KHARTOUM, Sudan - Secretary of State Colin Powell issued a direct appeal Tuesday night to President Omar el-Bashir to rein in militia groups that he said were responsible for a "horrific" humanitarian crisis in western Sudan, including the uprooting of more than 1 million people.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail, appearing afterward with Powell at a news conference, said there may be some humanitarian problems in Darfur province but insisted "there is no famine, no malnutrition and no disease" in the area.

He promised to be responsive to repeated U.S. appeals for Sudan to lift restrictions on humanitarian access to Darfur and to disarm government- backed Arab militias that have been attacking the province's black population.

Powell said, "There is a need for additional security so that the humanitarian effort can go on unimpeded."
Powell's decision to become the first secretary of state to visit Sudan in 26 years underscored the depth of his concern about the situation in Darfur, which has been described by U.N. officials and others as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Speaking to reporters while flying to the East African country, Powell said prompt action to ease the suffering is needed.

"The death rate is going to go up significantly over the next several months," he said, regardless of how quickly outside aid can be provided.

Powell's stop here coincides with a visit by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is making the same points to Sudanese authorities.

Annan, in the Persian Gulf emirate Qatar on Tuesday, said el-Bashir's government is responsible for protecting the Darfuris.

"If that government is not able or willing to do it, the international community has to do something about it," Annan said. "It cannot sit idle and complain that yet again we have had mass killings."

Annan flies into Khartoum on Wednesday and, like Powell, will inspect the western Sudan region.

The secretary of state arrived here on a steamy evening punctuated by fireworks set off in advance of Wednesday's celebrations of National Salvation Revolution Day.

Powell planned to spend part of Wednesday visiting several camps that serve as temporary refuges for people who have been displaced during 16 months of ethnically based conflict. Satellite photographs indicate that hundreds of villages have been razed.

Darfur is one of the world's hardest-to-reach regions, making humanitarian access extremely difficult. Powell said Libya has expressed willingness to facilitate overland deliveries of relief aid across its common border with Sudan.

Powell flew here after accompanying President Bush to the NATO summit in Istanbul, Turkey.

U.S. officials said the administration has moved aggressively to deal with the Darfur crisis partly because the world's inaction at the time of the Rwanda genocide in 1994 may have contributed to the deaths of more than 800,000 people.

The United States has spent $116 million on humanitarian relief for Sudan over the past year and has an additional $164 million in the pipeline. The aid delivered thus far has consisted mostly of airlifted food, blankets and plastic sheeting.

"We've got to act now because we're running out of time," Powell said. The situation in Darfur is moving toward genocide, he said, "but we are not there yet."

He said he is aware of the possibility that Sudanese authorities may try to mask the gravity of the situation in Darfur by emptying refugee camps that he plans to visit.

"I will take into account everything I hear," Powell said. "I think I can sort out where people are constrained from speaking. We have been watching these places through a variety of means. We know what they look like, how many people have been there in the past, and if suddenly there are not that many people there tomorrow, I will take that all into my computer."

The conflict began as a rebellion by black African rebels, who accused the Sudanese government of widespread neglect. The counterinsurgency, led by an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, has caused at least 30,000 deaths and substantial starvation and disease.