Second group of Mauritanian observers heads to Sudan

NOUAKCHOTT, Feb 9 (AFP) — A second group of Mauritanian observers has deployed to the western Darfur region of Sudan, where conflict and raids have driven about 1.6 million people from their homes, security officials said Wednesday.

Rwandan troops arrive on a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane at El Fasher airport in Darfur, October 30, 2004. (Reuters).

The 15 police officers left Mauritania on Tuesday to rejoin another group of military observers in Darfur since January, under the aegis of the African Union’s peacekeeping force in the massive country, currently suffering the world’s worst humanitarian crisis following two years of fighting.

The state news agency AMI said the 15 officers met briefly Monday with President Maaouiya Ould Taya to receive their orders, which include serving as messengers of peace and brotherhood in Sudan.

Mauritania’s participation in the peacekeeping mission was first conceived during a visit in October 2003 to the capital Nouakchott by Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismael.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the past two years in Darfur, as the Sudanese government armed Arab militias known as Janjaweed to put down a revolt and about 1.6 million people fled their homes amid attacks on villages.

About 2.5 million to three million people are estimated to be in need of food aid in Darfur this year as crops are left untended because of the violence and fear.