U N not given up on Darfur force plan-Annan

NAIROBI, Nov 15 (Reuters) The U N may post observers on Chad's border with Sudan's Darfur and has not given up on a plan to strengthen a peacekeeping force in the turbulent region itself, U N secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.

''We are looking at the possibility of putting U N observers or some sort of international presence on the border,'' Annan told reporters in Kenya. ''But we have not given up the idea of strengthening the force in Darfur.'' The UN hopes to strengthen a 7,000-member African Union (AU) force already in Darfur with peacekeepers, eventually forming a proposed large ''hybrid'' force under joint command.

Sudan has insisted the AU remain in charge of any future peacekeeping mission in the region, where some 200,000 people have died in three years and more than 2.5 million have fled violence -- many of them into Chad.

''We need to continue our efforts to calm Darfur and try to stabilise the situation, get assistance to the internally displaced people and gain access for the humanitarian workers, while we press ahead with the implementation of the political process that was agreed in Abuja,'' Annan said.

Annan will participate in Darfur talks in Addis Ababa tomorrow with officials from the U N Security Council permanent members and others he has invited from Egypt, Gabon, the European Union and the Arab League.

REUTERS PB KP1522