The United Nations, the Sudanese Government, the African Union (AU) and the League of Arab States (LAS) have agreed to deploy a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force to Darfur in an effort to end violence in the region.

During a meeting in Riyadh last night chaired by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, the participants agreed to play their part to try to accelerate political reconciliation inside Darfur, where rebel groups have been fighting Government forces and allied Janjaweed militias since 2003.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who attended the meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, AU Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konaré and LAS Secretary-General Amr Moussa, later told reporters that, "I think we made progress where there had been an impasse."

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