The African Union has pledged to supply more troops into the UN-approved peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
Ambassadors to the pan-African body gathered at its Addis Ababa headquarters to discuss contributions to the force, which will face the task of stabilising the war-torn western Sudanese region.
The 7,000 AU peacekeepers currently on the ground will be replaced by a hybrid force of AU and UN troops, following the UN Security Council's unanimous approval of the deployment earlier this week.
The new force will be the world's largest peacekeeping operation, with some 26,000 troops and police mandated to protect civilians in Darfur and support the implementation of a waning peace agreement signed last year.
