A UN commission has concluded that the Sudanese government and militias carried out mass killings and probably war crimes in the western Darfur region, but stopped short of calling the violence genocide, according to a newly-released report.

NOTHING could have prepared Derbhal O’Brien for the trauma of Darfur, the embattled region of the Sudan where violence and hunger have blighted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

A new draft resolution circulated within the United Nations Security Council urges warring parties in southern Sudan and western Darfur province to reach peace agreements, promising international support and possible debt forgiveness.

THE Sudanese army and police have surrounded refugee camps in the war- torn region of Darfur and denied access to humanitarian groups, the UN said yesterday.

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.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sudan must act quickly to disarm Arab militias in its western Darfur region or face possible UN sanctions, stepping up pressure on Khartoum despite its accusation of US and British meddling in the crisis.

“WE are here because they came on camels and horses and attacked us. We lost everything; the village, our home, all our things, our animals, our lives.”

GOVERNMENT officials last night rejected claims that a visit by Development Minister Tom Kitt to Sudan was a waste of time.