As Sudan inched towards an historic deal to end decades of war in the south yesterday, the United Nations Security Council heard evidence of a government-sponsored “reign of terror” in the turbulent western region of Darfur. The fundamentalist regime in Khartoum was responsible for a pattern of “massive human rights violations … many of which may constitute war crimes and/or crimes against humanity,” human rights investigators told the powerful UN body. The investigators detailed collaboration between President Omar al-Bashir’s army and the Janjaweed ­ a fearsome horseback Arab militia that has torched villages, executed and raped civilians and forced a million people from their homes in response to a rebellion that exploded 15 months ago. Full Story