Annan joins Powell in Sudan visit

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.

He joins US Secretary of State Colin Powell on an unusually high-powered visit to press the Sudanese government to end a 16-month conflict that has killed up to 30,000 people, driven more than a million from their homes and left more than two million in desperate need of aid.

Through their visits, the two leaders hope to draw attention to the unfolding crisis and ensure it is not ignored like the Rwandan genocide was a decade ago.

Annan has raised the possibility of sending in international troops if Sudan’s government cannot safeguard its people in the vast and desolate western region.

Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail and Humanitarian Affairs Minister Mohammed Yousef Abdallah were at the airport to welcome Annan, who is on a three-week trip to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Human rights groups have accused the government of backing militias drawn from Arab herders in a campaign to forcibly remove African farming communities from the region, where they have coexisted and in some cases intermarried for centuries.

Claiming atrocities were being carried out with the “full cooperation” of the government, student protesters clashed with riot police today in the Sudanese capital. Five students were injured, UN officials said.

Annan said last week that the situation was “bordering on ethnic cleansing,” and UN human rights investigator Asma Jahangir said she saw “strong indications of crimes against humanity” during a 13-day visit to Darfur in early June.