Darfur pressure mounts on Sudan

About a million have been forced from their homes

Sudan's leader says he is ready to work with the international community to resolve the Darfur conflict, that has left up to 50,000 dead.

President Omar al-Bashir, facing growing pressure and the threat of sanctions, said he believed dialogue could resolve the crisis.

EU ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss the situation.

About a million people have fled their homes, some into Chad, since the conflict started last year.

Sanctions warning

Pro-government Arab militias - Janjaweed - are accused of ethnic cleansing and even genocide against the region's black African population.

The UN has described Darfur as the world's worst humanitarian crisis and says food, water and medicines are running low in the refugee camps.

UK flight to take aid for Sudan

The Khartoum government denies that the Darfur conflict amounts to genocide and rejects claims that it is backing the Arab militias.

President Bashir has called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss Darfur on Tuesday.

He said the Sudanese people and their government were capable of solving the Darfur problem "through constructive dialogue".

"We are willing to co-operate with the African Union and the international community to resolve the crisis in the region," he told reporters in Khartoum.

Mr Bashir's comments come as international pressure mounts on his government to live up to its previous pledges to disarm the Janjaweed militias.

European pressure

The EU and the US have warned that sanctions could be imposed if the situation does not improve.

EU foreign ministers are holding talks on the crisis. They want to persuade the government and rebel groups to resume peace talks, and to improve access for aid workers.

There is a false impression now that things are improving in Darfur Jan Egeland UN emergency relief coordinator

Ahead of the meeting Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot told reporters that the EU would maintain its stance towards the Sudanese government.

"What is most important is to continue pressure on the Sudanese government," said Mr Bot, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

"It's not words that count, it's deeds ... If deeds are not following, then of course we will reconsider and see if sanctions or measures are necessary."

Sudanese ministers have warned the US against becoming embroiled in another "Iraq-style" crisis.

The ruling National Congress says it is mobilising international efforts to block any proposed sanctions.

On Monday, an aid flight organised by UK aid agency Oxfam and carrying 30 tons of water and sanitation equipment landed in Nyala, southern Darfur.

Deaths

The UN is warning that up to 50,000 people could have died so far, a far higher figure than previously thought.

UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said the outlook was "bleak" and "the deaths are increasing".

Children are dying from malnutrition in the camps

"There is a false impression now that things are improving in Darfur because we, the humanitarian community, are able to deploy much stronger than before," he told the AFP news agency.

Mr Egeland's spokeswoman told BBC News Online that the figures were estimates, given that the situation on the ground was unclear.

In neighbouring Chad, aid workers are continuing efforts to distribute supplies in two camps where operations were suspended for several days last week because of violence.

Several thousand refugees without food are waiting to get into the Farchana and Bredjing camps which are already sheltering an estimated 43,000 people.

The BBC's Andrew Simmons, who has been to the camps, says aid officials are complaining of unnecessary bureaucracy in registering people.

French visit

The Chadian authorities, which fear Sudanese Arab militias were involved in last week's violence, are understood to be insisting on procedures which lengthen the registration process.

This problem, combined with difficulties in transporting supplies to around 180,000 refugees in camps straddling the Chad-Sudan border, is causing increased anxiety, our correspondent reports.

Relief agencies say more international help is required. France, which has an air base in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena, is coming under pressure to do more.

The French Foreign Minister, Michel Barnier, is beginning a three-day visit which will include both Chad and Sudan.

He is expected to try to exert more influence on the Sudanese government to resolve the conflict.