"(Al-Bashir has made a commitment) to ensure security for the civilian population by deploying civilian police and by disarming militias," said Annan

KHARTOUM , July 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Sudan 's government has pledged to send troops to disarm militiamen in Darfur , as it came under more pressure to end one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday, July 2, that Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir had undertaken to disarm the militias blamed for driving more than one million Sudanese from their homes in the remote region.

"(Sudanese President Omar) Al-Bashir has made a commitment to ensure security for the civilian population by deploying civilian police and by disarming militias," Annan was quoted by Reuters as saying after talks with in Khartoum .

Annan has visited several camps in a tour aimed at pressing Bashir's government to end the 16-month conflict. He pressed Sudan 's government to make good on promises to disarm the Janjaweed militia, blamed for attacks on black Africans.

"My message is simple, violence must stop,"' he said.

"The Janjaweed must be stopped and a cease-fire must be respected by all."

The government said Saturday, July 3, in a joint statement with the UN that Sudan will take immediate steps to disarm the state-sponsored Arab militias accused of sparking a humanitarian crisis in the western region of Darfur .

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said Sudan would deploy more forces to rein in the militias as well as rebels who launched a revolt last year accusing Khartoum of arming the militias. Khartoum denies the charge.

"We still say we need to do more on the security. (The Interior Minister) is going to deploy 6,000 police in Darfur ," Ismail was quoted by the Guardian as saying Saturday.

"The priority now is for security, then the return of the displaced persons, and this is to go hand in hand with the political settlement," Ismail said.

Annan arrived in the capital, Khartoum , after visiting Sudanese refugees at a camp in Chad on a tour.

Sanctions

Sudan 's pledge came as the United States raised the possibility of sanctions if the government fails to act quickly to end attacks by the Arab militias and allow humanitarian aid to reach displaced people.

The top US State Department official for African affairs has said he expects evidence of possible war crimes by the Arab militias to be gathered by UN workers and African Union monitors in the Darfur region.

"If you're asking for my personal view I think there will be evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity," Charles Snyder, assistant secretary for African affairs, told Radio France Internationale in an interview aired Friday.

"It hasn't been gathered yet but it's in the process of -- the next two weeks or so -- of being gathered," Snyder was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell also visited Sudan this week, and made clear to Khartoum leaders that the United States is only willing to wait a "few weeks" for the government to act, said Andrew Natsios, head of the US Agency for International Development, who traveled with Powell.

"We're talking days, weeks, not months - not a month - to see whether or not they do what they said they would do," said Snyder, who Friday gave a briefing the U.N. Security Council in New York .

Annan and Powell, who met in the Khartoum airport before the US official wrapped up his visit, had threatened  Sudan with an unspecified UN Security Council action if it failed to crack down on the Janjaweed.

Backing Action

Britain also said it would support any action by the world organization against the Sudanese government on Darfur .

Fresh from a fact-finding trip to Sudan , Cabinet Minister Hilary Benn said Thursday, July 1, it was a "race against time" to halt the crisis in Darfur .

It was the "most serious humanitarian emergency in the world today", Benn said.

The UN children's agency in Geneva said Friday that many young people from Darfur either had been victims of violence or scarred by witnessing violent acts, including rape and murder.

"I spoke with scores of children, who simply tell what they have seen - infants shot in front of them, parents gunned down in fields, mothers raped ... and people being forced to run for their lives with nothing," said Dan Toole, UNICEF's director of emergency operations.

UN officials have called the situation the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and Annan has said it "is bordering on ethnic cleansing", according to the Guardian.

Many Sudanese who have fled tell similar stories of airplanes dropping bombs and raiders on horseback who burn, kill and loot.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than a million forced from their homes, most taking shelter in makeshift camps with little access to clean water or proper sanitation.

The Sudanese government denies any complicity in the militia attacks and says the warring sides are clashing over land and scarce water resources.