U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has met with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail to discuss the crisis in the country's war-battered Darfur region.
Mr. Annan said Friday the two discussed the need to bring security to Sudan, so farmers can return to their lands in time for the planting season.
Upon his arrival in Khartoum, the secretary-general was met at the airport by Sudanese women protesting a U.N. Security Council decision to refer war crimes suspects in Darfur to an international court.
On Saturday, Mr. Annan will travel to South Darfur's state capital, Nyala.
The visit comes one day after he chaired an aid conference in Ethiopia, where donors pledged nearly $300 million additional dollars to expand the African Union's peacekeeping mission in Darfur.