AU military chiefs discuss boosting Sudan force

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 18 (Reuters) – African military officers discussed the details of a plan to expand an African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s Darfur region on Monday, hoping to provide a more effective mission to monitor ceasefire breaches.

A working paper circulated by AU officials at a meeting in the Ethiopian capital acknowledged that the current mission of 150 ceasefire monitors and 300 AU troops was too small to provide effective cover of a region the size of France.

The paper, obtained by Reuters, proposed boosting the force by around 3,300 staff, comprised of 2,341 military personnel, 815 civilian police, 132 other civilian support staff and 32 staff to be stationed at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

“The threat of raids and looting of villages remain significant. The number of civilians leaving their villages for the safety of IDP (internally displaced people) camps continues to grow,” the document said.

“The population’s lack of trust in the police and other government organizations is seen as a major obstacle to overcome the process of returning to normality,” it said.

Rebels launched a revolt in early 2003 after years of skirmishes between African farmers and Arab nomads over land in Darfur, a vast and arid region.

They accuse the government of arming Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to crush them and their civilian sympathisers, a charge Khartoum denies.

The United Nations estimates 70,000 people have died of malnutrition and disease in Darfur, a figure the government disputes. The total does not include deaths due to violence because U.N. officials say reliable figures do not exist.

The military chiefs gathered ahead of a scheduled meeting of the AU’s Peace and Security Council on October 20 to decide on the expanded duties and numbers of the Darfur force.

AU Chairman Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian president, said last week that the AU will begin deploying 4,000 more troops to Darfur, bringing the total to 4,500 by the end of November.

It was not immediately clear why the number of extra troops differed from the figure suggested in the working paper.

The document said an annual budget of up to $221 million would be required for the enhanced force to be deployed in Darfur, but did not say where the money would come from.

An African diplomat working closely with the AU said the money could come out of the European Union’s $312 million peace support fund which it has placed under the AU’s authority.