Straw to press Sudan over Darfur

The Red Cross is to send aid to Darfur later this week

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is to urge the Sudanese government to do more to address the problem of refugee security in the Darfur crisis.

Mr Straw has arrived in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, as rebel groups and the government take part in peace talks.

They are meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, behind closed doors.

The discussions come a week before a UN deadline expires for Sudan to quell the violence or face penalties.

Previous talks collapsed in July when the rebels walked out after the government refused to meet their terms.

I will impress on the government of Sudan the scale of international concern about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and the atrocities committed there UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw

Speaking to journalists on his plane, Mr Straw said his aim was to try to put pressure on the Sudanese government to do more to curb militia harassment of refugees and solve the humanitarian and political crisis, says the BBC's Bridget Kendall, who is travelling with the foreign secretary.

"I will impress on the government of Sudan the scale of international concern about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and the atrocities committed there," he said.

"I will impress on them the need to make full progress in implementing the obligations they have accepted under the UN Security Council resolution."

Upon arrival in Khartoum, Mr Straw was greeted by the Sudanese foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismael and left for talks at the ministry.

On Tuesday, he will meet President Omar el-Bashir and travel to the Abu Shouk refugee camp in northern Darfur.

Talks

In Abuja, the opening ceremony for the talks began an hour late in the imposing headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States, says the BBC's correspondent at the talks, Anna Borzello.

DARFUR CONFLICT More than 1m displaced Up to 50,000 killed More at risk from disease and starvation Arab militias accused of ethnic cleansing Sudan blames rebels for starting conflict Q&A: Darfur conflict

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is chairing the talks, called on participants to approach the peace process with an open mind.

"The embers of conflict in Africa are too many, too disturbing and too shameful," he said. "Let Darfur be one ember that will be put out here in Abuja."

His comments reflect the importance of the talks to the African Union, which has frequently stressed the need to find African solutions to the continent's problems, our correspondent says.

The real talks will now take place behind closed doors, with the rebels represented by their senior negotiators and the Sudan government by a delegation led by the agricultural minister.

However, the details of the agenda have not been released, beyond the fact that the participants will be seeking a political solution to the 18-month conflict in Darfur.

Desperate conditions

The UN estimates that up to 50,000 people have died in 18 months of violence blamed on Arab militiamen.

More than a million people have been forced to flee their homes to escape the fighting.

Some 180,000 people are living in desperate conditions in camps on Chad's side of the border.

On Tuesday evening, the international Red Cross says that later this week, it will begin its largest airborne operation since the 2003 war in Iraq to deliver aid supplies to Darfur.