Thursday, June 05, 2008

Top diplomats in Darfur as Sudan accused of 'crimes against humanity'

Diplomats from the United Nations Security Council began a visit to Darfur in western Sudan Thursday amid allegations that the "whole state apparatus" in Khartoum is involved in crimes against humanity in the region.

The allegations are in a report prepared by the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Netherlands, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

About 300,000 people have died in attacks on indigenous African people in Darfur by roving Arab militias known as the janjaweed, which Moreno-Ocampo and others have said are backed by the Sudanese government.

Speaking in New York before accompanying the Security Council delegation to Darfur, Sudan's UN ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, said Moreno-Ocampo's charges were "fictitious and vicious" and harmful to the prospects for peace.

The regime in Khartoum has always denied that it encourages the janjaweed but the allegations in the ICC report are the most serious yet levelled against Sudanese authorities. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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