Watchdog unable to say if chemical weapons used in Sudan

The Hague (AFP) - The global chemical weapons watchdog said Friday that it was unable to support allegations that Sudanese government forces used suspected toxic arms in war-torn Darfur.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it had examined a report released on Thursday by Amnesty International.

Amnesty said more than 30 such attacks were believed to have been carried out on several villages as part of a massive military campaign against rebels in Darfur's Jebel Marra between January and September.

It alleged between 200 and 250 people may have died as a result, backing up its allegations with interviews with over 200 survivors and photographs of children suffering from apparent chemical burns.

Sudan

The group said its investigation "has gathered horrific evidence of the repeated use of what are believed to be chemical weapons against civilians, including very young children, by Sudanese government forces in one of the most remote regions of Darfur over the past eight months".

But the OPCW said: "Without further information and evidence being made available, it is not possible at this stage to draw any conclusions based on the content of the report."

It said in a statement that it had read the relevant parts of the report and also noted the response of the Sudan government.

Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations, Omar Dahab, rejected Amnesty's report as "baseless and fabricated."

"The ultimate objective of such wild accusation is to steer confusion in the ongoing processes aimed at deepening peace and stability... in Sudan," he said in a statement.