THE United Nations was pulling non-essential staff from Darfur yesterday as Islamist protesters rallied behind Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir over allegations he masterminded a campaign of genocide in the war-torn region.

SUDAN yesterday accused Chad of attacking its troops and bombing a village in Darfur, and vowed to respond to the “aggressive and serious” violations of a fledgling peace agreement.

Sudan has dismissed Western threats to use sanctions and no-fly zones to pressure the country into accepting United Nations peacekeepers in Darfur.