Annan urges Khartoum to contain Janjawid militia at centre of crisis.

EL-FESHIR, Sudan (AFP) - UN chief Kofi Annan urged the Khartoum government to bring under control the Janjawid militia at the centre of the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Darfur, during a visit to the region.

“The government should be containing the Janjawid and not fighting side by side with them,” he said during talks with Interior Minister Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein and North Darfur state Governor Mohammed Osman Kibir.

“The UN is prepared to work with you on the humanitarian front to ensure that we do not have a humanitarian disaster,” Annan said at the meeting, which was open to journalists accompanying the secretary general. …

The Khartoum government has the responsibility “to ensure law and order” and protect its citizens, he said.

And if “urging” doesn’t work, no doubt Annan will call meetings and draft resolutions and commission studies of the matter. Be afraid, Khartoum.

Strangely enough, the barbarous Khartoum government doesn’t seem very frightened by Kofi’s rhetoric.

Kibir tried to give assurances that government forces would confront the militias and denied allegations that Khartoum was in cohorts with the Arab fighters.

“We are preparing ourselves to pursue them,” he said. “The government has nothing to do with the Janjawid … The government is not fighting side by side. They have a separate agenda.”