Darfur attacks: UN envoy urged both sides to stop fighting

The top U.N. envoy in Sudan said he was horrified by fresh attacks in &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/367/12354_crisis.html' target=_blank>Darfur and urged both sides on Wednesday to stop fighting this month and conclude a peace agreement by the end of the year.

"Stop the fighting in February. Talk 10 months...but you should not give yourselves 10 years," envoy Jan Pronk said, referring a separate deal to end more than 20 years of civil war in southern &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2002/12/31/41561.html' target=_blank>Sudan signed last month after a decade of talks.

He told reporters that last week he visited the Labado area in the east of South Darfur state, which saw fierce fighting between the government and rebels in December, followed by what Pronk called a "systematic pattern" of attacks by militias on civilian villages in which many people died, informs Reuters.

According to the Zaman Online, EU Spokesperson Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said EU countries have studied the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2001/07/19/10478.html' target=_blank>United Nations' report on Darfur: "We have become one of the strongest supporters of the role of this court in the international community."