Top UN human rights body to hold session on Darfur

GENEVA, Nov 30 (Reuters) The United Nations' top human rights body agreed today to hold a special session next month to investigate violations in Sudan's Darfur region.

The call for the meeting, to begin around December 12, was backed by at least 28 of the 47 member states of the Human Rights Council, which has focused heavily on the Arab-Israeli conflict since it was created in May.

The request for action on the situation in Darfur was led by Finland on behalf of the European Union, but gathered support from all regions, a UN spokesman said.

Nigeria and South Africa were among nine African states to back the call for a special session, which requires one-third of the members' support.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan this week urged the Council to speak out against violations elsewhere in the world that demand as much attention as the West Asian, even if they risked angering regional allies.

''I would suggest that Darfur is a glaring case in point,'' Annan said in a statement to the body, which was created to replace the widely discredited Human Rights Commission, which was paralysed by political divisions between its members.

It will be the fourth emergency session in the new forum's existence, following two special session on the Palestinian territories and one on Lebanon.

The United States is a not a member of the Council. It was not immediately clear whether the US delegation was among some 20 observers to endorse the call for the session.

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