"Thousands of people joined celebrities and legislators at a rally Sunday urging the Bush administration and Congress to help end genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.... The organizers' permit anticipated 10,000 to 15,000 people would rally, one of several in U.S. cities this weekend against what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

"It is the socially responsible, good conscience thing to do," said Ron Fisher, who took a pre-dawn bus from Cleveland with his 15-year-old daughter Jordyn. "It's an opportunity to show my daughter what people do when they care about something." [More]

Washington Post: "A top Iranian official handed over material on his country's nuclear program in an effort to stave off U.N. sanctions, but it may be a case of too little too late.

Diplomats said they expect U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei to find that Iran failed to meet Friday's deadline for complying with council requests to suspend uranium enrichment, setting the stage for a confrontation at the Security Council."

UPDATE: IAEA says Iran defies UN demands

Rick Reilly: "I've never asked for anything before, right? Well, sorry, I'm asking now.

We need nets. Not hoop nets, soccer nets or lacrosse nets. Not New Jersey Nets or dot-nets or clarinets. Mosquito nets.

See, nearly 3,000 kids die every day in Africa from malaria. And according to the World Health Organization, transmission of the disease would be reduced by 60% with the use of mosquito nets and prompt treatment for the infected."

Three thousand kids! That's a 9/11 every day!

Put it this way: Let's say your little Justin's Kickin' Kangaroos have a big youth soccer tournament on Saturday. There are 15 kids on the team, 10 teams in the tourney. And there are 20 of these tournaments going on all over town. Suddenly, every one of these kids gets chills and fever, then starts throwing up and then gets short of breath. And in seven to 10 days, they're all dead of malaria.

We gotta get these nets. They're coated with an insecticide and cost between $4 and $6. You need about $10, all told, to get them shipped and installed. Some nets can cover a family of four. And they last four years. If we can cut the spread of disease, 10 bucks means a kid might get to live. Make it $20 and more kids are saved.

So, here's the ask: If you have ever gotten a thrill by throwing, kicking, knocking, dunking, slamming, putting up, cutting down or jumping over a net, please go to a special site we've set up through the United Nations Foundation. The address is: UNFoundation.org/malaria. Then just look for the big SI's Nothing But Net logo (or call 202-887-9040) and donate $20. Bang. You might have just saved a kid's life.

Or would you rather have the new Beastie Boys CD?" Read the rest...

© WFP/Nancy Palus

"Violence and lack of money is hampering humanitarian help for Sudan's Darfur region and malnutrition is rising again, the United Nations' Children's Fund said on Wednesday.

"We want to sound the alarm. We must do everything to stop this deterioration," UNICEF's representative for Sudan Ted Chaiban told journalists.

The number of people fleeing their homes to escape fighting between rebels, the army and government-backed militias had risen by 200,000 to more than 2 million in the past three months, he said." [Read more]

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Sudan Watch: Just in from Reuters via Scotsman: the UN Security Council voted today to impose sanctions on four Sudanese accused of abuses in the Darfur conflict - excerpt of report by Evelyn Leopold: "The vote on a US-drafted resolution was 12 to 0 with three abstentions -- Russia, China and Qatar, the only Arab member of the 15-nation council. The sanctions, a travel ban and a freeze on assets abroad, were the first adopted against individuals involved in the Darfur war."

Austin Bay: "Salah Nasrawi reports for the Associated Press that bin Laden is urging jihadis to head for Sudan. Why? To prepare to wage holy war against...get ready... The United Nations. The AP's lede: Osama bin Laden issued ominous new threats in an audiotape broadcast Sunday, saying the West was at war with Islam and calling on his followers to go to Sudan to fight a proposed U.N. force."

Paper Chase: "Leading Monday's international brief, the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal [official website] warned the Nepal government [monarchy website] again that international standards governing police actions during times of civil unrest must be observed as part of Nepal's international legal obligations. The statement [text] warned that the use of live rounds and targeted rubber bullets violated the international standards governing police actions during times of civil unrest. The OHCHR also raised concerns about the treatment being received by female protestors at the hands of male police officers. Nepal is in its 19th day of pro-democracy protests. eKantipur.com has local coverage.

