'Show of force' sought against warring Darfur tribes

EL FASHER, Sudan (AFP) - Darfur's top official on Monday called for a "show of force" against tribal militia violence in the region as a state governor said this week's African football tournament in Darfur shows security has improved.

Inter-ethnic clashes, along with fighting between government and rebel forces, has forced an estimated 300,000 people in Sudan's far-west to flee this year.

That is more than in the last two years combined, the UN says.

Eltigani Seisi, head of the Darfur Regional Authority, told a meeting of Sudanese envoys that traditional mediation techniques involving tribal elders are no longer effective.

"There must be a show of force," Seisi told the opening session of the two-day "retreat" in the North Darfur state capital El Fasher.

He said armed tribal militias need to be confronted by "the other security forces".

The envoys meet every two years to review developments in Darfur, where ethnic rebels a decade ago began their uprising against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime.

North Darfur governor Osman Kbir told the meeting that the CECAFA (Council for East and Central Africa Football Association) tournament to be held in El Fasher from Wednesday shows things are getting better.

"This is a real demonstration of the improvement of the situation," he told the meeting.

But Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the head of the African Union-UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID), said "the security situation on the ground deteriorated" after the killing by insurgents of a breakaway rebel leader in May.