Protests are taking place around the world to demand intervention to end the fighting in Sudan's Darfur region.

Organizers of Global Day for Darfur say events will take place in over 35 capitals to mark the fourth anniversary of the conflict.

Celebrities backing the campaign, such as Mick Jagger and George Clooney, have signed a statement accusing the international community of apathy.

Some 200,000 people have died since the conflict began, according to the UN.

Under the slogan "Time is up... protect Darfur", demonstrators will turn round some 10,000 hourglasses filled with fake blood to highlight the continuing violence in Darfur.

Other events include:

·         a rally at midday in London opposite the prime minister's residence at 10 Downing Street

·         an interactive event at Berlin's Sony Center, one of the city's tourist attractions

·         a march through Rome to the Colosseum

·         a day of cultural events in Cairo including the showing of a documentary called "Jihad on Horse Back" containing victims' testimony

·         a demonstration outside the Sudanese embassy in Abuja, Nigeria

'Stop stalling'

The statement signed by the stars calls on the world to "end its stalling and take decisive action".

What was originally a conflict between the Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur opposed to it has now spilled over into Chad and the Central African Republic.

Last year the government of Sudan agreed in principle to accept a joint African Union/UN peacekeeping force but Khartoum wants the force to be mostly African in composition and for the African Union to take the leading role, not the UN.

There has been a lot of diplomatic traffic between Washington, Beijing, New York and Khartoum recently as international pressure is brought to bear on Sudan's government, BBC UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan notes.

The US and the UK have been persuaded to hold off on imposing sanctions against the Sudanese government for now to see if Khartoum does shift significantly and allow for a major deployment of peacekeepers.

Photo caption

Darfur map