Star Farrow sees Central African "forgotten" crisis

BANGUI, Feb 11 (Reuters) Hollywood film star Mia Farrow arrived in Central African Republic at the weekend seeking to draw world attention to what aid workers call a ''forgotten crisis'' worsened by spillover from war in Sudan's Darfur region.

As a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, Farrow has campaigned for UN peacekeepers to be sent to Darfur and to stricken parts of neighbouring Chad and Central African Republic caught up in spreading violence.

''It's being called a triangle, and I needed to see the third side. I've been twice to Darfur, and last November to eastern Chad,'' Farrow told Reuters late yesterday after arriving in the Central African Republic's capital Bangui.

''I don't understand why there is not a peacekeeping force.'' The UN Security Council has decided to send blue helmets to Darfur to stop what Washington says is genocide.

But the Khartoum government denies its army and mounted Janjaweed militia allies are committing genocide against Dafuri tribes and has resisted deployment of UN troops. It has agreed only to phased UN support for an under-resourced African Union force struggling to stem the bloodshed.

The violence has fuelled rebellions in Chad and Central African Republic, triggering calls for UN troops to deploy in areas bordering Darfur.

UN officials, including former Secretary General Kofi Annan, have questioned the value of deploying peacekeepers until deals can be reached to end these rebellions. But the Security Council sent a technical team to both countries to look into the idea further.

Former colonial power France sent troops and planes late last year to Central African Republic to help dislodge rebels who captured the remote northeastern town of Birao near the Darfur border, where Farrow was due to go today.

''FORGOTTEN CRISIS'' Central African Republic has been the scene for several years of attacks by bandits, armed rebels and government troops that have forced an estimated 220,000 people from their homes in what Bob Kitchen of the International Rescue Committee called a ''forgotten crisis''.

''There has been a very limited humanitarian response, and the situation is continuing to deteriorate. There is ongoing displacement as a result of the ongoing hostilities between the government forces and rebels,'' Kitchen told Reuters.

Some 50,000 refugees have crossed the border into southern Chad, and 20,000 into Cameroon. Another 150,000 are displaced within Central African Republic, many living rough in the bush after fleeing attacks on their villages by government troops.

''If particular attention and assistance are not given to address the situation in CAR, this human drama is likely to degenerate into a humanitarian catastrophe,'' the UN World Food Programme said in a statement.

Farrow is due to address the UN Security Council on February 27 on Chad and Central African Republic.

''What does it say about the greatest institution on earth that in the face of a genocide all we can do is ask permission of the perpetrators to come in and save innocent civilians,'' Farrow said.

REUTERS SY BD1609