Darfur envoys seek more peacekeeping support

By Thomas Atkins

GENEVA, March 18 (Reuters) - U.N. and African peace envoys on Tuesday urged donor nations to speed support to peacekeepers in war-torn Darfur, and called on Chad and Sudan to work harder to cool border tensions exacerbating the long-running conflict.

"If we can get a quicker deployment of the peacekeeping troops then we can convey the message that yes, the security is increasing," said Jan Eliasson, the U.N. special envoy to Darfur.

"For peacekeeping to be successful there has to be a peace to keep," he told a news briefing at the close of two-day talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva.

Efforts to end the conflict in which some 200,000 people are estimated to have died have been dogged by tribal clashes, tensions between Chad and Sudan, divergent interests by the international community and fragmented rebel demands.

Darfur has been beset by unrest since early 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Khartoum, accusing the central government of neglect. More story >>>>>>