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Thu 16 September, 2004 13:14 - Reuters:
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Violence in Sudan's Darfur region is "tantamount to genocide", the European Parliament has said, supporting sanctions against Khartoum but omitting a call for an oil embargo.

A non-binding resolution, carried by 566 to 6 votes with 16 abstentions, echoed strong statements by the United States and went beyond the more cautious line of European governments.

Washington is seeking support for a U.N. Security Council resolution threatening an oil embargo against Sudan if it fails to disarm Arab militia or Janjaweed, accused of murder and rape in the remote Darfur region. Algeria, China and Pakistan oppose shutting down Sudan's oil industry.

"(The European Parliament) urges the Sudanese authorities to end impunity and to bring to justice immediately the perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes and human rights violations which can be construed as tantamount to genocide," the resolution said.

The EU assembly supported an arms embargo against the Sudanese authorities and also called for the release of detained pro-democracy activists.

"(The European Parliament) calls on the U.N. Security Council to consider a global arms embargo on the Sudan and other targeted sanctions against those responsible for massive abuses of human rights and other atrocities," the motion said.

Rebels began an uprising in Darfur in February 2003 after years of skirmishes between mainly African farmers and Arab nomads over land and water. The government turned to the Janjaweed militias to help suppress the rebels.

The United Nations has estimated some 1.2 million people have fled their homes and up to 50,000 people have died from direct violence, starvation or illness in what it describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

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