US doing everything possible to stop Darfur massacre

The U.N. Security Council was asked by the United States for a resolution that would impose an embargo on arms import and travel ban on Sudanese "Janjaweed" militiamen, who are blamed for widespread human rights abuses, including ethnic cleansing in Sudan's western Darfur region. The United States began circulating the draft resolution at the time of Colin Powell's visit to Sudan, which included also a dramatic visit to a refugee camp in Darfur.

It calls for an embargo on all arms aid and logistical support for the Janjaweed, and a ban on international travel by its members. It would set up a Security Council committee within 30 days to draw up a list of persons would be subject to the travel sanctions, quotes voanews.com.

According to swissinfo.org, the Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said his government would combat the Arab militias in the remote region and improve aid access to refugees caught up in what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

"I am pleased with the response that we have received from the Sudanese government," Powell said after talks with Sudan's First Vice-President Mohammed Taha and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who arrived in the capital Khartoum on Wednesday.