"I hope before [the deployment will be] the end of the month because time is running out," said Konare

ADDIS ABABA , July 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - African leaders have authorized the deployment of an armed force that will have the mandate to protect civilians in the western Sudanese region of Darfur by the end of July.

Meanwhile, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail warned Washington not to spark an Iraq-style crisis over the civil war in Darfur , insisting in comments published Friday, July 9, that US sanctions threats only aggravated the situation.

The African Union (AU) leaders ended a summit meeting in Addis Ababa Thursday, July 8, taking a tough and determined stance on the crisis in the Sudan and other hotspots as they vowed to promote peace and stability to boost African development.

When asked when the force would arrive in the region, AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said, "I hope before the end of the month because time is running out," according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He said the AU had called on Khartoum to make good on its pledge to stop deadly bombing raids in Darfur .

The deployment was first floated in late May in an agreement for the AU mission to monitor a shaky April ceasefire between Khartoum and Darfur rebel groups.

Chad 's Foreign Minister Ragout Yassoum had said earlier Thursday after a meeting of several Presidents held on the sidelines of the AU summit that the AU will deploy an armed force to protect its ceasefire observers in Darfur "as soon as possible."

Yassoum said the protection force will number 300 men and that the number of observers will be increased.

The Presidents of Sudan , Chad , Nigeria and South Africa took part in the meeting on the sidelines of the summit, which was dominated by discussions on Darfur .

About 25 AU observers are on the ground in Darfur , where 15 months of conflict sparked when two rebel groups rose up against Khartoum saying their region was neglected have fueled what the UN has termed the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe.

At least 10,000 people have been killed in Darfur , mostly by a feared militia allegedly allied to Khartoum . Another 1.2 million have been displaced, with more than 100,000 of them seeking refuge across the border in Chad .

Pro-Active

The AU's outspoken attitude marks a clear departure from the non-interventionist policy of the Organization of African Unity, which the AU replaced in 2002.

"We can say with certainty that the responsibility for Darfur is with the African Union and the government of Sudan working together," Nigerian President and the chairman of the union Olusegun Obasanjo told a press conference after the summit's closing ceremony.

"There can be no question as to where the responsibility lies," Obasanjo said.

On Sunday, July 4, the AU's Peace and Security Council took a firm stance against Khartoum , urging it to follow through with its commitments to "disarm and neutralize the Janjawid militia" – responsible for the violence in Darfur .

The Council also "reiterated the need to bring to justice all those responsible for human rights abuses in Darfur .

Obasanjo said the "hard-hitting" discussions on Darfur , the Great Lakes and Ivory Coast during the three-day gathering of AU "demonstrates our determination to be pro-active on our continent's problems," he said.

Obasanjo said at the summit's closing ceremony that resolving conflicts is "central to the future of our organization and the attainment of our objectives."

The summit also approved a continental security plan that includes a military standby force, which is expected to be operational by 2010.

Warning To US

On Darfur , Ismail took a direct swipe at the US administration, warning in an interview with a Sudanese daily that "those voices which have drawn the world to the Iraq war not to take it to a new war which it will be difficult to disengage from."

US Secretary of State Colin Powell repeated Thursday that threats to reign in the Janjaweed have not been kept by Khartoum so far.

"Only action not words can win the race against death in Darfur ," said Powell.

The UN Security Council is debating a US draft resolution imposing sanctions on militias accused of "ethnic cleansing" against non-Arabs. The US also hinted that the sanctions could be extended to the government.

But France says it does not support US plans for international sanctions on Sudan if violence continues in Darfur .

"In Darfur, it would be better to help the Sudanese get over the crisis so their country is pacified rather than sanctions which would push them back to their misdeeds of old," junior Foreign Minister Renaud Muselier told French radio.

Muselier also dismissed claims of "ethnic cleansing" or genocide in Darfur .

"I firmly believe it is a civil war and as they are little villages of 30, 40, 50, there is nothing easier than for a few armed horsemen to burn things down, to kill the men and drive out the women," he said.