Arab farmers over scarce resources in arid Darfur, rebels took up arms early last year. Rebels accuse the government of using Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages. The Sudanese government admits arming some militias to fight the rebels, but denies any links to the Janjaweed, calling them outlaws. The United Nations estimates 70,000 people have died from malnutrition and disease in the last seven months alone, a figure the Sudanese government disputes. There are no reliable estimates of how many have been killed in the violence, which the United States has called genocide. --SP 0005 Local Time 2105 GMT
