Sudan Agrees to Disarm Arab Militias in Dafur to Avert U.N. Sanctions

A U.N. special envoy for Sudan and the Sudanese foreign minister have agreed on a plan to disarm Arab militias accused of a reign of terror in Sudan's western Darfur region to avert sanctions threatened by the U.N. Security Council.

U.N. special envoy Jan Pronk and Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail "reached agreement last night on detailed steps to be taken in the next 30 days to begin disarming the Janjaweeds and other outlaw groups, improve the security in Darfur and address the humanitarian crisis," said a U.N. spokeswoman, Denise Cook.

According to Cook, the text of the agreement will be reviewed by the Sudanese Cabinet.

On August 4, over 100,000 Sudanese protested at the United Nations office in Khartoum against the organization's intervention in the Darfur region. According to news agencies reports, the protesters were organized by the Sudanese government.

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