AU chief says non-African troops not required for Darfur peacekeeping force

The African Union chairman said
Sunday that outside troops would not be needed for the new
Darfur peacekeeping force in Sudan because of sufficient
troop commitments from African nations, according to AP.
«I can confirm today that we have received sufficient
commitments from African countries that we will not have to
resort to non-African forces,» AU chairman Alpha Oumar
Konare said in a statement following a brief meeting with
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
The Sudanese government is opposed to
non-Africans playing any major role in the hybrid
U.N.-African Union operation that was authorized by the
U.N. Security Council on July 31 and will be made up of
20,000 peacekeepers and 6,000 civilian police.