Reader Jeremy Putley tips La Russophobe to the following item from the Channel News Asia wire, indicating that, via Amnesty International, the new axis of evil China & Russia are teaming up to foment genocide in Darfur:

The human rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday said it suspected China and Russia of supplying arms to Sudan which were being used in war-torn Darfur in violation of a United Nations embargo. Amnesty released a copy of a report which it said showed that "arms supplied to Sudan from China and Russia ... have been used for violations of the Security Council's own mandatory arms embargo." Both China and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council along with Britain, France and the United States.

Amnesty said Sudan imported 24 million dollars (18 million euros) worth of arms and ammunition, nearly 57 million dollars worth of parts and aircraft equipment and two million dollars worth of parts of helicopters and aeroplanes from China. It cited data from Sudan for 2005, the last available trade figures. It said the Chinese company AviChina Industry and Technology "recently delivered six K-8 military training/attack aircraft to the Sudanese Air Force and a further six will follow soon", citing an unnamed military magazine. "The K-8S is widely used as a basic training jet for fighter pilots. Some of the Sudanese Air Force fighter pilots will eventually graduate onto the NAMC Q-5 'Fantan' after undergoing basic training on the K-8S," it said. "Amnesty International is concerned that the Sudan Air Force has transferred these (Fantan) jet bombers to Darfur without authority from the UN Sanctions Committee," the report said, citing photograph and other evidence it provided. It said Sudan "is highly likely to use these newly acquired jets, as it has other aircraft, and the acquisition of expertise to fly the jets supplied from China, for indiscriminate attacks in Darfur." Such attacks would be in violation of the UN arms embargo and international humanitarian law, it added.

It added that in 2005, the Russian Federation exported to Sudan 21 million dollars worth of aircraft and associated equipment including spare parts and 13.7 million dollars of helicopters. "The use of various types of military helicopters, particularly the Russian Mi-24 helicopter gunships acquired by the Sudan Air Force, to launch attacks in Darfur in which civilians are subjected to indiscriminate fire is of particular concern to Amnesty International," it said. Some 200,000 people have died in the four-year civil war in Darfur and two million more fled their homes, according to UN figures, although some sources put the toll much higher.