The European Union said on this afternoon that its fact-finding mission to Sudan had found no evidence of genocide in the troubled region of Darfur, though there was widespread violence there.
"We are not in the situation of genocide there," said Mr Pieter Feith, an adviser to EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana, after a visit to Sudan.
"But it is clear there is widespread, silent and slow, killing going on, and village burning on a fairly large scale."
The US Congress has labelled as genocide a campaign of looting, burning and killing in Darfur, where rebels charge that the government armed Janjaweed Arab militias to carry out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against African farming villages.
The government denies the charges and says the Janjaweed are outlaws.
Mr Feith told a news briefing he had some doubts about the Sudanese government's willingness to cooperate in disarming the Janjaweed, whose onslaught on Darfur villages had created a humanitarian crisis in the region.
But the EU and other international players appeared to have no choice but to cooperate with Khartoum on bringing peace to the region, because none of them was ready to mount any significant military operation there, he added.
"There are considerable doubts as to the willingness of Sudan's government to assume its duty to protect its civilian population against attacks," he said.
Mr Feith said he hoped Sudan would stick to its pact with the United Nations in which it agreed to disarm the Janjaweed and other outlawed groups, establish safe areas for the displaced and address the humanitarian disaster.
The United Nations estimates the fighting in Darfur has driven about one million Sudanese from their homes.
Sudan now has about three weeks left to show it is serious about disarming Arab militias or face possible UN sanctions.
Mr Feith said his mission recommended sending up to 30 police officers to cooperate with the Sudanese authorities in solving the Darfur crisis, but a decision on this rested with the bloc's member states.
The EU would also consider extending logistical support for the peacekeeping mission the African Union may send to the region.
Many analysts say the planned AU mission of about 300 troops from Rwanda and Nigeria is not enough to contain the violence in Darfur.