EU to pledge up to €70m for Darfur

EU: The EU is ready to pledge up to €70 million to support African Union peacekeepers in Darfur and has asked the UN to consider…

EU:The EU is ready to pledge up to €70 million to support African Union peacekeepers in Darfur and has asked the UN to consider tougher sanctions on Sudan.

EU foreign ministers said yesterday they were deeply concerned about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

They underlined their "support for urgent consideration by the UN Security Council of further measures" against those impeding the peace process.

This is understood to be a reference to Sudan. Khartoum has so far refused to allow the deployment of UN peacekeepers to join 7,000 African Union troops, who have failed to stop the violence, which has killed an estimated 200,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes in four years.