US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a congratulatory round of meetings with officials of the new unified Sudanese government today, but expressed outrage that Sudanese security forces manhandled aides and reporters accompanying her.

As a UN deadline expires for Sudan to ease the crisis in Darfur, the situation on the ground remains bleak – villagers forced from their homes by gunmen on horseback still cower in camps for the displaced, and reports the Sudanese military is bombing villagers continue to surface.

FOR the people of Sudan it remains to be seen whether the visit of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, the last-minute commitments by the government of Sudan to allow access by international organisations and recent steps to arrest some members of the Janjaweed will translate into real action to end the cycle of violence, rape and killing.