Sudan says it will begin disarming Arab militias who have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes in the western Darfur region. The pledge was made in a joint statement with the UN, following a visit by Secretary General Kofi Annan. Annan has just ended a tour of the region in which he visited refugees camps in Chad, neighbouring Darfur. The UN has warned that the refugees could die from famine and disease unless allowed to return home. The World Health Organization said at least 10,000 refugees face death from diseases such as cholera, malaria and dysentery, as the rainy season arrives in July. Some one million people have fled their homes in the Darfur region and at least 10,000 have already died in a conflict in which the Janjaweed Arab militia has been accused of "ethnic cleansing". The Sudanese government also promised to deploy human rights monitors to document abuses by all sides in Darfur. And it pledged to ensure no militias were present near the camps set up for the one million displaced people - and to deploy a "credible and respected police force" to protect them. A 15 July date has been set for negotiations between the warring groups in the Darfur region, according to the president of the African Union. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Kofi Annan speaks to a group of displaced Sudanese men, Thursday July 1, 2004 at the Zam Zam refugee camp just outside the town of El-Fashir in the Darfour region of Sudan. (AP)