The U.N. special envoy for Sudan warned Thursday that the country's war-torn region of Darfur could "easily enter a state of anarchy, total collapse of law and order." Jan Pronk, who shuttled between Khartoum and New York as the top- ranking U.N. envoy, told the U.N. Security Council that the conflict in Darfur was changing in character because, on one side of the conflict, Khartoum had lost control over its Arab militias and, on the other, the leaders of the main African rebel groups were competing against one another. He said the rebel leaders were controlling a vast territory in Darfur and taking care of the needs of people under their control, but some rebel commanders were provoking adversaries by stealing, hijacking and killing. "Fighting is breaking out in more and more places," Pronk told the 15-nation council. "Militias are ganging up, government authorities are not able to exert a moderating influence or they respond with untimely and even counterproductive measures." After his comments, the U.N. Security Council began meeting on the crisis. --More 0006 Local Time 2106 GMT
