum.

What about the majority of Moslems that reject fundamentalism? Sharia law has only ever been implemented in Sudan by military force - they need a coup because it would never be agreed to by election as the majority of Sudanese are liberal. It has only been imposed by military dictatorships, first Jaafa
Numieri, then Bashir. The government says that Moslems don’t need human rights guarantees because they are protected by the Sharia - try telling that to my people in Darfur."

Most southerners are triumphant, believing most of their demands have been met, but many in the north feel betrayed. Few southerners express many qualms about Darfur or the fate of the northern opposition. "What did they do to help us for 20 years when our people were dying in their millions" is a common response. Most southerners are so war weary they’re desperate that nothing should get in the way of ending the conflict, although reports of ongoing atrocities and ethnic cleansing do little to improve confidence in Khartoum’s long-term intentions.

"The humanitarian situation is appalling on both sides of the border. There are now strong indications that both Janjaweed militias and various groups associated with the Sudanese rebels are operating in these locations", UN High Commissioner for Refugees Rudd Lubbers told the Security Council, complaining that a funding crisis was jeopardising relief operations and warning: "The international community may be quickly overwhelmed and there
is the potential for destabilisationof the sub-region."

Meanwhile, Abdel Wahed Mohammad Ahmad Nour, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), insists that Darfur must be included in the Naivasha talks or there will be no peace. He warned that "we will extend the zone of our military operations to encompass Kordofan, Khartoum and the east" if excluded from the peace talks in Kenya.

"Any agreement leaving out the SLM will not lead to real peace," Nour told the Arabic daily al-Hayat, accusing pro-government forces of breaching a the ceasefire agreed in Chad in April, saying: "The government continues to bomb
civilian targets from the air, and its militias are burning villages,
killing civilians and raping women".

During discussions on establishing a new United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMISUD) peacekeeping operation (agreed, in principle, on 7 June), Annan warned the Security Council that ending the crisis in Darfur was "fundamental" to the success of the mission.

"To conduct a consent-based monitoring and verification operation in one part of the country while there is ongoing conflict in another part would prove politically unsustainable outside the Sudan and internationally.

"Annan’s decision to visit Darfur came following a two-week UN investigation into allegations of grave human rights violations. Special Rapporteur of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Ms. Asma Jahangir, issued a public statement on 14 June, as she was "disturbed and alarmed by the gravity of the human rights abuses perpetrated in the Sudan."

"I received numerous accounts of extrajudicial and summary executions carried out by Government backed militias and by the security forces themselves. According to credible information members of the armed forces, the Popular Defence Forces and various groups of Government sponsored militias attacked villages and summarily executed civilians. Some location of graves and mass graves have also been reported to me, which I was not in
a position to verify as visits to these locations were not possible due to
security concerns or the distances to travel involved."

The situation was similar in Upper Nile: "In Malakal there have also been reports of killings of civilians by militias armed and supported by the Government." She stressed that the militias were directly linked to Khartoum: "According to the information I collected, many of the militias are being integrated into the regular armed or the Popular Defence Forces. There is no ambiguity that there is a link between some of the militias and Government forces"

She warned: "The crisis is not over and the right to life of all these people is seriously threatened. The Government must ensure that immediate and complete access is provided to humanitarian actors as well as human rights monitors."

Washington is also determined to ramp up the pressure, with an administration seeking re-election that is being increasingly inundated with calls for action rather than words. In addition to appeals for a tough peace enforcement mandate for the proposed UNMISUD deployment, there have been suggestions for a no-fly-zone in western Sudan and even unilateral US military action. Domestic pressure will only increase as satellite technology now allows voters to watch the famine unfold from the comfort of their arm-chairs.

US Assistant Secretary of State Charles Snyder told a US Senate hearing: "Clearly, the government of Sudan had calculated that our desire to see a
north-south accord might lead us to adopt a softer approach on Darfur. That was a major miscalculation, and the government of Sudan now understands that,." He stressed that Khartoum cannot expect improved US-Sudanese relations before the crisis is resolved. "Our linkage of normalisation of bilateral relations with the government of Sudan to behaviour in Darfur as well as to a north-south accord highlights our seriousness."

Khartoum’s cooperation on humanitarian aid to the region’s displaced population was not sufficient. "It is also essential that the results of ethnic cleansing not be allowed to stand. The African ethnic groups forced from the land must be allowed to return voluntarily and their protection must be ensured… the perpetrators of the violence and atrocities in Darfur
must be held accountable."