OSLO - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Sudanese officials called on the generosity of donors gathered here Monday to help rebuild Sudan's pacified southern region but not at the detriment of strife-torn Darfur.
"All the people of Sudan want clean water, food for their families, schools for their children, proper healthcare, and the prospect of development. They have earned this peace. We should not fail them," Annan told donors.
He said 2.6 billion dollars were needed by the end of 2007 for reconstruction and development after a peace accord signed in January between the government and rebelsh ended 21 years of conflict in Sudan's south.
At least 1.5 million people were killed and another four million displaced, some of whom have already returned and are the priority for aid.
"Pledges are good but cash is better," Annan said, warning against "failure of donor governments to follow up on their pledges."
"I ask the international community to assist the people of Sudan ... through generous pledges followed by cash," said the head of Sudan's former rebels, John Garang.
Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha said there was a "need to cancel Sudan's debt and lift all trade sanctions."
The World Bank estimates Sudan's debt at some 24 billion dollars -- mostly in arrears.
"It could be reduced to four to five billions once there is peace in Sudan, including in Darfur," World Bank Sudan's representative Ishac Diwan told AFP, expressing hope fighting there could stop within 12 months.
The western Darfur region has since February 2003 been gripped by a rebellion by local people of black African origin and fought mainly by an Arabic militia, the Janjawid, widely accused of perpetrating genocide and a scorched earth policy against villagers.
The World Bank pledged 50 million dollars to Sudan's reconstruction and Diwan said it would pledge "at least 150 million a year" once the country's debt problem is solved.
Norway said it would allocate 250 million dollars over three years.
The United States is expected to contribute 1.8 billion dollars over the next two years.
An upbeat Garang told AFP that "we believe the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement) is really a model for solving similar problems in Darfur and eastern Sudan. (It) provides for pwer sharing and security arrangements and this could be adapted and applied to Darfur in some form."
US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, who will attend the second day of the Oslo conference on Tuesday before visiting Sudan, is to pledge 900 million dollars, already appropriated, US media reported last week.
The US administration is to ask Congress for another 400 million dollars this year and a similar sum in the next budget, the Washington Times said.
Japan announced Monday it would offer 100 million dollars in aid.
"We plan to actively implement 100 million dollars of aid for the time being," a Japanese foreign ministry spokeswoman said in Tokyo.
Khartoum will finance another 5.2 billion dollars from its own oil resources, according to a report compiled last month by government representatives and ex-rebels.
Annan insisted that Darfur should not be forgotten by the world community as he called for a rapid political solution to the two-year-old conflict that has left more than 300,000 people dead.
"'Darfur' must not become a code word for hesitant or piecemeal support for the recovery of the rest of Sudan," he said.
"The only route to peace in Darfur is a political settlement, and progress is needed urgently in Abuja," he said in reference to Kenya-mediated talks between Khartoum and Darfur rebels.
Taha said his country was "committed to working out a political settlement in Abuja as soon as possible."
Annan also underscored that a recent UN resolution to refer presumed war criminals in Darfur to the International Criminal Court was not directed against the Sudanese government.
"These measures are not aimed at the people, nor their government, nor Islam -- as some are attempting to allege. Rather, they target individuals responsible for heinous acts that neither the people of Sudan nor the rest of the world will tolerate," he said.
The resolution infuriated Sudan and prompted President Omar al-Beshir to solemnly swear "thrice in the name of Almighty Allah that I shall never hand any Sudanese national to a foreign court."

04/11/2005 14:15 GMT