Straw: Sudan mission

Jack Straw is using his visit to Sudan to call for an African solution to the humanitarian and security crisis.

The foreign secretary was meeting with ministers and officials to assess the scale of the problem in the war-torn Darfur region.

On Tuesday he was set to touch down in northern Darfur where he was to visit a refugee camp.

Following talks with his Sudanese counterparts, Straw said the government of the country was taking the crisis seriously.

Straw met vice president Ali Osman Taha and will hold face to face talks with President Bashir today.

Straw is calling on the Sudanese leadership to accept an African solution to the crisis.

He wants a 10-fold increase in African troops policing the Darfur region.

The meetings come amid UN threats of sanctions against the Sudanese government.

It stands charged with failing to do enough to halt rampaging Arab militias who have killed thousands of black Africans.

More than a million people have fled their homes in the region, leading to a major humanitarian crisis.

Some 200,000 refugees have crossed the border into neighbouring Chad.

Meanwhile talks between the rival factions were getting underway in Nigeria.

Representatives of the Sudanese government joined with members of the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement.

Over the course of the weekend Sudan vowed to reduce paramilitary forces in Darfur by 30 per cent in a bid to bring calm to the region.

Pressure

But, despite the negotiations, murder and mayhem continue to undermine peace attempts.

During his two-day visit Straw was seeking to put pressure on the government to act to halt the killings.

He was also making an assessment of the scale of aid effort required to house and feed those who have been displaced.

Speaking before his departure Straw said his fact-finding mission would feed into UN deliberations on Sudan.

"I am keen to see for myself the situation on the ground in Darfur, and to make clear to the Sudanese government and people the extent of British, and broader international, concern," he said.

"UN security council resolution 1556 sets out the steps that the Sudanese government must now take to deal with the crisis. I will discuss with President Bashir and others exactly how they plan to do this."

"In preparation for the visit I have spoken among others with UN secretary general Kofi Annan, President Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Kagame of Rwanda.

"During and after my visit I shall be liaising closely with President Obasanjo who is holding preliminary peace talks in Abuja starting Monday.

"I shall provide a full read-out to Kofi Annan as a contribution to his pending report to the security council."

Ahead of the visit, the Tories called on Straw to adopt a tough line with Sudanese ministers.

"What worries me is the lack of a sense of urgency," Michael Ancram told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"This is the moment when the international community has to show that it means business if we are not to see another Rwanda.

"We cannot just sit back and allow this situation to develop over a period of time until it is too late to be able to do anything to save the lives of literally millions of people."

The shadow foreign secretary said a UN-mandated force should be sent into Darfur to safeguard security.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat spokesman Tom Brake said the "time for quiet diplomacy is over".

"The foreign secretary must request details of how many militiamen have been disarmed and charged, and how the Sudanese authorities intend honouring their pledge to bring a halt to the ethnic cleansing in Darfur," he said.

Confrontation

Amnesty International also warned that the foreign secretary must confront the Sudanese government head on.

The human rights group's UK director, Kate Allen, said: "Jack Straw must use this critical opportunity to make it starkly clear to the Sudanese government that the international community will not tolerate continuing atrocities in Darfur.

"Mr Straw's message should be that rape, torture and murder absolutely must be stopped and that perpetrators need to be brought to justice.

"It is action that is needed now, not denials or empty promises."