Darfur violence may be worse despite U.N. efforts

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The violence against civilians in Sudan's Darfur region may be worsening, despite seven U.N. Security Council resolutions and four years of efforts to end it, the United Nations chief said on Friday.

"Four years ago this week, the Security Council first took up the issue of Darfur," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement. "The situation remains grim today, as then, if not worse."

"Violence targeting civilians, including women and girls, continues at alarming levels with no accountability or end in sight" and Kartoum and the rebels have yet to "lay down their arms and commit to a peaceful settlement," he said.

"A peacekeeping operation can only be effective when there is a peace to keep."

Ban's comments came after the U.S. presidential envoy for Darfur, Richard Williamson, sent him a letter urging him to speed up deployment of peacekeepers to Darfur and ensure that at least 3,600 new soldiers and police are there by June.

Only some 9,000 of the planned 26,000 U.N.-African Union peacekeepers have been deployed to Darfur.

Western governments have blamed Khartoum for the slow progress, saying it has delayed approval of the composition of the force and set up unnecessary obstacles.

U.N. peacekeeping officials also complain of a lack of helicopters needed to move troops around Darfur, which is roughly the size of France. Some diplomats say neither The United States nor Russia has put enough pressure on China to influence Khartoum to stop trying to delay the deployment.