Some of the most senior religious figures from Britain's Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities gathered outside Downing Street today to offer prayers for Darfur.

Those gathered included head of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Methodist Coordinating Secretary for Public Life and Social Justice, Anthea Cox, Rabbi Danny Rich of Liberal Judaism, and Khadijah El Shayyal of the Islamic Society of Britain.

They were met by Baroness Amos, Leader of the House of Lords, who warned that the world must not once again turn a blind eye to an unfolding crisis in Africa, saying: "We do not want to see a repeat of what happened in Rwanda when the world community turned its face away."

Prayers written by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra were read out at 12.30pm Sunday, while a message was also sent from the Catholic Bishop of El Obeid, whose diocese includes Darfur.