UN Chief to Visit Darfur Camp

Ban wants to witness plight first hand
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 5, 2007 5:39 AM CDT
UN Chief to Visit Darfur Camp
woman prepares the family meal in the Damrat, or nomadic encampment, of Surmi in Darfur. Decades of drought helped trigger Darfur's violence as rival groups fought over scarce water and arable land. Furthermore, refugees are rapidly destroying forests around the camps by cutting trees for firewood....   (Associated Press)

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit a refugee camp in Darfur to see for himself the plight of displaced people there and conditions facing UN peace keepers who will arrive next year. Ban, who's in Sudan on an official visit, is playing a double role, encouraging the Sudanese government's acceptance of peace keepers, while condemning violence in Darfur.

The four-year conflict in Darfur has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives and displaced millions. Sudan's government and its allies, Sudanese Arab militia groups, have been accused of atrocities against the black African population of Darfur. (More United Nations stories.)

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