U N to give African troops in Sudan 77 mln dollars

ADDIS ABABA, Nov 14 (Reuters) The United Nations will give 77 million dollars to an African Union peace mission in Sudan's troubled region of Darfur, a top U N official said.

Sudan's government is opposed to the deployment of a force under U N command to Darfur where an underfunded 7,000-strong AU force has been unable to quell violence that has cost at least 200,000 lives in the past three years.

''We have agreed on two packages of support worth around 77 million dollars for the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS),'' Hedi Annabi, a U N assistant secretary general for peace-keeping operations yesterday, told reporters after a meeting of UN, AU and Sudanese officials at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Annabi said 22 million dollars would go toward funding military staff officers, police advisers and civilian personnel to strengthen the chain of command of AMIS.

A second tranche of 55 million dollars go toward equipment and personnel and a specialised support unit.

''The government of Sudan has agreed to the deployment of the two packages,'' he added.

A U N Security Council delegation had been scheduled to take part in yesterday's meeting but disagreements over the composition of the delegation and whether the group had a mandate to engage in the discussion scuttled the plans.

Reuters BDP DB0922