VIOLENCE IN DARFUR REACHES CATASTROPHIC LEVELS: UN RELIEF CHIEF

August 10, 2006

GENEVA (AFP) - UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said that the number of violent attacks in Sudan's strife-torn western region of Darfur had more than doubled so far this year, reaching catastrophic levels.

"If there hadn't been a war in Lebanon we would all be up in arms about the deterioration in Darfur," Egeland told a news conference.

"We have record low access in Darfur and we have recorded a more than 100 percent increase in violent attacks and clashes in the first half of this year compared to the first half of 2005," he added.

"It's going from really bad to catastrophic in Darfur."

Nine aid workers have been killed in the past five weeks in the region, according to the United Nations.

Incidents involving relief workers have increased by 139 percent, while 30 aid agency vehicles have been hijacked since the beginning of the year compared to nine last year.

"We cannot keep up with the situation even though we have the biggest humanitarian operation on earth going in Darfur," Egeland said.

The UN's human rights office warned in a report Wednesday that the Darfur Peace Agreement is "doomed to failure" because the human rights situation in the region has deteriorated since the accord was signed in May.

The report estimated that 250,000 people were cut off from urgently needed assistance.