Darfur peacekeepers agreed

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 53-member African Union won the concession to send 300 troops from Sudan’s President Omar el-Bashir, who had argued that his security forces are capable of stabilising Darfur, diplomats said.

UN officials and human rights groups have accused el-Bashir’s government of backing the Arab militiamen – known as the “Janjaweed”, or horsemen – in a violent campaign to expel African farmers from the region.