U.N.'s Ban heads for Sudan in Darfur peace drive

By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flies to Sudan on Monday to push for talks between the government and rebels to end the four-year-old crisis in Darfur and clear the way for a big peacekeeping force.

Ban, who will also visit neighboring Chad and Libya during a six-day tour, intends to press President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to commit to a negotiated solution and let the peacekeepers do their job, U.N. officials and diplomats say.

Ban, who during his eight months in office has already met Bashir twice in other countries, has put top priority on resolving the conflict in Darfur, western Sudan.

International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died and over 2 million been made homeless in Darfur since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglecting the region. Khartoum says 9,000 have died.

Aides to Ban sought to play down expectations of the tour.

"This is not a trip about breakthroughs. We're not at a breakthrough stage," one senior official said. "There's been progress. He (Ban) is going to be consolidating that progress there and he'll be laying the groundwork for additional forward movement."

But diplomats said the stakes were high and that failure in Sudan would damage the world body's global efforts.

Khartoum and rebel groups, of which there are currently about a dozen, have promised in principle to attend peace talks Ban hopes will take place in October. During his trip he could announce a venue and a more specific date.