“French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged swift international action Monday toward speeding up deployment of troops in Darfur, as key world players met to try to consolidate efforts and resources for the ravaged Sudanese region.
Sudan was not invited to the one-day Paris conference, organized by a new French government that has made the four-year conflict in Darfur a top priority. The meetings come after Sudan agreed, under international pressure, to allow the deployment of a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in the region.
Sarkozy pledged an additional $13.4 million to the existing–and cash-strapped–African Union force. ‘Silence is killing,’ in Darfur, Sarkozy said in greeting participants to the conference.”
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