AU suspends deployment of 2,000 troops to Darfur
THE African Union (AU) plan to send 2,000 troops to war-torn Darfur has been suspended.
This follows Sudan's rejection of the AU's offer to deploy the peacekeepers. Sudan equated the deployment of troops with colonialism.
AU officials said at a meeting in Addis Ababa that they were still working on the terms of the Force's mandate.
The United Nations (UN) says more than one million people have been displaced by the conflict in Darfur and many face the threat of hunger and disease.
Ahead of the AU talks, Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail warned that the "security of Darfur is the responsibility of Sudan alone".
The Sudanese ambassador in Addis Ababa, Osman al-Said, said Sudan had agreed to accept only 300 troops solely to protect ceasefire monitors.
The AU says it will go ahead with a smaller Force and the Rwandan army is hoping to despatch half of the troops to Sudan in the next few days.
The UN says two rebel groups in the Darfur region have agreed to allow the vaccination of up to 500,000 children against polio and measles.
UN agencies have been unable to reach them until now, because they live behind rebel lines. The organisation said it had reached an agreement with the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement for the vaccination programme.
The vaccinations will begin August 21 in North Darfur.
Millions of children in government-controlled areas have already been inoculated.
The UN says armed Arab militiamen, sometimes helped by uniformed soldiers, have continued to carry out attacks in Darfur.
Fred Eckhard, spokesman for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, said: "The security situation in Darfur remains tenuous, with more violence directed at and displacing civilians in North and South Darfur."
A fact-finding report by the European Union on Monday said it had found evidence of widespread killing and little government protection of civilians.
However, it said it had found no evidence of genocide by Arab Janjaweed militiamen against African farmers.
Sudan has warned it will not be able to comply with a UN demand to disarm the Arab Janjaweed militia by the end of August or face international action.
Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha said 6,000 Sudanese police and government troops were currently in Darfur, and there were plans to expand the Force to 12,000.
But he said logistical problems were hampering deployment, which meant that fully disarming the Janjaweed and other forces by the end of August would not be possible.
