Slaughter in Sudan: UN stands idly by

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.

Both casual and seasoned observers of the Third World and the broader political landscape are baffled at the reluctance of Kofi Annan and his colleagues to take any meaningful action to stop the pillage, torture, rape and murder of the innocent.

Despite millions of words spoken and written in condemnation of the atrocities being carried out by the Janjaweed militia and the Khartoum army, the persecution of the inhabitants of Darfur continues unabated.