Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - A 1,025-strong police force left Monday for Sudan's war-ravaged western region of Darfur to maintain security, law and order, and to "uphold the sense of nationhood," according to Police Major-General Omar Osman Abdel Rahim.

Rahim told a press conference that the current situation in Darfur requires a unified police force.

Following pressure from UN secretary general Kofi Annan and US secretary of state Colin Powell, President Omar Hassan el-Bashir earlier this month ordered state security institutions to disarm militias, provide access for aid workers and to hold talks with rebels to defuse the crisis in Darfur.

"We are just implementing the directives, and everything is moving smoothly," Rahim said in reference to the President's orders.
He said the force composed of men from various states in Sudan had prior to their deployment undergone a two-week orientation course on how to manage and discharge their assignment in restive Darfur.

Rahim said their main tasks would he to protect camps for internally displaced persons, set up security checkpoints within the localities and along the border with Chad, as well as safeguard roads for the return of refugees and those displaced.

The multipurpose force, which will number 6,000 when complete, includes medics and teachers, in addition to other police units such as traffic and riot police.

It shall also undertake delivery of relief supplies to camps for the displaced, provide medical services and help in the reconstruction and opening of social service centers, schools, hospitals, dispensaries and health centers in Darfur.

"This force will accomplish its mission of law and order in Darfur within three months," Rahim said, adding that all the necessary facilities and funds have been made available for the mission.

In a related development, Sudan and Chad agreed at the weekend to joint military patrols with a view to checking the activities of militia groups operating along their common border.

The arrangement was made during talks in Al-Geneina, capital of Darfur between President Omar Hassan el Bashir and visiting Chadian president Idriss Deby.