The United Nations' top envoy for Sudan's troubled province of Darfur called Wednesday for the quick deployment of thousands of African Union peacekeepers to protect civilians and monitor Sudanese security forces on the ground. "We need a big force with a broad mandate," Jan Pronk, the U.N.'s special envoy on Darfur, told reporters after talks with European Union security chief Javier Solana. "I need thousands of people to go around, eyes to keep watch on what is happening twenty four hours a day ... and thousands of planes, fuel and cars," Pronk insisted. The European Union must help the African Union to come up with this big force quickly, Pronk said. The troops must be allowed to monitor the ceasefire and take on police functions so that people could return to their homes, he said. Failure to stop the conflict in Darfur would create instability on Europe's borders, Pronk warned. Pronk also called for action to tackle the root causes of the conflict in Darfur, saying the government and rebel groups must be warned that they must make peace quickly. Solana told reporters the E.U. was ready to provide logistical and planning help to the African Union force but insisted that no European soldiers would be deployed in Darfur. "The African Union will take the lead ... the soldiers in Darfur will be African," Solana insisted.
