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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

(Newser) – 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.

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. (AP Photo/Alfred de Montesquiou)
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,...   (Associated Press)
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, right, greets Sudan's Ambassador to the United Nations Abdelmahmoud Abdelhalim Mohamed at Khartoum airport in Khartoum, Sudan Monday, Sept. 3, 2007.   U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Sudan, Monday to mobilize support for speedy deployment of a new 26,000-strong peacekeeping force in Darfur...
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, right, greets Sudan's Ambassador to the United Nations Abdelmahmoud Abdelhalim Mohamed at Khartoum airport in Khartoum, Sudan Monday, Sept. 3, 2007. U.N. Secretary-General...   (Associated Press)
Sudanese students hold a protest during the official visit of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the south Sudan's capital Juba Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007.   The U.N. Secretary-General voiced optimism Tuesday for a peaceful resolution of Sudan's conflicts as he visited to the south of the country to inspect...
Sudanese students hold a protest during the official visit of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the south Sudan's capital Juba Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007. The U.N. Secretary-General voiced...   (Associated Press)
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