More police, human rights monitors and African Union peacekeepers are urgently needed in Sudan's western Darfur region where fighting rages on despite a peace accord ending a separate conflict in southern Sudan, a senior UN official says.
Mr Jan Pronk, the special UN envoy for Sudan, told the UN Security Council arms were flooding into Darfur, violence was spreading beyond camps for the homeless, banditry was on the rise and rebels were staging attacks near oil facilities.
"We may move into a period of intense violence unless swift action is taken," Mr Pronk said. "I do not exclude the possibility that the signature of the agreement (on the south) will be followed in the short term by an intensification of violence in and around Darfur."
Mr Pronk said he had asked the United Nations to send in 117 human rights observers and the African Union hoped to soon deploy 150 of a promised 800 police officers.
But more help was quickly needed and possible options included police officers from the European Union, more AU peacekeepers, and a small civilian monitoring protection team similar to one now deployed in the south, Mr Pronk said.
US Ambassador Mr John Danforth backed Mr Pronk's proposals.
"I am for protecting the lives of the people of Darfur. I am for doing that on a very urgent basis," he told reporters. "We must be focused on what practical steps can be taken."