A SENIOR officer with the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur in western Sudan was attacked yesterday by gunmen who seriously wounded his driver, the force said in a statement.

Arrest warrants for a Sudanese government minister and a janjaweed militia leader suspected of committing war crimes in Darfur, have been issued by the International Criminal Court.

Sudan has dismissed as unjustifiable the threat of slapping new sanctions because of the Darfur conflict, vowing to do everything it can to protect what it sees as its national security.

Sudan’s ambassador to the US, John Lueth Ukee, said today that only minor issues stand in the way of his government’s acceptance of a 22,000-member UN peacekeeping force to be deployed in the violence-plagued Darfur region.

I AGREE fully with the sentiments of the former EU Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, when he contends that the EU has not done enough to help people in the Darfur region of Sudan.

President George Bush’s envoy to Sudan said the US administration is preparing to impose new economic sanctions to counter Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s refusal to allow UN peacekeepers to deploy in Darfur.

US President George Bush’s envoy to Sudan said the US administration is preparing to impose new economic sanctions to counter Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s refusal to allow UN peacekeepers to deploy in Darfur.

A Sudanese accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court made his first press appearance in a local newspaper today to profess his innocence.

The head of one Darfur’s main rebel groups said he is willing to call a ceasefire if the Khartoum government stops attacks on civilians in the war-torn region and agrees to re-negotiate the Darfur peace deal – but warned of a new offensive if it fails to do so.

FOUR UN peacekeepers in southern Sudan have been sent home in the past year following investigations of alleged sexual abuse and the organisation is looking into reports that more than 20 children were raped and abused, a UN spokeswoman has said.

Actor George Clooney expressed frustration today over the lack of action to end the conflict in Darfur which has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

George Clooney arrived in Egypt during his campaign to raise awareness about killings in Sudan’s Darfur region.

The chief of the only Darfur rebel group that signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government set an ultimatum today for Khartoum to disarm the feared janjaweed paramilitary group by the end of December.

The top UN official in Sudan, who accused the army of mobilising Arab militias, has been ordered to leave the country within three days.

BOB GELDOF admits to have underestimated the significance of China during last year’s Live8 rally but now he sees its role as central to ending the “ongoing massacre” in the Sudanese region of Darfur.

Bob Geldof is desperately urging the world's superpowers to put their weight behind the crisis in Darfur in a bid to halt the violence.

The United Nations said today that Sudanese government forces have indiscriminately bombed areas of North Darfur in recent weeks, forcing hundreds of civilians to flee their homes.

Tony Blair moved to ratchet up the pressure on Sudan today by appealing to EU leaders to demand a halt to the violence in Darfur.

European Union foreign ministers today told Sudan government and rebel fighters they would be “held accountable” for war crimes in Darfur and called on both sides to end violations of a cease-fire there.

Actor George Clooney has told the UN’s most powerful body that if it does not send peacekeepers to Sudan’s Darfur region millions of people would die in what he called the first genocide of the 21st century.

OF the litany of human rights abuses taking place in the west Darfur theatre in Sudan, perhaps the greatest and the most difficult to understand is the sheer indifference of the UN security council to the plight of the vulnerable millions of innocent people.

Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo today to promote a plan to revive the deadlocked Middle East peace process amid wide Arab fears the recent war in Lebanon helped boost the influence of Iran and the militants it supports.

The Sudanese government has launched a major offensive against rebels in war-torn Darfur in recent days, human rights activists and African Union officials said tonight.

THE build up of Sudanese troops in the war-torn western Darfur region could lead to a human rights catastrophe unless UN peacekeeping troops are sent to the region soon, Amnesty International warned yesterday.

The African Union will end talks among warring parties in Sudan’s Darfur region by April 30 if the Khartoum government and rebel factions fail to agree to a peace deal, a senior mediator says.

TERRORIST leader Osama bin Laden issued ominous new threats yesterday, apparently seeking to justify attacks on civilians in the West and implying that the whole EU was at war with Islam.

Terrorist leader Osama bin Laden issued ominous new threats today, apparently seeking to justify attacks on civilians in the West and calling on his followers to go to Sudan to fight a proposed UN force in Darfur.

Human rights crusader Bob Geldof yesterday blamed China for perpetuating the raging civil war in Sudan.

Anti-poverty campaigner and Live 8 organiser Bob Geldof today accused China of being responsible for the continuing civil war in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Tens of thousands of Sudanese people marched through Khartoum protesting against plans to deploy UN peacekeepers in conflict-torn Darfur.

Southern leader Salva Kiir Mayardit was sworn in as Sudan’s first vice president today, replacing his former boss John Garang, who died in a helicopter crash on July 30.

The main rebel movement in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region threatened to quit peace talks with the government, alleging fresh attacks on its positions.

CHEERING crowds and a brass band greeted UN chief Kofi Annan yesterday on his first visit to south Sudan, but he was also met with a stark message on the desperate need for aid in the war-battered region.

DONORS promised $4.5 billion (€3.5bn) yesterday to help Sudan recover after Africa's longest civil war, but Washington told Khartoum to end atrocities in Darfur or risk a slide "back into the depths".

THE Government last night accused the Sudanese authorities of attempting to cover up worsening atrocities in Darfur by refusing to allow journalists to travel to the region.

The war in Iraq is dissuading the international community from intervening in the growing crisis in Darfur, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said today.

Saying they hoped African leaders could solve without sanctions what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the leaders of Egypt, Chad, Nigeria and Libya discussed the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region with the Sudanese president.

GOAL’s John O’Shea has a question for Bertie Ahern. Why did he come out and make a plea for the release of British hostage Kenneth Bigley?

THE European Union yesterday said there was no indication that Sudan had acted to disarm armed militias in the war-torn Darfur region and agreed to press for a UN investigation into whether genocide was being committed.

Arab countries say that the Sudanese government needs more time to end the crisis in its troubled western Darfur region, where purportedly state-backed Arab militias are accused of killing thousands of African villagers.

The UN Security Council adopted a US backed resolution that implicitly threatens sanctions against the Sudanese government if it does not rein in Arab militias blamed for atrocities in the western Darfur region.

WHILE world leaders recently gathered to mark the tenth anniversary of Rwanda’s genocide, another horror story has been unfolding in Sudan.