Nairobi/Khartoum - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki- moon continued his visit to Sudan on Wednesday with a stop at the al- Salim refugee camp in the Darfur region to get a view for himself of the conditions of the civilian population there.
A United Nations handout picture shows United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (C) working on a plane en route to the Sudan from Italy with head of UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Jean-Marie Guehenno (L) and DPKO Political Affairs Officer Michael Gaouette on 03 September 2007. The Secretary General is on a week-long trip to Africa. EPA/EVAN SCHNEIDER / UNITED NATIONS
Ban praised Sudanese President Omar Beshir who agreed to support Ban's efforts toward a ceasefire and the start of political talks.
A UN spokesman in New York confirmed that the UN head had invited the parties in the conflict to joint talks in New York to take place September 21, with Khartoum represented by Foreign Minister Lam Akol.
Ban had on Tuesday in the southern Sudanese city of Juba called for peace, urging the Sudanese parties that ended the civil war between the Islamic north and Christian south to implement peace agreements they signed two years ago.
On Tuesday evening Ban named as new special envoy to Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, a Pakistani diplomat who has represented the United Nations in Iraq since 2004. He is to take over from Dutchman Jan Pronk, who a year ago was censured by the Beshir government.
In addition, Beshir agreed to release Suleiman Jamous, a high- ranking officer of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army organization. Ban characterized Jamous as an experienced negotiator who could play an important role in the Darfur peace talks.
Fighting between government troops and various militias in the Darfur region in the country's west has left at least 2.5 million people homeless. In the four years of continuous conflict, at least 200,000 people have been killed.
Ban in the past has declared that he would make Darfur a priority of his work.
During his Africa tour - which is to include a visit to Chad and Libya at the weekend - Ban is attempting to set up conditions for the speedy deployment of peacekeeping troops from the United Nations and the African Union in 2008. With an expected deployment of 26,000 troops it would be the largest contingent of UN troops anywhere.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
Your Talkback on this Story