NUMBER OF DARFUR VICTIMS: 2 MILLION AND COUNTING

U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said questions have already been raised about the AU force's ability to prevent attacks and the possible need for U.N. troops to be sent to Darfur as well.

Darfur is heading for total anarchy and the United Nations would be blamed if the Security Council did not take action, a senior U.N. official warned.

Jan Pronk, U.N.' s special envoy to Sudan told the Security Council that Darfur is sliding into anarchy as government and rebel forces battle over control of the territory the size of France (or the State of Texas).

He said that U.S.-supported plans to send 3,300 Africans soldiers to halt the violence in Darfur are inadequate and that more than twice that number are needed to restore calm.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Andrey Denisov, when asked about the possibility of deploying non-AU troops, said "I don't see it." He called the 3,700-strong AU force for Darfur "a good contingent".



An aerial view of an abandoned village in Darfur