It's Getting Hot in Here: "Youth climate leaders from around the world will coverge on the Youth Energy Blast in New York on April 29, 2006 at Columbia University with the mission of sharing their skills and preparing for the 14th Session UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), themed this year around energy development & climate change. The purpose of the Youth Energy Blast is to empower our generation-wide movement to confront the energy crisis."

"More than 1,000 Iraqis who live south of Baghdad within the bombed and looted complex that was once the centre of Saddam Hussein's nuclear programme are at acute risk of radioactive poisoning, the UN's nuclear authority said yesterday.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it was launching a clean-up operation at the Tuwaitha plant, 14 miles south of Baghdad, and appealed for international involvement in what it said would be a long-term challenge." [Full story]

"At least 300 child soldiers in southern Sudan handed in their guns and uniforms on Monday and will return to their families as part of an ongoing demobilisation exercise supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the agency said." [More]

WaPo: "Iran's defense minister said on Monday that any U.S. military attack over its nuclear programme would result in a humiliating defeat for the United States, the official IRNA news agency reported.... "Bringing up the issue of military option, threatening Iran with it ... contradicts the charter of the United Nations and other international regulations," Najjar said."

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

Protests and Death on the Streets of Kathmandu

DR Congo: Ahead of Elections UN Sends More
Peacekeepers to Troubled Katanga

UN Panel Urges S.E. Asia to Choke Terrorist Funds

Press Sudan to Halt Threats Against Aid Worker: UN

Latin Economic Forum Hosts Second Annual
Conference at United Nations April 19-20, 2006

"The number of refugees worldwide is at a 25-year low, but a growing number of displaced people are suffering under tighter asylum restrictions and increased fears of terrorism, the UN Refugee Agency said Wednesday.

Fewer armed conflicts and large-scale repatriations to countries such as Afghanistan and Sierra Leone reduced the number of refugees to 9.2 million in 2004, compared with 18 million in 1992, according to the United Nations report "State of the World's Refugees: Human Displacement in the New Millennium."

But growing numbers of displaced people who fall outside the protections of the UN Refugee Convention -- an estimated 175 million -- are facing precarious futures amid increased security threats, growing intolerance and declines in donations, said Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees." [Full story]

"An overwhelming 94 per cent of Liberians said that the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) made them more secure in the aftermath of a bloody, decade-long civil war, and they gave high marks to the operation for its quick-impact projects and information outreach, according to a poll made public today." [More]

"A quarter century into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, researchers fear that a lack of preparedness for large-scale social changes, driven by factors like armed conflict and climate change, could lead to explosive new outbreaks affecting millions of people.

Since cases of a severe pneumonia affecting gay men were described for the first time in a U.S. public health report in June 1981, more than 65 million people have become infected with HIV and 25 million have died, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which estimates the current number of people living with HIV at 37 to 45 million.

"We should not accept living with this epidemic at the level it has reached," Paul DeLay, director of monitoring and evaluation at UNAIDS, told IPS. "Today, we have a much clearer understanding of the epidemic itself and what we need to do."

Pointing to the most important advances of the last 25 years, DeLay said the real breakthrough from the standpoint of science has been cheaper, simpler treatment and diagnosis, and drugs that prevent mother-to-child transmission.

While he believes that it is unrealistic to think in terms of eradicating the epidemic right now, "What we instead have to do is use all of the tools we have to get it under control and reduce it as much as possible," he said. "We have to fight the fight."

But according to researcher Samuel R. Friedman, "We are not really looking ahead to what may be coming down the road at us." [Link]

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Opinio Juris: "The United Nations Security Council has unanimously passed Resolution 1664, which calls for Kofi Annan to begin negotiating with the Lebanese government to establish an international tribunal to try the individuals responsible for the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others in May, 2005. Annan has suggested to the Security Council that the tribunal be modeled on the hybrid courts in Sierra Leone, East Timor, and Cambodia, although he recommends that the tribunal not be located in Lebanon because of "concerns of security, perceptions of objectivity." According to diplomatic sources, Cyprus is considering hosting the tribunal."

