The European Union Monday said it had found no evidence of genocide in the Sudanese region of Darfur, although killing was widespread, with little evidence of government efforts to protect civilians.

The conclusion of a fact-finding mission put the EU at odds with the U.S. Congress, which has leveled accusations of genocide at Sudan over a campaign of looting and burning by Arab militiamen against African village farmers.

Sudan, which insists the Janjaweed militiamen are outlaws and denies rebel charges of arming them, said it expected to meet a U.N. deadline expiring in three weeks for it to improve security and human rights in Darfur or face sanctions.

Pieter Feith, who visited Sudan on behalf of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, showed little optimism, even as he declined to endorse the assessment of the U.S. Congress.

"We are not in the situation of genocide there...But it is clear there is widespread, silent and slow, killing going on, and village burning on a fairly large scale," he told reporters.

"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.

The International Criminal Court defines genocide as the "systematic and planned extermination of a national, racial, religious or ethnic group."

The United Nations says more than a million people have been driven from their homes by the conflict and many are threatened by hunger and disease.

Health agencies Monday reported an outbreak of hepatitis E in some of the teeming camps housing Darfur refugees, which could herald other epidemics with greater fatality rates.

Source: Agencies