In an effort to draw attention to the continuing bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region, an ecumenical service at First AME Church of Los Angeles on Sunday will feature Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and leaders of various religious denominations and community organizations.

The Los Angeles Darfur Observance Day will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the church, 2270 S. Harvard Blvd.

It will include an interfaith choir performance, speeches by Villaraigosa and others, and a display of video and photographs documenting violence in the African nation.

The Bush administration has described the situation in Darfur, which includes assaults by Sudanese troops and allied militias against civilians, as genocide. The United Nations estimates that more than 180,000 people in the region have died since 2003, when a civil war began.

Among the event's sponsors are the American Jewish Committee of Los Angeles and Jewish World Watch, which have been active for several years in trying to raise awareness about Darfur.

"The genocide is an issue that resonates with the Jewish community because of its experience with the Holocaust," said Dean Schramm, vice president of the local office of the American Jewish Committee. "What we're trying to do collectively here is to say to Khartoum that this must stop, to say to Washington that we have to do more and to say to the people of Darfur, 'You are not alone.' "

Expected participants include the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Islamic Center of Southern California and UCLA's Darfur Action Committee.

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