The Sudanese government today denied a senior UN official permission to fly over the western region of Darfur on his way to visit Sudanese refugees in neighbouring Chad, UN officials said.
UN Under Secretary-General Jan Egeland has already been prevented from visiting Darfur and the capital, Khartoum, as he had originally planned.
Mr Egeland, who spent last night in the southern town of Rumbek, told reporters the bans reflected deteriorating relations between the United Nations and the government over the deployment of a possible UN mission in Darfur.
Mr Egeland was planning to fly out of Rumbek this afternoon, but it was not clear if he would go to the southern capital Juba or to Chad by a route avoiding Darfur.