Darfur, Sudan
Sudan’s Darfur region is a humanitarian catastrophe, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this week. “The looming threat of complete lawlessness and anarchy draws nearer, particularly in western Darfur, as warlords, bandits, and militia groups grow more aggressive,” Annan said. If peace talks now going on in Nigeria do not produce a cease-fire soon, he added, the losses could be staggering. The Darfur conflict started two years ago when black rebel groups began fighting the Sudanese government, which then unleashed Arab militias against the civilian population. Nearly 2 million people have been uprooted, and thousands of women have been raped.
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