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12/26/2004:

"Britain prepares to send 3,000 troops into Darfur"

Tony Blair has ordered military chiefs to prepare to send British troops to intervene in Sudan in the New Year.

The Prime Minister has waved aside concerns that the Army is already too committed in Iraq and Afghanistan to make a significant contribution to a peace-keeping mission in Africa.

Chiefs of staff have been told to prepare plans to send up to 3,000 troops to the troubled Darfur region amid concern that the humanitarian crisis will dramatically worsen. The deployment will be discussed early next month at a meeting with senior military officials. "When you decide to make an intervention you have got to be able to move fast," a minister told The Independent on Sunday.

Full Article : independent.co.uk