BUZZNET LOVE

The Darfur region of western Sudan
has been the focus of international
attention since 2004, when government
troops and militia groups known as
janjaweed moved to crush rebels who
complained that the black residents
of the region had been neglected by
the Muslim central government.

Since then, the janjaweed, backed by
 government troops, have carried out
 widespread killings of civilians.
 At least 200,000 are thought to have
died and more than 2.5 million more are
 believed to have fled their homes in the
 face of atrocities and the destruction of villages.

President Bush condemned the campaign
as genocide, and the United States has sought
deployment of United Nations peacekeepers in
 Darfur to replace an ineffective African Union
 force. But Sudan has resisted the U.N. troops,
 and other members of the United Nations Security
Council, notably China and Russia, have said they
 see no need for international sanctions to punish
 Sudan for its refusal.

On May 29, 2007, Mr. Bush announced new
unilateral economic sanctions against Sudan
 for failing to allow
the deployment and end its support for the
janjaweed. Talks on the
international force continued at the United Nations.
 (- Ford Burkhart, May 31, 2007)

World news about Sudan, including breaking
news and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Related Link: History and Statistics From NYT Almanac