The United Nations urged on Sunday the conflicting parties in the troubled western Sudanese region of Darfur to observe tranquility during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan which began on Saturday in Sudan.

Jan Pronk, special representative of the UN secretary general to Sudan, sent the message in a letter to the leaders of the Sudanese government as well as all the armed groups in Darfur, the UN mission in Sudan said in a statement.

"The United Nations hopes that during this period of prayer, fasting and charity, we will see a resumption of dialogue among all parties and an end to the violence and fighting that have inflicted much suffering on the people of Darfur," said Pronk in the letter.

He stressed that these moves would "serve to restore the long- lost confidence of millions of displaced and vulnerable people and give them an opportunity to recover their livelihood and the normalcy that war has deprived them of since 2003."

The UN envoy also called on the parties to take the opportunity to embrace for peaceful dialogue.

Darfur rebels took up arms against the government in early 2003 accusing Khartoum of marginalizing the region.

On Friday, UN human rights monitors accused the Sudanese army of bombing villages in north Darfur, killing and wounding civilians and forcing hundreds to flee.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also condemned the escalation of violence.

The Sudanese government, however, stressed that the security situation in Darfur had been improved following the signing of a peace agreement between the government and a main rebel group on May 5 this year.

Source: Xinhua