May 3, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The African Union on Thursday renewed its demands for "crucial" funding for its overstretched 7,000-strong force in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region and called on "all parties" in Darfur to stop attacking its troops.

AU Commission chairman Alpha Oumar Konare inspects African soldiers in Darfur.

"Our personnel have not received their salaries in the past few months," AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni told Reuters.

"We cannot live on voluntary contributions. Funding is crucial for us," he said, echoing similar pleas by the chairman of the organisation, Alpha Omar Konare.

Mezni said 19 AU peacekeepers had been killed in Darfur since 2004, including seven in April this year alone. A Nigerian officer has been missing since December and gunmen have hijacked some 90 AU vehicles in the region, he added.

The United Nations says some 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced since the conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the Khartoum government, charging it with neglect. Sudan says only 9,000 have perished.

The government signed a peace deal with the main rebel group in 2006, and several other small factions later committed themselves to the agreement. But the deal has failed to stop the violence and Sudan has rejected the deployment of a large United Nations peacekeeping force to support the African troops.

Mezni said a joint commission formed after the 2006 deal would meet in Khartoum on Wednesday and would discuss issues including recent ceasefire violations in Darfur.

The meeting will be headed by Monique Mukaruliza, the acting head of the AU mission in Sudan, along with representatives from the United Nations, the United States and the European Union.

The African Union condemned last week "unprovoked" attacks by government aircraft on rebel territories in northern Darfur on April 19 and 21.

Rebel groups said there were further attacks later in the month but the government has denied the charge.

(Reuters)