U.N. official cuts short trip to Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A United Nations official returned early from Sudan's troubled Darfur region because he was banned from traveling outside the region's capitals.

U.N. Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland returned to Khartoum two days earlier than scheduled because he was denied permission to travel beyond Darfur's state capitals "for unspecified security reasons," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The undersecretary visited two of six locations where he was to "review the humanitarian situation in those critical areas," Dujarric said. "But when the Sudanese government said no to four of those locations, Mr. Egeland cut short his trip with regret, saying that he refused to 'go and just sit in the offices.'"

The incident came as the Sudan government agreed to let U.N. peacekeepers join African Union peacekeepers in their effort to halt the violence in Darfur.

Fighting among government forces, militias and rebels have killed at least 200,000 people in the strife-torn region. More than 2 million others have been displaced.