Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail today said that his government had received a copy of the UN report that was to determine whether the human rights violations in Darfur had the character of genocide or genocide preparations. "They didn't say there is a genocide," Minister Ismail told the press in Khartoum today.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday confirmed that the Sudanese government had received a copy of the inquiry commission's report, "as is customary with sensitive reports such as this one." The report - which is to be handed over to the UN Security Council "very shortly" - is not published yet. Mr Annan therefore did not want to comment on its conclusions.

I am not able to go into details, Mr Annan told reporters in Abuja, Nigeria, yesterday. "Let me say that regardless of how the Commission describes what is going on in Darfur, there is no doubt that serious crimes have been committed, serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross violations of human rights have taken place and this cannot be allowed to stand," the UN Secretary-General nevertheless added.

The Sudanese government last year had been accused by several human rights groups, Darfuri militias and the US government of preparing genocide in its western region. According to the accusations, the Janjaweed militia, a group allegedly armed and trained by the Khartoum government, was emptying the three Darfur provinces of civilians - killing the men, raping the women and destructing villages and fields.

The Janjaweed militia is widely called an "Arab militia" in alliance with the so-called "Arab government" in Khartoum. The local Darfuri population, on the other hand, is mostly referred to as "black African". This is described as the ethnic motive behind the warfare, which further forms part of the "genocide" definition. Critics however claim that the Janjaweed are not less "black Africans" than other Darfuris.

The term "genocide" is strictly defined by international law. It foresees actions or intents to destroy "a national, ethnic, racial or religious group" by several means. The US government last year claimed to have sufficient proof to call the large-scale campaigns against Darfuri civilians "genocide", which, if adopted by the UN, would mean that the international community was legally bound to interfere.

The UN therefore established a commission of inquiry to determine whether genocide was being committed or prepared in Darfur. If the reports by Minister Ismail are correct, the actions against Darfur have fallen short of the international definition of genocide.

There are however no doubts that serious war crimes and other crimes against humanity have been committed in Darfur, mostly by the Khartoum government and its allied Janjaweed militia. Recent efforts to achieve peace in western Sudan have also shown that the Darfuri militias fighting Khartoum do not respect international law.

The report by the commission of inquiry will also be used to determine whether sanctions should be imposed against Sudan. This will depend on the gravity of war crimes committed and whether the commission found that Khartoum is cooperating to stop the human rights violations. The US government is urging economic sanctions against Sudan.

Mr Annan yesterday confirmed that sanctions indeed are an option, no matter whether the commission defined the war crimes in Darfur as genocide or not. The UN Security Council earlier had considered sanctions but was not able to move for it "because of some divisions in the Council," Mr Annan said. "But I believe that sanctions should still be on the table," he added.

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