The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation began an investigation following reports of hackers in China accessing e-mail accounts of the Save Darfur Coalition, which is based in the United States.

The Save Darfur Coalition, a group that is trying to end the six-year conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, contacted the FBI earlier this week, after discovering that someone had gained access to both its e-mail and Web server, Allyn Brooks-LaSure, a spokesman of the group reported. He also said that website logs and e-mails showed Internet protocol addresses traced to China.

“The Save Darfur Coalition met this week with special agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations to report increasing I.T. attacks on coalition systems – attacks which appear to originate in China and primarily target and probe the coalition’s aggressive China advocacy efforts to bring peace and security to Darfur,” the press release from the Save Darfur Coalition said.

The coalition has been very critical of China’s support for the Sudanese government and partly blamed China for the violence in Darfur. Until now, hundreds of thousands people have died, and more than 2.5 million remained homeless, following the multiple attacks by militias supported by the Sudanese government.

China is Sudan’s largest trading partner, importing most of its oil and providing Sudan with weapons. Save Darfur has urged China to use its position to help Darfur, but obtained no reaction.

That is why the Save Darfur group suspect that China is trying to warn them about something.

"Someone in Beijing is clearly trying to send us a message," coalition President Jerry Fowler said, according to the Washington Post. "But they're mistaken if they think these attacks will end efforts to bring peace to Darfur."

However, a Chinese official said the allegation was false.