CAIRO, July 26 (IslamOnline.net) – The head of an Egyptian relief group has urged all Arab and Muslim aid and relief groups to try their best in helping out the residents of the devastated Sudan’s Darfur region.

“Foot-dragging on aid efforts to Darfur will create a sense of frustration across the Arab world and pave the way for west-imposed solutions,” said Dr. Mansour Hassan, chairman of the Physicians Syndicate’s Aid committee in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria.

Marking the return of the first Egyptian aid convoy from Darfur, Hassan warned that Arab apathy will alienate the Sudanese generations to come.

“Younger generations will find themselves flooded by foreign aid workers and feel affinity towards them if their Arab brothers let them down.”

Bearing this in mind, he added, the Egyptian aid convoy headed to war-torn Darfur to demonstrate to its population that the Arabs do feel for them and expose what he termed as the “conspiracy of western media”.

The convoy consisted of 12 Egyptian physicians of different specialties.

It started its tour with a visit to El-Fashir town, where they were provided unhindered access by officials to refugee camps and hospitals.

The voluntary doctors have conducted checkups on up to 10,000 patients and performed some 140 surgeries.

El-Fashir has a population of 1.5 million people and is home now to around 330,000 refugees. It has taken the brunt of the deadly civil war in Darfur.

Al-Janina town, on the borders with Chad, was the convoy’s second stop. The doctors gave treatment to some 6,000 cases as ophthalmologists performed 80 cataract operations.

The Egyptian delegation struck a number of agreements with the Sudanese health ministry and the Islamic Relief Agency to build an eye clinic in the two devastated towns.

Under the agreements, Egypt will provide the special eye hospital with necessary medical equipment.

International pressure was growing on Sudan to get to grips with the humanitarian crisis in Darfur but Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir accused the western powers of using the situation to target Islam.

Britain said it could send thousands of troops to the region if required, and Australia also said it was considering a UN request for military personnel to join a mission there.

The region of Darfur is 125,000 square miles - almost the size of the United Kingdom. It is a harsh desert area with a population of seven million.

Some 1.2 million people have reportedly been driven from their homes since a revolt against the government broke out in February 2003.

On Thursday, July 22, the United States put forward a draft UN Security Council resolution authorizing sanctions against Sudan if it does not prosecute leaders of Arab militia Janjaweed.