CAIRO, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) on Sunday criticized the U.S. House of Representatives for its resolution which asked the AL to declare a genocide in western Sudanese region of Darfur.

    "What is weird is that no international or regional institution has referred to human rights violations in Darfur as a genocide," the AL said in a statement carried by Egypt's official MENA news agency.

    On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill, which called on member states of the AL to help end what it called "a genocide in Darfur."

    The Cairo-based Arab League criticized the U.S. House of Representatives for accusing the AL of blocking the deployment of UN forces in Darfur, MENA quoted the AL statement as saying.

    The statement noted that the AL considered the under-discussion security arrangements, including the deployment of a hybrid UN-AU force, a key step on the road of implementing the Darfur peace agreement signed in May of 2006.

    These arrangements should run in tandem with effective political efforts to address the Darfur crisis and these kinds of efforts have been exerted by the AL member states in coordination with the UN and AU, the statement said.

    The UN, the AU and the Sudanese government agreed in November last year on a three-phase support plan, also known as the Annan plan as it was put forward by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

    With the first phase of the plan, also known as a light support package, already underway, the three parties reached an agreement in principle in Addis Ababa on April 9 to inaugurate the second phase of a UN support plan for the AU mission in Darfur, known as "the heavy support phase."

    The second phase involves the deployment of 3,000 UN troops and six attack helicopters in Darfur to support the 7,800-strongAfrican force, as well as preparation for the next phase, in which a much larger UN force would be sent to the region.