Daily Nightly (Linda Fasulo): Iran is on the minds of many in the UN Security Council this week. UN Diplomats are awaiting a report by IAEA Chief Mohamed Elbaradei due by the end of next week and engaging in private discussions and strategy sessions in New York and around the world. However, Iran is largely a major issue for next week's official UN agenda. This week, the Security Council has a busy formal agenda of closed-door consultations and open briefings on a range of issues. Meetings will cover other Middle East issues, such as violence between Israelis and Palestinians and the missing Kuwaiti prisoners of war from the 1991 Gulf War, African conflicts in Darfur and the Ivory Coast, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina."

Paper Chase: "Eight thousand pro-democracy protesters assembled in Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu Saturday in the largest demonstration against the rule of King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile] since the current round of protests began over a week ago. An alliance of seven opposition political parties, including the Communist Party of Nepal [party website], has been waging a general strike against Gyanendra's rule and protests continue despite Gyanendra's promise to hold general elections by April 2007. Gyanendra has made similar promises in the past and the opposition is demanding that he step down immediately. Also in Kathmandu Saturday, police used batons to attack a rally staged by about 200 local journalists, including members of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, as they gathered to protest government curbs on press freedom. Nepalese police reportedly wounded seven journalists and detained at least twice that many. Related news on Jurist: UN rights chief 'shocked' by force used against Nepal pro-democracy protesters."

Pam's House Blend: "UN report: Iraqi gays target of kidnappings, murders - "I don't want to be gay anymore. When I go out to buy bread, I'm afraid. When the doorbell rings, I think that they have come for me." -- Hussein, 32, gay Baghdad resident who fears being kidnapped or murdered as a result of a fatwa on gays issued by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Doug Ireland has been covering this horror story for some time (you can read his work here). Now that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has released a report on the atrocities and fear instilled in the community by death squads, maybe someone will take note."

Sudanese refugees from Darfur living in
refugee camps in Chad - here Djabal camp -
are concerned about their future security
after fighting last week between government
and rebel forces. © UNHCR/E.Cue

The following statement is attributable to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres:

"In the framework of our efforts to guarantee the protection of refugees from Sudan's Darfur region in Chad, I spoke with Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno on Sunday night and am pleased to report that he has reaffirmed that refugees will not be refouled [forcibly returned] and Chad will abide by international principles.

"President Deby expressed his understandable concern about the difficulties involved in providing security both to the refugees and to the humanitarian organisations that are helping them.

"UNHCR strongly appeals to the international community and its various organisations to do everything possible to urgently establish peace and security in Darfur, which is essential for the stability of the entire region." [Read more]

See also:

Chad Reassures UN; No Expulsion of Darfur Refugees

"[T]he decision by the government of Sudan to bar UN relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland from Darfur is as perverse as it is deplorable. It is not, however, atypical. The government appears to pursue a systematic policy of making life difficult for the NGOs and international organisations working to help the people of Darfur. Visa applications for humanitarian workers take weeks to process. Access to essential fuel is limited. Movement between regions is impeded. The obstruction and harassment is subtle but insidious and seriously affects the ability of the aid agencies to do their job....

The deployment of the African Union force in 2004 left the task of protecting the civilians of a region the size of France to 7,000 peacekeepers who are seriously underequipped and overstretched and who lack the mandate to do anything other than monitor the country's tenuous ceasefire. So the people of Darfur have been caught in limbo between warring factions not interested in peace, a government wishing to ward off foreign involvement and an international community hoping for the best.

The people I spoke to in the camps will not return to their homes until the arrival of an international force with the mandate, capacity and political will to keep the peace. The only practical way to guarantee this is through the UN. The African Union has made a reasonable start, but it lacks expertise and experience.

