Sudan approves UN troops

The Sudanese government gave the green light today for the deployment of attack helicopters and more than 3,000 UN troops, police, and other personnel to beef up the 7,000-strong African Union force in war-torn Darfur.

Sudan's UN ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem informed secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in a letter that the government had approved the UN plan to send helicopter gunships, the last outstanding item in the UN's "heavy support package" for the AU force.