International donors pledged an additional €160m to fund the African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur today during a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to raise money to stop the ongoing violence in western Sudan.

The US has today pledged an additional €39m to fund the African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur during a conference of international donors.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees proposed autonomy for the troubled Darfur region of Sudan – an extreme measure that Khartoum has resisted but said today it would be willing to discuss.

POLITICAL leaders have praised Sudan's peace agreement between the Islamic government and Christian and animist rebels bringing an end in sight to Africa's longest-running war.