It should be transformed as soon as possible into a UN-led operation with a beefed-up Chapter Six mandate, backed by extensive logistical help, including air support as necessary, from Nato." [More]

"The U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, Jan Egeland, says northern Uganda's 20-year war, a lethal mix of religion and brutality, is the world's most neglected humanitarian crisis.... Last month, President Bush blamed the region's violence on a "barbaric rebel cult." Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., says Washington should demand "a rapid and organized international response to the humanitarian disaster" in northern Uganda." [Read more]

"United Nations humanitarian agencies have appealed to all parties in the conflict in Nepal to allow safe passage for food convoys to hundreds of thousands of people, and the distribution of vitamins and de-worming tablets for 6 million children, as roadblocks, curfews and strikes make reaching remote areas increasingly difficult.

At the same time Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today he "is more than ever concerned about the deteriorating situation." Through a statement issued by his spokesman in New York, he reiterated his call for an inclusive national dialogue of all Nepalese political forces and for King Gyanendra to take "courageous steps" to find a way avoid further bloodshed.

"It is quite clear that the Nepalese people want a swift end to the conflict and instability and the immediate restoration of democracy. The loss of life and denial of legitimate rights should end without delay," he added, referring to the King's suspension of parliamentary rule." [Read more]

See also:

WFP Appeals for Safe Passage for Food Aid Amid Nepal's Crisis

UNICEF Concerned that Children a Casualty of Recent Demonstrations

"The U.N. Security Council demanded that the Sudanese government and rebels reach agreement by April 30 to end the conflict in Darfur and reaffirmed its determination to hold accountable those blocking peace and violating human rights.

A presidential statement adopted Tuesday by consensus by the 15 council members stressed that "an inclusive political settlement is key to peace in Sudan." It backed the peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, led by the African Union, which resumed Monday.

The Security Council endorsed the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council setting April 30 as "the final deadline for reaching an agreement." The council "demands that all parties make the necessary efforts to reach an agreement by this date," the statement said." [Read more]

See also:

United States Still Urging Immediate End to Suffering in Darfur

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

Security Council Calls for Smooth transition to UN Operation in Darfur

Iran Urged to Stop Nuclear Work

Injuries Mount as Demonstrators Battle With Police in Nepal

UN Agencies Limit Hamas Government Contacts

UNICEF: 1 in 3 Zimbabwe Children an Orphan

Wetlands Restoration Key to Slashing Bird Flu

Security Council meeting on the situation
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at
UN Headquarters in New York.

"The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Monday to deploy a U.N. peacekeeping battalion temporarily from Burundi to Congo to help with security during the country's first democratic elections in 40 years planned for June.

The resolution adopted by the council also authorizes the transfer of 50 military observers and a military hospital until July 1.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked the council to approve the temporary redeployment to beef up the 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, the world's largest, during the election period." [Read more]

See also:

INTERVIEW-Fickle donors neglect Africa's worst wars-UN

AlertNet: Central African Republic troubles

CNN: "The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency will visit Iran this week for talks about that nation's nuclear activities, a spokeswoman for the group told CNN Sunday.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei will arrive in Tehran Tuesday or Wednesday, the spokeswoman said."

"Reacting to the recent upsurge in Middle East violence, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on both sides to refrain from any measures that could cause a further escalation.

"The Secretary-General is extremely concerned about the continuation and intensification of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, including indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza, a suicide bombing last week, and major Israeli reprisal operations," a spokesman for Mr. Annan said in a statement.

He called on the Palestinian Authority "to take a clear public stand against violence and to take firm measures against the perpetrators of rocket attacks and suicide bombings." The Government of Israel was called on "to ensure that its responses are proportionate and do not endanger the civilian population."

Mr. Annan asked both sides "to act in conformity with international law, and to refrain from taking any steps which further escalate the violence," according to the statement, which was released in New York as well as Sevilla, Spain, where the Secretary-General is traveling." [Link]

"With at least 10 million people dying each year from largely preventable infectious diseases and complications of pregnancy and delivery, the United Nations today marked World Health Day with an urgent call for more than 4 million additional doctors, nurses, midwives, managers and public health workers for developing countries.

"The global population is growing, but the number of health workers is stagnating or even falling in many of the places where they are needed most," UN World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Lee Jong-wook said of the stark statistics detailed in his agency's World Health Report 2006 - Working Together for Health, issued today.

