UN secretary general Kofi Annan told the opening of the African Union (AU) summit that a “catastrophe" could occur in Sudan's Darfur province,” Tuesday, July 6, 2004. Earlier, the African Union agreed to send an armed force to Darfur to protect its ceasefire monitors there Some 300 AU troops will be deployed to guard the 40 monitors who have so far been unable to start work due to a lack of security. Over one million people have fled their homes in the 16 months of conflict and pro-government militias are accused of “ethnic cleansing” in Darfur.