Darfur: African Union to bolster observers with armed protection force

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2004

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — The African Union (AU) said it planned to send a 300-strong armed protection force to Sudan's war-torn western Darfur region, where it has already deployed observers to monitor a shaky ceasefire.

AU Peace and Security Director Sam Ibok told a news conference here that the pan-African body was working up to the full deployment of a protection force for returning refugees and observers.

The move came a day after a seven-hour meeting of the AU's Peace and Security Council, where the Darfur crisis took center stage.

Ibok said Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Botswana had been approached to provide troops for the protection force, one of the first of its kind mandated by the two-year-old AU.

"We are confident (Sudan) will accept. It has...