The UN Human Rights Council has rejected an attempt to hold the Sudanese government responsible for halting atrocities in Darfur.

By a 22-20 vote, the council turned down a resolution from the European Union and Canada telling the Sudanese government to prosecute those responsible for killing, raping and injuring civilians in the western region of the country.

The showdown followed months of negotiations between the EU and African members in the 47-country council on the approach to take toward Darfur, which the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

Instead, the council voted 25-11 with 10 abstentions to approve the African group's resolution. It calls on all parties to the conflict "to put an immediate end to the ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, with a special focus on vulnerable groups, including women and children, while not hindering the return of all internally displaced persons to their homes."

The African resolution suggests no blame for President Omar al-Bashir's government, which has been accused of unleashing brutal militiamen known as janjaweed in fighting Darfur rebels. The janjaweed are widely alleged to have destroyed hundreds of villages, killing the inhabitants, raping women and stealing livestock.

The government has always denied backing the janjaweed. But UN investigators said they have found that the government armed the group, and members of the militia have acknowledged receiving state support.

Millions displaced

More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million others displaced since the conflict began in February 2003, when Darfur's ethnic African tribesmen took up arms against what they saw as decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab government in Khartoum.

The council, which took over from the discredited UN Human Rights Commission last June, is dominated by African and Muslim countries, which have sided with China, Cuba and other countries in preventing criticism of any government but Israel.

Joining in with the rejection of the EU measure were also India, Russia and Sri Lanka. Breaking ranks with the African group were Ghana, which voted for the EU measure, and Mauritius and Zambia, which abstained.

Canadian Ambassador Paul Meyer, who had joined with the EU in trying to pass a strong resolution, said that at least the council was finally addressing the situation in Darfur six months after it was organized. Others were less impressed.

"It's another disappointment," said John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, "another example of the poor performance of the Human Rights Council, another reason why those who advocated going ahead with this council will have a heavy burden to bear."

The African resolution praised the government for co-operating with a UN-appointed expert on the human rights situation in Sudan, and "calls upon the government to continue and intensify its co-operation with the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms."