WASHINGTON - The United States said Wednesday it was "deeply disturbed" at clashes in Sudan's western Darfur region and renewed demands for Khartoum to act immediately to rein in pro-government militias blamed for much of the violence.
The State Department, echoing calls from the United Nations and relief agencies, also urged the Sudanese authorities to lift remaining restrictions on aid workers but said the ongoing fighting was the chief hurdle to preventing a humanitarian catastrophe.
"We're deeply disturbed by the reports of new violence," spokesman Richard Boucher said when asked about clashes reported by both sides over the past several days despite a ceasefire deal brokered in April. "This is the greatest obstacle to humanitarian assistance."
"The government of Sudan must end the violence in Darfur, rein in the Arab militias in accordance with their April 8 cease-fire commitments and allow the cease-fire monitors full freedom of movement," he told reporters.
At least 10,000 people are believed killed in Darfur during the year-old conflict. More than one million people have been displaced from their homes and a further 100,000 forced to seek refuge in neighboring Chad.
Earlier Wednesday, the World Health Organization warned that a catastrophe was looming in Darfur where it said millions face "dire" health consequences unless international aid is urgently stepped up.
Washington has for months been highly critical of Khartoum's behavior in Darfur and has been at the forefront of calls for it to open the region to aid workers to ease what the United Nations has termed the world's worst current humanitarian crisis.
Boucher noted that some restrictions on disaster assistance teams had been lifted but that aid operations continued to be constrained by customs and government requirements on locally hired workers.
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