The UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay has demanded an investigation into comments made by the governor of South Kordofan Ahmed Haroun, captured on video by Al Jazeera last week.

The video showed Haroun addressing Sudanese soldiers before an attack that took place in South Kordofan, tellling them to 'bring back no prisoners' as they are an 'administrative burden'.

Pillay said these statements could lead to an escalation in violence and she was concerned about the human rights and international law violations that continue in Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

She added that witnesses that visited the states reported evidence of burning villages, extra-judicial killing and mass displacement.

Yesterday in response to the video EU chief Catherine Ashton said 'a deliberate policy of taking no prisoners during armed conflict constitutes a war crime.'