KHARTOUM, May 8 (Reuters) - Rights group Amnesty
International accused China and Russia on Tuesday of breaching a
a U.N. arms embargo by letting weapons into Sudan, where it said
they were used in violations of international law.

China, the biggest foreign investor in Sudan, dismissed the
accusations and said it would send military engineers as part of
a U.N. package to support the African Union force in Darfur.

A Russian Foreign Ministry official also denied the charges.

Amnesty said it was "deeply dismayed" by the flow of arms
allowed by China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N.
Security Council, and said the weapons were often diverted to be
used in conflict in Darfur and neighbouring Chad.

"The authority of the Security Council itself is being
greatly undermined as the Sudanese authorities and armed groups
in Darfur are allowed to act with such obvious impunity before
the eyes of the world, importing and diverting arms to commit
flagrant violations of international law," Amnesty said.

The United Nations says some 200,000 people have died and
more than 2 million have fled their homes since the conflict
flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government,
accusing it of neglect. Sudan says only 9,000 have perished.

The United Nations accused Sudan in a report last month of
violating the world body's resolutions by flying weapons and
other military equipment into the vast, western region.

Both the United Nations and the Amnesty reports also said
Khartoum was using planes painted white to make them look like
U.N. aircraft to bomb and carry out surveillance in Darfur.

Sudan has rejected the U.N. charges. Officials were not
immediately available to comment on the Amnesty report.

"UNREASONABLE"

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the
Amnesty accusations were "totally unreasonable". She said China
had a "prudent, responsible, and strictly administered policy"
on military exports and abided by the relevant U.N. resolutions.

She did not give any specifics about numbers or the date of
deployment of the military engineers to Darfur. But Washington
said on Monday Beijing would send about 300 engineers for the
"hybrid" force to support the 7,000-strong AU force.

The move marked a step in China's efforts to balance
pressures from Sudan and Western powers, mainly the United
States, over its policy toward Darfur.

China buys much of Sudan's oil. It has resisted proposals to
send U.N. peacekeepers without the consent of Khartoum, but has
also nudged Sudan to accept them and in April sent an envoy to
inspect refugee camps in Darfur.

Sudan, which has recently agreed to allow a "heavy" U.N.
support package of about 3,500 military personnel to be deployed
in Darfur, has rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution to
send the force of more than 20,000 peacekeepers to the region.

The diminishing possibility of deploying such a force has
pushed efforts to find a political solution to the forefront,
with several initiatives to unite the many rebel groups for
possible peace talks with the government.

Only one main group signed a 2006 peace agreement with the
government although small factions later committed to the deal.

The latest initiative was brought by semi-autonomous
government of southern Sudan, which has said rebel unity talks
could be held in Juba, the capital of the south, by July.

Another group, the Committee for Uniting the National Front,
made up of former senior politicians in Khartoum, said several
rebel factions have agreed to attend the talks in Juba.

Previous attempts to unite the rebels have failed because of
fragmentations and divisions among those groups, along with
government forces' attacks against their positions.

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley in Beijing and Kate
Kelland in London)