Jan Egeland, the UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator said in his analysis published in local newspaper The Standard on Friday that the humanitarian disaster was looming in strife-torn region if the world did not take quick action to get relief in, protect the civilian population and secure a political settlement that stopped the violence once and for all.

    "If we are to avoid an imminent, massive loss of life, we need immediate action -- from the government of Sudan, the rebels, UN Security Council members and donor governments," he said.

    "Rebel attacks continue against civilian as well as humanitarian operations. We now have 14,000 unarmed aid workers, mostly Sudanese, in Darfur, but only half as many African Union troops on the ground to enforce a failed ceasefire in an area the size of Texas," wrote Egeland on the eve of his first visit to Darfur since being blocked from Sudan last month.

    We urgently need progress on all fronts -- security, humanitarian access and political engagement -- to prevent the death toll in Darfur from rising exponentially, he said.

    Egeland, who is due in Darfur on Saturday, said political progress was particularly important for an intensification of the peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria but for a workable peace to be implemented in every village throughout the region.