What crisis? asks Sudan's ambassador

Sudan risked inflaming international opinion today when its London ambassador said that there was no need to "rush" efforts to tackle his country's humanitarian crisis.

Despite warnings about millions of refugees threatened with genocide and starvation, Dr Hassan Abdin said the situation in Darfur was "improving, not worsening".

The UN has given Sudan 30 days to stop Arab militias from conducting "ethnic cleansing" against the African population.

But the ambassador today said Sudan had sent 6,000 troops into the Darfur region and a joint commission with the UN would report back within weeks. "The troops are there and this joint commission will report back on what they are doing to bring the situation under control. So why rush it?"