ABUJA, July 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjois to send his special envoy to Sudan and neighboring Chad for talks on the Darfur crisis, his spokesperson said Monday.

    Obasanjo, also newly elected chairman of the African Union (AU)and head of the continental bloc's newly formed Peace and SecurityCouncil, is to send Abdulsalami Abubakar to Sudan and Chad this week, his office said Monday.

    A former military ruler of Nigeria, Abubakar ruled the west African country in 1998 to 1999, overseeing the country's transition to civilian rule.

    Obasanjo will also undertake other efforts to bring peace to the continent's troubled spots.

    United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is to talk with African leaders about peace efforts in Darfur and Cote d'Ivoire Thursday in Ghana's Accra, a Nigerian government spokesperson saidMonday.

    Annan is to meet Obasanjo and other west African leaders in theevent initiated by the AU chairman, said Remi Oyo, spokesperson for Obasanjo. Obasanjo is to brief the UN chief on the actions taken so far to halt what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

    Since the indigenous revolted against the Khartoum government in February last year, about 30,000 people were killed and over one million displaced in the region, roughly the size of Kenya. The bulk of killings and displacement were mainly blamed on an Arab militia called the Janjaweed.

    The United Nations is considering a US proposed resolution on sanctions against the Janjaweed, and the United States and the European Union both brandished threats of sanctions against the Khartoum government, urging it to disarm the militia. Enditem