NAIROBI (AFP) - UN chief Kofi Annan called for talks on ending Sudan's civil war to be concluded swiftly, telling a special session of the Security Council that it would help reverse the worsening crisis in the western region of Darfur.
"There is no time to waste," Annan warned the UN Security Council meeting in Kenya, in its first session outside its New York headquarters in 14 years.
"The speedy conclusion of the North-South talks would not only help curb the further spread of conflict to other parts of the country, it would also serve as a basis and catalyst for the resolution of existing conflicts," the UN secretary general said Thursday.
Both the Khartoum government and the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) said this week they expected to sign a deal to end their 21-year-old war within days of resuming negotiations on November 26.
Rebels in the Christian and animist south rose up against the Arab-led, Islamic Khartoum government in 1983, and a final accord to end the war in which some 1.5 million people are believed to have died appears close.
The bulk of the deal has been thrashed out over the last two years in Kenya, with key protocols on power and wealth sharing already struck, leaving only details of a comprehensive ceasefire and some military security arrangments to be ironed out.
"I cannot help feeling that the formation of a north/south government in Sudan would add weight and impetus to the search for a settlement in Darfur and elsewhere," said Annan.
Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha and SPLM/A leader John Garang both addressed the Nairobi meeting.
A separate conflict erupted in western Darfur in February 2003 the government quashed an indigenous rebellion was put down with the help of Arab militas, spawning what the UN terms the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The militias have been blamed for a campaign of ethnic cleansing including rape and pillaging, driving some 1.2 million from their homes.
Warning that Darfur was "rapidly degenerating into chaos and anarchy," Garang said "this overall situation, if left unchecked can eventually cause Sudan to implode and degenerate into statelessness and serious insecurity."
"The only way to avert this tragedy is to expedite the (north-south) peace process," he added, saying he felt a conclusive accord would be reached before the end of the year.
But Annan urged the Council to "send an urgent message" to Khartoum and Darfur's rebels to strive for a peaceful settlement.
"The terrible situation in Darfur has been brought about mainly by deliberate acts of violence against civilians, including widespread killing and rape," he said.
"The security situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate," despite ceasefires being signed, he added, saying government forces, allied militia and rebels had all "breached these agreements."
"Many innocent civilians continue to suffer as a result. This cannot be allowed to continue. The strongest warning to all the parties that are causing this suffering is essential. We cannot allow impunity," declared the secretary general.
Taha said the Sudanese government "would like to reiterate today our full commitment to achieve a peace agreement as soon as possible," but gave no specific time frame.
While the Security Council resolved in July to impose sanctions on Khartoum if it failed to rein in the Darfur militia groups, a draft resolution due to be adopted Friday in Nairobi makes no mention of such punitive measures.
Numerous aid agencies have called on the Council to take a tougher stance on Khartoum, saying it should impose sanctions and an arms embargo on the government to protect human rights in Darfur.
11/18/2004 - 12:25 GMT - AFP