"Across the developing world, health workers face economic hardship, deteriorating infrastructure and social unrest. In many countries, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has also destroyed the health and lives of health workers," he added, noting that the report sets out a 10-year plan to address the crisis." [Read more]

See also:

UN: Shortage of Health Workers Puts World at Risk

World Health Day Puts Spotlight on Health Workforce;
AAHC Warns National And Global Crises Must Be Addressed

"The head of the U.N. mission's human rights unit in Haiti accused judicial officials and the U.S.-backed interim government on Thursday of illegally detaining most of the 4,000 people behind bars in the country.

Thierry Fagart said most of the inmates had not been formally charged or put on trial by the interim authorities who replaced ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide two years ago.

"Most of the people in jail in Haiti are being detained illegally. The legal procedures have been systematically violated," said Fagart.

Fagart said many of the detainees, particularly high-profile prisoners, should be released immediately while investigations and other judicial proceedings continue.

He said the decision by authorities in the impoverished Caribbean country to hold people "preventively" behind bars, for months or years, often without charges filed against them, was unacceptable." [Read more]

"International donors are turning their backs on Sudan's crisis-torn Darfur region, putting at even greater risk the lives of people who are already victims of conflict and banditry, UNICEF said on Wednesday.

Dan Toole, head of emergency programmes for the United Nations' children's fund, said large parts of the vast region were off limits to aid workers as government forces and local militias battled each other as peace talks faltered." [More]

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Rikomatic: "The United Nations recently concluded an international conference on early warning in Bonn, Germany. Over 1,200 participants from 140 countries participated in the gathering, that concluded that a "people-centered" approach was needed to build effective early-warning systems to prevent the loss of human life from natural disasters such as floods, tsunamis and pandemics. As a preparation for the conference, a "Global Survey of Early Warning Systems" [PDF] was prepared by the UN, that details what capacity already exists for early warning, what the major gaps are."

Paper Chase: "UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday called on states to ratify the 1997 anti-personnel mine ban treaty and said that it should only take ten years to rid the world of all land mines will take ten years to complete, not 100 years as previously estimated. Annan's message was made to open the first International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, designed to promote action among UN member states to aid in the removal of land mines throughout the world. Land mines are estimated to claim up to 20,000 victims each year, and an unknown number of mines are buried in at least 60 countries, with Cambodia, Afghanistan and Columbia claiming the most victims in 2004."

Chris Allan: "The United Nations (UNESCO) has published a document on bioethics and controversially linking this to human rights. In particular it stresses the rights on individuals needs over societal needs. Most developing countries have no bioethical guidelines, so on one level this can be seen as a step in the right direction. It promotes the implementation of ethics committees and a more considered approach in this area."

Congowatch: "UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan held separate talks in New York March 31 with top African and European officials on Darfur, Sudan, and the DRC, UN News Centre reported 31 Mar 2006: "In a meeting with Mr Konare, Chair of the AU Commission, the two discussed the Abuja peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Sudan's Darfur. They also discussed support for the AU force in Darfur, including the possibility of a donors' conference. On the DRC, they reviewed a number of issues, including how to ensure an inclusive electoral progress."

War in Context: "United Nations aid organizations are warning that the Gaza Strip is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster due to a lack of money and food. David Shearer, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Foreign Ministry officials that if there is no significant change in the situation, Gaza will face a humanitarian crisis as bad as the one in Kosovo. A report by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warns of a lack of basic food supplies due to the frequent closures of the Karni crossing that are preventing goods from reaching Gaza from Egypt. The report also said there has been a significant increase in the number of hungry people since financial aid has been halted. [complete article]

"Rich countries have changed their attitude toward would-be immigrants and are adopting or changing laws to allow in skilled and low-skilled workers to meet specific workplace demands, according to a U.N. report released Tuesday.

At the same time, countries are stepping up efforts to prevent and combat illegal immigration, especially since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, it said." [More]

Portfolio of Mine Action Projects

"The United Nations had some hopeful news to report as the world marked the first International Day for Mine Awareness on Tuesday: It will take perhaps a decade, not hundreds of years, to get rid of millions of land mines in 82 countries.

