Arming the Janjaweed

Darfur, Sudan

Russia and China are defying a U.N. arms embargo and supplying Sudan with weapons and aircraft for use against rebels and civilians in Darfur, Amnesty International said this week. The human-rights group displayed photographs of Chinese strike aircraft and Russian helicopter gunships at Darfur airports. China and Russia, which voted for the embargo, denied the charges, but would not otherwise comment on the evidence. The Arab-dominated Sudanese government backs the Arab Janjaweed militias, which have forced 2 million blacks from their Darfur homes in a campaign the U.S. calls genocide.