Sudan: Senior UN envoy to monitor progress on Darfur

A top UN envoy is to hold talks with Sudanese leaders on progress made since Khartoum and the UN signed a joint communiqué under which Sudan's government pledged to improve security and facilitate access by aid workers to people affected by conflict in the western region of Darfur. Secretary-General Kofi Annan dispatched his Special Representative to Sudan, Jan Pronk, to participate in the first meeting of the Joint Implementation Mechanism, which was set up on 3 July. His visit comes against a background of continuing insecurity in Darfur, with UN humanitarian agencies reporting violent clashes between government forces and two rebel groups, as well as inter-ethnic fighting, UN News reported.