SUDANESE President Omar el-Bashir has ordered tribal leaders in the Darfur region to form security forces to disarm Arab militias blamed for the violence that has killed 30,000 people during an 18-month conflict.

Soldiers will be sent to Sudan’s violent Darfur region with a mandate to protect aid workers, monitors and civilians from militiamen – and to use force, if necessary, to defend them from violence that has killed thousands, African leaders said.

THE African Union demanded yesterday that Sudan arrest and prosecute Arab militiamen accused of committing atrocities in western Sudan, but said the violence in the Darfur region did not constitute a genocide.

The African Union demanded today that Sudan arrest and prosecute Arab militiamen accused of committing atrocities in western Sudan, but said the violence in the Darfur region did not constitute a genocide.

A heavy sandstorm engulfed most of Egypt today, reducing visibility to less than 500 meters and forcing several flights, including a plane carrying Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir, to land elsewhere, airport officials said.

Sudan's deputy defence minister and 13 other high-ranking military officers were killed when their plane crashed on take-off.