The Sudanese Foreigh Minister denies the scope of the crisis in Darfur, while international officials threaten

According to a BBC News article on the visit of Mr Powell to Sudan (who threatened the Sudanese Government to take very serious actions), Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail accepted at a joint news conference after Mr Powell?s arrival that there was a problem in Darfur, but suggested it had been exaggerated. We believe that there is no famine, no epidemic, but that does not mean that there is no humanitarian problem which needs to be taken care of, he said. However, the head of the US Agency for International Aid, Andrew Natsios says that between 300,000 and one million people could starve in Darfur. As detailed in HIC-HLRN/OMCT joint open letter to the Sudanese President on 21 May 2004, two million people are affected. The practices that the Janjawid and the governmental troops have been using also have led UN General Secretary Kofi Annan to threaten the Sudanese Government of taking very serious international measures if nothing is done.