Gov't Points Finger In Darfur Slaughter

A Sudanese governor in Darfur on Tuesday accused "renegade Arab tribesmen" of killing 33 people and injuring 17 in an attack on several villages last month in the war-torn region.

The United Nations has said 50 people were killed in the deadly raids on several villages and a refugee camp in the Jebel Moon area of West Darfur and blamed the Sudanese government-allied janjaweed militia for the killings.

Gaafar Abdul Hakam Isaaq, governor of the West Darfur state, said an inquiry commission he set up to investigate the attacks on Oct. 29-30 reported that a "group of renegade Arab tribesmen attacked six villages ... and looted cattle and properties," according to the official Sudan News Agency.

The governor's claim echoed an earlier statement by Sudan's government which blamed outlaws for the raids. The government denied any involvement in the killings, saying the U.N. allegations contained "huge amounts of lies."

The U.N. cited witnesses saying that men clad in Sudanese military officers' garb were with the horse-mounted janjaweed militia when they attacked, killing at least 27 children and about as many adults.

Sudan's Arab-dominated government has long denied backing the janjaweed, a militia of Arab nomads blamed for the worst atrocities against ethnic African villagers in Darfur in 2003, when African rebels first took up arms against Khartoum. More than 200,000 people have since been killed and 2.5 million displaced in the war.

The West Darfur governor said authorities were still searching for those involved in the raids.