The United Nations begins a three-day fact-finding mission in troubled Darfur today to establish whether the Sudanese government has fulfilled its pledges to improve security and rein in Arab militia accused of months of atrocities.

AROUND 30,000 Sudanese victims of fresh attacks by Arab militia inside Darfur are threatening to cross into Chad unless the international community acts to protect them.

Sudanese authorities have restored aid deliveries to a camp for 90,000 displaced people in Darfur, UN officials said, three days after soldiers reportedly closed the camp following a mob killing of an alleged pro-government militiaman.

SUDAN yesterday said it expected to meet a UN deadline in three weeks’ time for it to improve security and human rights in its troubled Darfur region.

Arab countries say that the Sudanese government needs more time to end the crisis in its troubled western Darfur region, where purportedly state-backed Arab militias are accused of killing thousands of African villagers.

THE Arab League chief pledged support for Sudan's government before an emergency meeting on the violence that has killed thousands in that country's Darfur region.

Sudan stepped back today from rejecting the UN Security Council resolution on Darfur, with Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail saying such talk was unwarranted.

The European Union has joined the US in threatening sanctions against Sudan, hoping to pressure the African country’s government to end the conflict in its western region of Darfur.

Sudan’s foreign minister today insisted that Arab militias responsible for killings in the troubled Darfur region would be prosecuted, but again denied that the attacks amounted to genocide.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sudan must act quickly to disarm Arab militias in its western Darfur region or face possible UN sanctions, stepping up pressure on Khartoum despite its accusation of US and British meddling in the crisis.

AS THE humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s western Darfur province deepened at the weekend, Development Minister Tom Kitt pledged an additional €3 million in aid for the troubled region.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has criticised the Sudanese government, saying it fails to realise the gravity of a humanitarian crisis threatening one million people in Darfur.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan flew to Sudan today for a firsthand look at what his officials are calling the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in the violence-torn Darfur region.

A rusting cargo ship described as a floating “atomic bomb” was under heavy guard today as Greek authorities struggled to unravel its last voyage.

Six university students armed with hand grenades and pistols who seized an Ethiopian plane with at least 50 passengers and diverted it to Khartoum have released all their hostages and surrendered, officials said today.