Sudan 'defies Darfur UN arms embargo'

Khartoum is still sending weapons to the Darfur region of Sudan in violation of a UN arms embargo and peace deal, Amnesty International has said.International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes since the Sudanese government mobilised "Janjaweed" militias to quell a mostly non-Arab revolt in 2003.The conflict began four-and-a-half years ago in the north of the arid region, but the spread of weapons to the south over the past 18 months has increased tensions.A 2005 UN arms embargo and a 2006 peace agreement between the government and the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) banned government transfers of weapons to the region.Brian Wood from Amnesty said: "The Sudanese government is still deploying weapons into Darfur in breathtaking defiance of the UN arms embargo and Darfur peace agreements."Amnesty released photos of military aircraft, including Russian-made attack helicopters and Antonov planes, it said belonged to the Sudanese government at an airport in west Darfur.The photos also showed containers being loaded onto military trucks.Amnesty said the continued influx of arms into the region has led to an increase in attacks on aid convoys and civilians.The 7,000-strong African Union force in Darfur has failed to stem the violence despite a peace deal.While large-scale fighting has largely ended, rebels and militias have fractured creating lawlessness and uncontrolled banditry.Khartoum agreed this month to a 26,000-strong joint UN-AU force which will absorb the AU mission and try to stop violence which has hampered the world's largest aid operation in Darfur.Some 500,000 people are still out of reach of relief workers.Amnesty added that the joint peacekeeping force would only work if the arms embargo was enforced.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | August 24, 2007

Tags:. .deal. .au. .past. .experts. .ago