GENEVA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The United Nations' top human rights body agreed on Thursday to hold a special session next month to investigate violations in Sudan's Darfur region.

The call for the meeting, to begin Dec. 11 or Dec. 12, was backed by at least 28 of the 47 member states of the Human Rights Council, which has focused heavily on the Arab-Israeli conflict since it was created in May.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan this week urged the Council to speak out against violations elsewhere in the world that were equally or even more needing of attention, even if they risked angering regional allies.

"I would suggest that Darfur is a glaring case in point," Annan said in a statement to the body, which was created to replace the widely discredited Human Rights Commission, which was paralysed by political divisions between its members.

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