UN raps Sudan over Darfur crisis

More than one million people have been displaced in the conflict

Sudan's government has failed to keep its promise to end violence in its western Darfur region over the past month, a UN special envoy says.

Jan Pronk told the UN Security Council that attacks on civilians continued and that both pro-government forces and rebel groups had broken a truce.

His comments came amid reports that Libya planned to host a mini-summit on the Darfur crisis later in October.

The 19-month conflict has killed more than 50,000 people.

Today, still increasing numbers of the population in Darfur are exposed, without any protection from the government, to hunger, fear and violence UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

It has also forced some 1.4 million of people to flee their homes.

The pro-government Arab militia, the Janjaweed, has been accused of killing thousands of black African civilians and emptying villages as part of a campaign against rebels in Darfur.

Tough message

The message from the UN's envoy to Sudan was bleak, the BBC's Suzannah Price at the UN headquarters in New York reports.

Mr Pronk said the Sudanese government had not stopped militia atrocities against civilians or brought the killers to justice.

Mr Pronk said the army had continued its attacks, sometimes with helicopter gunships and neither the government nor the rebels had respected the ceasefire signed on 8 April.

Sudan has now said it will welcome more troops from the African Union (AU).

But the UN envoy said these troops should not only monitor the ceasefire but ensure the safety of the displaced, oversee the disarming of fighters and act as a buffer between civilians and possible attackers.

Mr Pronk's address to the council came shortly after the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan issued his monthly report on Darfur, which stressed the deteriorating plight of civilians exposed to hunger, fear and violence.

The UN Security Council last month adopted a resolution which threatened oil sanctions against Sudan if it did not reign in the militias.

The resolution also insisted that the Sudanese government co-operate with international monitors from the African Union, and asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to establish a commission of inquiry to decide whether the Darfur killings amount to genocide.

But the text failed to set out a timeline for disarmament or for peace talks.

Libya summit

Mr Pronk's briefing came amid reports that Libya was preparing to host a mini-summit on the Darfur crisis later in October.

"A summit of the leaders of three countries neighbouring Sudan - Chad, Egypt and Libya - and the Nigerian president, who is the current chairman of the African Union, will take place in Libya this month," a Libyan government source told Reuters news agency.

Libya had also reportedly invited the Sudanese president and the two main rebel groups.

The source said the talks were scheduled to take place for 15 to 17 October.