Genocide in Darfur to get worse?

In case you've forgotten about it, there's still a genocide going on in Darfur, western Sudan.

The underequipped and underfunded African Union peacekeeping force is leaving the country.

The AU wants to turn over the mission to the United Nations. The UN Security Council approved the sending of some 20,000 blue helmets to Darfur but Khartoum has rejected the resolution to bring peace to western Sudan.

"The Sudanese people will not consent to any resolution that will violate its sovereignty," the official Suna news agency quoted the government as saying, despite having accepted a resolution that would send 10,000 UN peacekeepers to southern Sudan to monitor the peace agreement signed in that part of the country.

Instead, the regime has decided to send some 10,000 troops from Sudan's national army to 'bring peace' to Darfur. Human rights groups have attacked this decision, contending that regime-sponsored militias are the ones perpetrating the genocide in the first place!

Perhaps trying to complete the genocide before international observers arrive, the regime has launched a new offensive in Darfur.