Thousands face new risk in Sudan

There is not enough food, water or medicine in the refugee camps

Up to 10,000 Sudanese refugees could die from disease in July, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.

Aid agencies say that many thousands more are at risk of starvation in the Darfur region, where some one million have fled their homes.

The onset of the rainy season could help spread cholera, malaria and dysentery, a WHO official says.

At least 10,000 have already died in a conflict in which Arab militias are accused of "ethnic cleansing".

Immediate action

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is visiting some of the 120,000 who have fled Darfur for neighbouring Chad.

During this week's high-profile visits to Darfur by Mr Annan and US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Sudan government promised to rein in the Janjaweed militias.

Mr Powell warned that the UN Security Council could act if the violence continued. He said the government must take action "within days or weeks".

They took men and slit their throats with swords. The women they took as concubines Zahara, 20 Aid worker's diary

Senior Sudanese officials have denied that the militia is being backed by the government.

Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid said there was no systematic violence in the region and that the problem was the rebels who attacked police stations and aid convoys.

There is not enough food, water or medical supplies in the camps, where black African villagers have fled Janjaweed attacks.

"We anticipate that if things go ahead as they are at this moment, 10,000 people will die in the next month," said David Nabarro, head of the WHO's crisis operations, following a week-long trip to Darfur.

Emergency United Nations Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said that getting help to Darfur, an area the size of France with few roads and little infrastructure was "one of the biggest logistical nightmares in the history of humanitarian assistance."

"We've doubled our presence in Darfur over the last five weeks and we will double again in the next five weeks, but we still need to triple it," he said.

Camp closed

In Zam Zam camp near the North Darfur capital, El Fasher, Mr Annan sat in a circle with refugees, listening to them explain why they could not return to their homes.

"First the planes were flying over us and bombing us. Then the Janjaweed came," said Zahara, 20.

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"They started to shoot and burn. They took all our belongings. They took men and slit their throats with swords. The women they took as concubines," she said.

The refugees also say the threat of sexual violence remains if they venture out of the camps to fetch firewood.

"I agree with you and I am in discussions with the Sudanese government to make sure there is security so that you can go home," he told refugees.

He promised that they would not be forced to return home.

However, when he visited another camp, Meshtel, he found that the 3,000 people had been moved on - after UN officials had visited the night before.

"Where are the people?" the New York Times quotes Mr Annan as asking.

Sudanese official Al Noor Muhammad Ibrahim said they had been moved because conditions there were so bad but denied it was an attempt to hide the truth from the UN chief.

The crisis developed after two rebel groups took up arms against the government in February of last year, demanding more rights for black Africans.

At least 10,000 people have been killed. A ceasefire was signed earlier this year, but frequent violations have been reported.