Max Gaylard, director of the UN Mine Action Service, told a news conference Monday that "continuing donor support is critical" to ridding the world of land mines and other unexploded weapons from wars.

He also stressed that deadly antipersonnel mines continue to prevent millions of farmers from growing crops, children from playing outside, and displaced people from returning to their homes. According to the most recent figures, deaths and wounds from land mines have decreased from 26,000 a year in the late 1990s. But the often hidden devices left over from conflicts are still killing and maiming between 15,000 and 20,000 people annually." [Read more]

Also see:

The Secretary General Message on International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, 4 April, 2006

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Democracy Arsenal (Suzanne Nossel): "In scenes straight out of a Hollywood action figure, last week former Liberian strongman Charles Taylor found himself in a dragnet when the Nigerian government, after years of protecting him, finally announced plans to turn the ex-dictator over to a UN special court to be tried for war crimes and atrocities committed in support of civil war in Sierra Leone. Within 24 hours Taylor had escaped, and rumor was that he might attempt a coup back in Liberia's capital. But the Nigerians nabbed him, and Taylor is now in UN custody in Freetown, Sierra Leone on his way to trial. If things go as planned from now on, Taylor's extradition could become a major step toward justice and accountability in Africa."

Informed Comment: "The UN oil for food program has continued to provide staples to most Iraqi families, but will be phased out by the end of 2006 as a "socialist" legacy. Despite the talk of staples "stabilizing," the price of foodstuffs has skyrocketed. Nor is a share for Iraqis in some of their oil wealth socialism. The Alaskans get a direct dividend from their petroleum, and the food aid was the closest thing the Iraqi public had to that. If the end of the program produces, as is likely, hardship and even hunger, there will be big urban disturbances. I lived through one such in Cairo in January of 1977. The gloaming was polluted with the bottles and stones thrown at government buildings by angry crowds chanting against the International Monetary Fund. That will be the final indignity, if the Americans actually manage to starve Iraqis to death with their policies."

Needlenose: "The UN Security Council -- led by the U.S. and its European allies -- adopted an unambiguous and strongly worded resolution taking Iran to task over its nuclear program. It is a rare, unanimous statement from the Council -- coupled with a clear threat of sanctions -- demanding that Iran immediately open its nuclear research facilities to IAEA inspections. US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice summed it up: "Iran is more isolated now than ever," Rice said in a statement after the vote. "The Security Council's Presidential Statement sends an unmistakable message to Iran that its efforts to conceal its nuclear program and evade its international obligations are unacceptable."

ReidBlog: "Even as the war in Iraq has continued to go south, the chatter about the U.S. and Britain possibly opening up a second front with Iran have never really gone away. Today, the Telegraph digs in a little deeper (HT to AllahPundit in his last day as the substitute Malkin)... Says the Telegraph: "The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran. A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran. It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme."

Some of the 8,000 to 10,000 people who have
gathered in West Darfur, have built basic
shelters to protect themselves from the sun,
the wind and the cold at night. ©UNHCR/L.Nassif

Reuters, RUMBEK, Sudan, April 3: "U.N. under-secretary for humanitarian affairs Jan Egeland said on Monday the Sudanese government barred him from visiting Darfur to prevent him seeing poor conditions there.

"I've been barred from going to south Darfur, west Darfur and also I have been told that I am not welcome in Khartoum," Egeland told Reuters during a visit to southern Sudan.

"I think it is because they (the Sudanese government) don't want me to see how bad it is in Darfur," he added.

Egeland, who is on an Africa tour that was meant to include a visit to Sudan's troubled Darfur region and Sudanese refugees in neighbouring Chad, said civilians had been displaced due to recent violence near the Darfur rebel-held town of Gereida."

See also:

People Ffleeing Across Chad/Sudan Border in Both Directions a Disturbing Development, Says UNHCR

"A delay in aid payments and Ugandan rebel attacks are threatening the delivery of aid to millions in southern Sudan, a senior United Nations official said.

Jan Egeland, UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, is on a tour of Africa and was also planning a visit to Sudan's troubled western Darfur region. But that visit is now in doubt due to a disagreement with Khartoum officials." [More]