The UN peacekeeping chief called on the Sudanese government on Tuesday to cooperate with the international chemical weapons watchdog in any investigation of alleged chemical weapons use in the Darfur region.

Herve Ladsous told the UN Security Council that peacekeepers from the UN African Union force in Darfur were denied access to the area in Jebel Marra where Amnesty International alleged that at least 30 chemical attacks have taken place since January.

Ladsous further said they would encourage the Khartoum government to maintain full cooperation with any future investigation.

Sudan is signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention criminalizing the use of toxic chemicals.

For its part, Amnesty International stressed the need for an investigation into what it described as the most horrendous war crimes committed in Darfur earlier this year.

Ahmed Al-Zibair, a researcher at Amnesty International, told Radio Tamazuj in an interview yesterday that more than 200 women and children were killed by chemical weapons used by the Sudanese government.

 Al-Zibair further said they investigated about 30 villages where the chemical weapons were used, saying about 73 villages were burned during military operations in Jebel Marra area.

“We used satellite imagery, and we also talked to the survivors in the area where the chemical gases were used, there were about 30 villages, we found serious wounds and respiratory problems, “said Al-Zibair.

The researcher accused the Sudanese army of using mustard and nitrogen gases. He called for internal investigations by the Sudanese government itself and international investigation involving the International Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The rights defender renewed calls for justice in all war crimes committed in Sudan, besides the international cooperation for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir over war crimes in the Darfur region.

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