Sudan accuses UN's Darfur report of being biased

The Sudanese government has rejected a UN report which cites widespread atrocities in the Darfur region, saying it is biased. The UN report has been criticised by America for holding back in using the word genocide to describe the killings which have taken place in the western part of the country. A Sudanese woman comforts her infant at a feeding centre for malnourished children in Kebkabiya in North Darfur state. But the Sudanese government dismissed the report, saying the UN charges were unproven and biased. "The report was influenced by previous statements by the secretary-general of the United Nations as well as statements by the US secretary of state and human rights groups," Mohamed Osman Yassin, justice minister, said in remarks carried by the official Al-Anba newspaper. The UN report said the government and its allied Janjaweed militia were not guilty of genocide in Darfur, but they did commit mass killings, torture, rape and other atrocities that warrant prosecution by the International Criminal Court. [more]