France is hosting a meeting of senior officials from more than a dozen countries aimed at providing funds and other support for international efforts to stabilize Sudan's violent Darfur region.
Sudan agreed earlier this month to a combined United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force of more than 20,000 troops and police, but many diplomats doubt it will keep its word.
The aim of the force is to stop the violence in Darfur, where international experts estimate 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been expelled from their homes in more than four years of strife. Sudan says 9000 people have died.
Delegations from the world's top aid donors, members of the Group of Eight industrialized nations and powerful Sudan ally China are due to discuss the situation in the western province before moving on to 'international support for the reconstruction of Darfur', according to the meeting's agenda.
"It is not a peacemaking meeting. It is, on the contrary, a meeting to support the international efforts that have been deployed," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters at a news conference on Sunday. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>
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