International donors at a conference pledged on Thursday an additional US$200 million to fund the African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur. Canada made the largest new pledge, promising US$134 million (¤106.65 million). The U.S. State Department's senior representative on Sudan, Charles Snyder, said the United States was adding US$50 million (¤39.8 million) to US$95 million (¤75.61 million) already pledged. The AU has 2,270 troops in western Sudan attempting to stop fighting between rebels and Arab militias, but has plans to increase that number to more than 12,300. The African Union has asked for US$723 million (¤576 million) to help finance and equip the Darfur operation, but was US$350 million (¤278.57 million) short at the beginning of Thursday's conference. "The truth is the AU was looking for outside support and when you are looking at support on this kind of scale we need an organization that can do it, such as NATO," Snyder told The Associated Press. Snyder said the violence in Darfur was slowing, but that the only way to end it was to deploy a large AU force supported by NATO. Britain pledged US$12 million (¤9.55 million) Thursday and Germany ¤1 million ($1.26 million). Other nations made smaller pledges, or offered troops.
