Darfur peacekeeping on African Union agenda

Foreign ministers met at African Union headquarters in Ethiopia today, to discuss whether to turn over their peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region to the United Nations.

The Addis Ababa summit, which was expected to last most of the day, comes after the Sudanese government and protesters in Khartoum threatened that violence in the troubled region would only escalate if African Union peacekeepers were placed under United Nations command.

European Union, US and African officials have been urging Sudan to allow a large UN peacekeeping force to replace the current African Union mission.

Darfur’s conflict, described by the United Nations as the world’s gravest humanitarian crisis, has left more than 180,000 people dead and 2 million displaced.

Tens of thousands of Sudanese marched through Khartoum on Wednesday, protesting against the plan.

The Sudanese government has also been lobbying African leaders to keep the peacekeepers under an AU command.

The 7,000-strong AU force has faced severe funding and logistical problems, and its mandate expires at the end of March.