UNITED NATIONS, February 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for an urgent action to stop what he termed a “near hell on earth” in the western Sudan’s troubled Darfur, stressing perpetrators of “abuses” in the war-torn area should be tried before the International Criminal Court.

“While the United Nations may not be able to take humanity to heaven, it must act to save humanity from hell,” Annan was quoted by Reuters as telling a meeting Wednesday, February 16, with the UN high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, to review a report submitted earlier this month by a UN-appointed commission on abuses in the western Sudanese area.

“This report is one of the most important documents in recent history of the United Nations. It makes chilling reading. And it is a call to action,” said Annan.

“The report demonstrates beyond all doubt that the last two years have been little short of hell on earth for our fellow human beings in Darfur.”

Annan’s statements came after a UN report earlier in the month refuted US claims of genocide being perpetrated in Darfur.

“The conclusion that no genocidal policy has been pursued and implemented in Darfur by the government authorities, directly or through the militias under their control, should not be taken in any way as detracting from the gravity of the crimes perpetrated in the region,” the report said.

The UN chief had Sunday, February 13, urged NATO and the European Union to intervene to stop violence in Darfur, a call that was immediately rebuffed by both Sudan and France.

Annan and Arbour also called for the trial of perpetrators of “abuses” in the troubled region before the International Criminal Court, which Washington opposes.

The Hague-based ICC, which began operating in 2003, was the right place for any prosecution and was “ready to go”, Arbour said, according to the Associated Press.

Perpetrators of abuses in Darfur have been named on a sealed list drawn up by the UN-appointed commission’s report.

A UN Diplomat, however, told the AP on condition of anonymity that the United States, China and Algeria expressed opposition to the ICC at the Security Council meeting to discuss the commission’s report.

Annan also backed a call by the Bush administration for a travel ban and assets freeze on those violating the ceasefire agreement in the troubled region, Reuters said.

He stressed that the UN Security Council should consider a full range of options -- targeted sanctions, stronger peacekeeping efforts, new measures to protect civilians and pressure on all sides for a lasting political solution in the troubled region.

The United States pressed anew last month for imposing United Nations sanctions on Sudan, reiterating that Khartoum was committing “genocide” in troubled Darfur.

African leaders, including Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, for their part, called on the international community not to send non-African troops to Darfur nor impose sanctions on Khartoum, according to Reuters.

“The heads of state called on the international community to continue to give its support to African efforts already under way and to abstain from all action which could harm these efforts, including the imposition of sanctions and all deployment of non-African forces,” the leaders said in a statement following an African summit in the Chadian capital N’Djamena Wednesday.

The meeting brought together Sudanese and Chadian Presidents Al-Bashir and Idriss Deby as well as the leaders of Gabon and Congo Republic and AU Commission chairman Alpha Oumar Konare.

Following talks with his Chadian counterpart, Al-Bashir pressed for no foreign intervention in the troubled region.

“We want this problem to remain African, in the hands of the African Union, that the AU assumes its responsibilities and has the confidence of the international community,” he said.

The African Union has about 1,800 military observers and troops on the ground in Darfur charged with monitoring a fragile ceasefire between government forces and Darfur rebels.

The Darfur conflict erupted in April 2003 when the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLA) took up arms against the Khartoum government.

The United Nations said the conflict is causing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis at present.