African Union Force Ready to Deploy in Sudan.

(From Vanguard (Nigeria) - AAGM)

The African Union aims to deploy 300 armed troops to protect its observers and civilians in Sudan's conflict-ravaged region of Darfur by the end of the month, AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said Thursday. When asked when the force -- first mentioned in late May in an agreement for the AU mission to monitor a shaky April ceasefire between Khartoum and Darfur rebel groups -- would arrive in the western region of Sudan, Konare said, "I hope before the end of the month because time is running out." About 25 AU observers are on the ground in Darfur, where 15 months of conflict sparked when two rebel groups rose up against …