The United Nations and the African Union on Monday signed an agreement with the Sudanese government on the status of a hybrid peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region. The United Nations spokesperson's office told SPA that the so-called Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) will allow the stationing of about 26,000 troops in Darfur. Jean-Marie Guehenno, under secretary general for peacekeeping operations told SPA that the deployment would be the largest U.N.-funded deployment since the U.N. Mission in former Yugoslavia. That mission involved about 20,000 troops, the U.N. spokesperson's office told SPA.
