An attempt to bring alleged war criminals in the Darfur region of Sudan to justice and to impose sanctions on the government in Khartoum has failed.

The UN Security Council, plagued by internal haggling, has once again postponed an effort to stop the civil war in Darfur.

A French resolution was withdrawn on Thursday. That resolution called for war criminals to be brought to the international criminal court in The Hague.

Refugees in Darfur
Refugees in Darfur

But the council has passed a resolution authorizing a large peacekeeping force to be sent to enforce a truce in the 21-year, north-south war in the country.

The UN is sending a peacekeeping force into southern Sudan which will eventually number 10,000 soldiers. It's hoped that force can keep the Arab North and African South from resuming their civil war.

The peacekeepers will monitor an agreement signed in January between the government and southern rebels.




That conflict has cost two million lives and forced four million people from their homes.

But for western Darfur, where another conflict being fought along very similar ethnic lines still rages, the Security Council had little to offer.

"Very little has been done to stop the cause of the problems of displacement, starvation and disease – and that's the fighting," said Ken Bacon, the president of Refugees International. He fears the United Nations may never act on Darfur.

The attempt to pass a resolution over where to put war criminals on trial is just one snag. There's also the fact that China buys a lot of oil from Sudan and Russia sells the country plenty of arms. Both countries have Security Council vetoes.

Bacon says it may be time to look elsewhere to try to stop the violence in Darfur. "Canada, the United States, France, Great Britain should be bringing a lot more pressure on the government of Sudan to stop this fighting," he said.

Allan Rock, Canada's ambassador to the UN, says the vote is a disappointing development.

"I think someone in Darfur today could be forgiven for thinking that the UN has failed them," he said.