UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will meet Security Council members on Monday to discuss the situation in Sudan, especially its war-torn region of Darfur, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters that Annan wants to focus on Darfur given the urgency of the situation on the ground, where deadly clashes between government forces, allied militias and rebel groups continue.

UN officials have estimated that as many as four million Sudanese will need emergency aid by the middle of the year because of the conflict in Darfur, which began in early 2003 when rebels took up arms.

The conflict has left tens of thousands of civilians killed and almost two million others forced from their homes.

A commission of inquiry into the Darfur conflict, appointed last year by Annan, found that while genocide had not occurred, government forces and allied militias had engaged in war crimes and crimes against humanity. It also found credible evidence that rebels were responsible for possible war crimes. The inquiry recommended the perpetrators be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution.

The Security Council has been divided over a draft resolution proposed earlier by the United States, which would authorize the establishment of a peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan and impose sanctions on the Sudanese government over Darfur.

France, Britain and other council members from Europe have demanded the resolution be amended to include provisions referring the crimes in Darfur to the ICC. But the request was rejected by the United States, a strong opponent of The Hague-based court.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2005)