2 countries are said to arm Sudan

CAIRO -- A top human rights group accused China and Russia yesterday of violating a United Nations arms embargo by supplying Sudan with weapons and equipment that were used to fuel deadly violence against civilians in Darfur and neighboring Chad.

Moscow and Beijing, which have balked at US and British efforts to put new pressure on their trade ally Sudan, quickly rejected Amnesty International's allegations. Sudan said the report was false.

"The report is totally incorrect ," Sudanese government spokesman Bakri Mulah said from Khartoum.

The report said "the bulk" of the arms used in Darfur and Chad were transferred from China and Russia, with Sudan importing $83 million in arms from Beijing and $34.7 million in military equipment from Moscow in 2005, the latest available figures.

The rights group said China and Russia should have been aware that their military equipment was "deployed by the Sudanese armed forces and militia for direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks in Darfur."

Amnesty said it was particularly concerned about Russian Mi-24 helicopter gunships acquired by the Sudan Air Force that were allegedly being used to launch attacks in Darfur.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China's weapons sales to Africa were made to sovereign nations and were "very limited and small in scale" but would not say specifically how much was sold to Sudan.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said "no Russian weapons have been shipped to Darfur."