EU hosts donors meeting July 7 on Darfur reconstruction

Major international donors will meet in Brussels next month to pledge funds to help rebuild Darfur and urge implementation of a fragile peace deal, a senior European Union official said.

The July 7 conference, to be hosted by the European Union, follows a United Nations' request to establish a plan for the reconstruction of Darfur and the gradual return of the more than 2 million refugees, the official said.

Among those attending will be the United Nations, the World Bank, the African Union, and donors including the United States, he said.

The conference will also try to find additional financing to extend the African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur to September. - Reuters June 6, 2006.