Yad Vashem officials yesterday called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to act to stop the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.

The letter was part of a global day of action against the conflict in Darfur, calling for immediate international intervention to halt the bloodshed that has killed at least 200,000 and displaced 2.5 million people.

In the letter to Ban, the Chairman of the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority Chairman, Yosef "Tommy" Lapid, and Yad Vashem Director General Avner Shalev wrote that thousands of being are being killed in Darfur every day.

"It is not sufficient for the international community to issue condemnations, and statements via the United Nations, while this Khartoum-sponsored genocide is taking place. Concrete steps must be taken; we must do everything to ensure that the Security Council will decide to send troops to Darfur who will be able to restore security," the letter said.

"As the heads of the Jewish people's central organization for commemorating the Holocaust - a genocide that took place while the world was silent - we feel a special obligation, as we discussed with you during your recent visit to Yad Vashem, to raise the alarm on Darfur."

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