Call for more Darfur peacekeepers

Some 3,000 AU soldiers will be on the ground by the end of November

More peacekeepers are needed in Sudan's Darfur region to protect refugees, a top UN envoy has said.

Jan Pronk was speaking to the BBC after visiting a camp in Darfur, where residents were evicted by Sudanese security forces on Tuesday.

He said he had found clear evidence of violence against displaced people and aid workers by the security forces.

A 3,000-strong African Union (AU) force is due to be deployed by the end of the month.

The AU said last week it was prepared to send more troops to Darfur, but could only do so if the international community provided the funds.

Forced at gunpoint

On Tuesday, police fired tear gas and beat El-Geer camp residents in front of UN and African Union (AU) officials.

We worked out a number of rules for the future UN envoy Jan Pronk

"The excessive violence was totally in conflict with international humanitarian law," Mr Pronk said.

He travelled to the camp near Nyala with the country's foreign minister and visited a medical clinic in the area where the attack took place.

Doctors told them how they had been forced from their clinics at gunpoint and of patients who had been beaten.

Mr Pronk said after "tough discussions" with the Sudanese authorities he believed such forced relocation would not happen again.

"We worked out a number of rules for the future... no violence against civilians, against humanitarian aid workers," he said.

Staff withdrawn

But "many more" AU peacekeepers - with their broader mandate which now enables them to protect civilians - were need to ensure this, he said.

Eyewitness: Darfur camp raid In pictures: Camp evictees

Mr Pronk said AU forces should also be involved in any relocation programme discussions with local authorities.

And he said displaced people should not be transferred back to their villages against their will.

Local officials had said the troops were trying to move people on to a better camp.

Meanwhile, some UN staff are being withdrawn from Nyala because authorities are preventing them from doing their work.

They have been confined to the town for three weeks since trying to stop the forced relocation of refugees, the UNHCR said.

'Breakthrough agreement'

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the raid was "unacceptable" and he would pursue the issue with the Sudanese.

Q&A: Darfur conflict

The Security Council is due to meet in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi on 17-18 November, to discuss Sudan.

Some 1.6 million people have fled their homes and tens of thousands have lost their lives in the conflict in Darfur.

Pro-government Janjaweed militias are accused of driving the region's black Africans from their villages since two rebel groups began an uprising in February 2003.

The raid took place a day after the government and the rebels signed what has been described as a breakthrough agreement aimed at ending the crisis.

The AU's Said Djinnit is travelling to Darfur to assess the expansion of its military mission.