Chained villagers burned alive in Darfur-monitors

NAIROBI, July 27 (Reuters) – Arab militia burned alive shackled villagers during an attack violating a fragile truce in Sudan’s Darfur region, African Union (AU) cease-fire monitors said.

In a document seen by Reuters on Tuesday, the observers said they had investigated three allegations of cease-fire violations since their deployment on July 11.

They said a fact-finding team dispatched to Suleia concluded that the Darfurian village was attacked on July 3 “by militia elements believed to be Janjaweed.”

The document said the attackers “killed civilians, in some cases by chaining them and burning them alive.”

In another incident, the team concluded that the horse and camel-mounted Janjaweed militia had attacked the village of Ehda which was burned and deserted save for a few men.

“However, the team could not substantiate the allegation that Sudanese forces fought alongside the Janjaweed,” the document said.

There are 96 AU cease-fire observers monitoring violations of a truce signed between the government and two rebel groups on April 8.

Rebels accuse the Sudanese government of backing the militia in an ethnic cleansing campaign against black Africans.

The United States, United Nations and many European governments have called on the Sudanese government to cut its links with the Arab militiamen, whose activities have driven more than a million people from their homes, creating what the United Nations says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations says 30,000 people have been killed in the fighting in the remote western part of Sudan.

According to the document, 308 troops provided by Nigeria and Rwanda were on standby to be airlifted with help from the Netherlands and Britain into Darfur to protect observers.

The document said U.N. aid agencies remained short of $203 million needed to provide relief for the rest of the year.