Mauritania sends military observers to bloodied Darfur region

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania, Feb 10, 2005 (AP) — A group of armed observers from this Arab-dominated West African nation flew to the bloodied Darfur region to join in the African Union peace mission, police officials said Thursday.

The military and police observers, 30 in all, arrived Thursday in Sudan to join about 1,400 cease-fire monitors and protection troops sent by the African Union, a senior police official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Before departing, the observers met with Mauritanian President Maaoya Sid’Ahmed Ould Taya, who called upon them to “rightly fulfill their mission” which he said was to be “peace messengers,” the official said.

Darfur has been torn by conflict since early 2003, when rebels of ethnic African tribes took up arms, complaining of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. A pro-government Arab militia then launched a counterinsurgency campaign in which thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands were driven from their homes.

An estimated 2 million people have been displaced in the conflict.