In a statement, he accused China of not doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the “continuing human suffering” in the troubled western Darfur region.

At least 200,000 people have been killed and two million forced from their homes in the five-year conflict.

Beijing has not yet responded to the move, which correspondents say is its first big setback in staging the Games.

A source in the Beijing Olympic Committee said a response was being discussed at the highest levels but had not yet been made public.

But the BBC’s James Reynolds in Beijing says the decision will anger and worry the authorities there.

Since Beijing won the right to host the Games it has always tried to keep China’s politics and China’s Olympics separate, he says, and it has attacked anyone who has tried to link the two.

Read the entire article here.

Read China’s response here.